How much do wedding flowers cost?

What is the average spend for wedding flowers?

I often get asked what the average spend for wedding flowers is, and to be honest, this is a really difficult one as weddings can vary so much depending on individual requirements. For example,

weddings that only require the Bridal Party flowers are going to cost much less than a wedding with

200 guests and wanting 20 large floral centrepieces, so it really does entirely depend on your

requirements. As with most florists, I will always make sure we work within your budget and ensure

that your budget can provide florals to meet your expectations.

What can affect wedding flower prices?

There are many things that can affect wedding flower prices, and all florists will price things differently. These are some of the more important factors that can affect the overall costs of your

wedding flowers.

Season/ Flower choice: One of the biggest factors affecting your overall flower costs are, yes you guessed it – the flowers themselves! The absolute best way to get more for your money when it comes to flowers is to use blooms which are in season at the time of your wedding. Your florist will be able to advise you of suggestions here and you may want to leave it completely in their hands for them to choose the most cost-effective flowers for you. There are always going to be some flowers which inevitably are going to cost more than others such as Peonies, Hydrangeas and garden Roses. These are some of the more premium flowers, and with that does come to a more premium price tag, so this is something to bear in mind when starting to research your wedding flowers.

Delivery/ Set up: It is always worth factoring in the delivery and set up charge that your florist may charge for the day. This again, will vary from florist to florist and may depend on; your location – how far away are they based from your venue? Delivery stops – are deliveries needed at more than one location for example, do you need your Bouquets delivered to you at home, flowers delivered to the Church, and then onto the venue, or will you be in one place all day? Set up – are you having a fairly simple venue set up of table displays and ceremony flowers, or are you having a bigger installation piece that requires longer to set up? And don’t forget about relocation – if you are having lots of flowers in the ceremony area that you want to be moved to the Reception area, the florist would usually like to be on hand to do this, which would mean staying at the venue for longer.

Time of year: Slightly going back to the seasons and availability here, it is worth remembering that flowers are going to be more expensive in general at certain times of the year. For example, if you want to get married around Valentines Day and have lots of Red Roses, this is going to be the most expensive time if year for that as the flower costs increase so much. And likewise, around Mother’s Day too, you can expect flowers to be more costly. Some florists may also charge a premium for bank holiday weddings, but this is not something that we choose to do. We base the costs of each wedding purely on individual requirements, not the date.

Experience: Experience would also definitely be a cost affecting factor. I think a lot of the time, people can sometimes underestimate how much is involved in being a florist and what goes on behind the scenes of creating beautiful displays. If someone is an experienced wedding florist, you can usually expect them to have spent years studying and learning all the mechanics and skills it takes to produce beautiful flowers on your day. You can expect to pay slightly more for an experienced, professional wedding florist, whereas someone who is just starting out, may not charge for their time to enable them to gain more experience. We all had to start somewhere, but for your wedding day, I would strongly advise making sure you have seen evidence of your florists’ past work and know that they can live up to your expectations on the day.

What can you get for your budget? As previously mentioned, flower prices can vary a lot depending on flower choices etc, but as a rough guide – for up to £500.00 you can expect to get your Bridal Party flowers for an average-sized wedding (Bridal Bouquet, 3 x Bridesmaids, 10 x Buttonholes, Mum’s Corsages, Flower-girl florals, Hair flowers), but of course, this can vary from florist to florist. For centrepieces, again as there is so much variation between designs it is difficult to give a set price, but as a guide you can expect to pay anywhere from £25.00 upwards for a low centrepiece design, and around £80.00 upwards for a tall centrepiece. This is where your florist will really work with you to help design ideas to suit your budget. And when it comes to a statement, feature piece, this is really where you can set a budget and your florist can give you an idea of what is achievable within that – for example you may want an entrance arch, which can be created to suit a variety of budgets, either a fully flowered design, or a frame with just a feature section. You really need to work with your florist and be open and honest about your budget so they can provide the best advice and service for you.

What goes into the cost of calculating wedding flowers? There are so many factors which go into costing wedding flowers. If we start at the beginning of the planning process with a florist, you first have to take into consideration the planning time. There are all of the initial emails, and then the first consultation to go over your ideas in detail, followed by the process of a quote being put together along with a floral mood board. Sometimes a site visit may be needed and we even sometimes draw up sketches for larger installations.

Me personally, I also encourage my couples to keep in touch with me throughout their whole planning process as ideas are bound to change in the lead up to the wedding. Some couples book me more than 2 years in advance, so this is also 2 years’ worth of quote updates etc, which all adds up to hours and hours’ worth of work before we have even bought a single flower. Then there is the calculating and ordering of flowers and the cost of those.

After we have your flowers a few days before your wedding, they are conditioned and looked after to ensure the perfect, open blooms for your day. We then start work on your displays the day before your wedding to ensure they are at their freshest.

This can often tend to lead to very late nights working to get everything created. Items that will be out of the water such as the Gents Buttonholes usually get made on the morning of the wedding – meaning an early start after a late night! Then there is the delivery and set up time itself on the day of the wedding.

If you are having a large wedding with an installation, this can take several hours. And then there is the collection and dismantling of any hired items/ installations either the following day or that night at midnight.

Also, if you are hiring vases etc from your florist, this will also be a cost. So you can see, there is so much more involved when costing wedding flowers than simply how much the flowers cost. There is all the time and skill involved right from the start of the planning process. ​

About me: Let me introduce myself – I’m Charmaine, the owner and floral creative behind C Taylor’s Floristry. We are an Essex based, wedding specialist florist, and being able to create floral magic on one of the most important day of most couples lives really is a dream come true! Being a wedding florist certainly isn’t always the glamourous job that people sometimes think it is, but it certainly is so rewarding! When I hand over that Bridal bouquet and see the look on your face and I know it’s exactly what you wanted, or when you see the Reception room for the first time full to the brim with florals, there really is no other feeling like it, knowing that I was able to play a small part in helping make your special day perfect. We know that every wedding is unique, and that’s why everything we create is designed specifically for each, individual couple in mind. We are very proud of our achievements and how far our business has come over the last few years – several magazine features, blog features, and even being Regional Finalists in The Wedding Industry Awards 2 years in a row! We can’t wait to continue flowering weddings all over the county and coming up with new ideas and designs.

I hope this blog has helped give you a little bit of an insight into the world of wedding flowers, and if you would like to chat more and see how we can help bring your floral vision to life then please do drop us a line – we would love to hear from you!

Charmaine

Contact information: Website: www.ctaylorsfloristry.co.uk Email: ctaylorsfloristry@gmail.com Facebook @C Taylor’s Floristry Instagram @ctaylorsfloristry