Congratulations! If you have found your way to this page, it probably means that you are planning a wedding! What an exciting time in your life! Most brides have previously never planned a wedding before, and every little thing adds up, so I have put together some general guidelines.
The majority of Blossoms by bev’s wedding designs are custom designs. Some may be a bit similar but you will be hard pressed to find two that are exactly alike. The prices for those designs are based on my cost of the flowers from the supplier, the processing required as well as the amount of labor involved. (Yes, there are actual formulas that florists use to come up with the retail cost of a product, but I won’t bore you with those details.) When a bride is trying to set her budget for her wedding, she needs to know some general price guidelines so hopefully this blog post will be of benefit if you fall into that group. Let me also say that it is imperative that the bride goes into the consultation with her floral designer with a floral budget in her mind that she can share with the designer. So please, please discuss this with those who are paying for the wedding before your floral consult. Sometimes, brides are very hesitant to share a budget, saying – “I just want to see what my options are. ” We wouldn’t go into a car dealership and say – “I am looking for a car. I just want to see what my options are.” when they have every car possible on the lot from a Nissan Sentra to a BMW. You can see how that would’t work. Just like the options for a car are endless, floral options are endless also. Setting a budget will let the designer know which direction to go in with the floral designs to get the look you are wanting to achieve. (All flowers do not cost the same. the cost of 1 peony vs. 1 rose is very different.) As a general rule, and on the average, the bride can expect the flowers to cost from 15-20% of her overall budget. If her floral needs are far above average, they can cost as much as 25% of the overall budget.
With the ever growing popularity of sites like Pinterest, the Knot, Wedding Wire, brides are able to see every type of bouquet that can be imagined with the click of the mouse. These designs are magazine worthy, full, lush bouquets and arrangements where only the best of the best is published. While studying photos in magazines and online sites can be helpful in getting a general idea of likes and dislikes, it is equally as important to have a general knowledge of the cost of flowers.
Bridal Bouquets
Bridal Bouquets at Blossoms by bev such as those that you see highlighted on my website typically range from $300 – $350. Cascading bouquets cost a minimum of $400 due to the labor intensive work required to design them. If you were to choose to use all carnations, baby’s breath or mums, the design would cost less. However, most brides are choosing bouquets full of hydrangea, garden roses, peonies, callas, ranunculus, and tulips just to mention a few. You will see garden roses in most all of the photos of bridal bouquets. The retail price for one stem of garden rose is $6.00 – $8.00. Peonies are beautiful and very popular in bridal bouquets, but are very expensive running $15 – $20 per stem. Yes, $15-$20 per stem, retail! And most of the bouquets that are “Pinterest worthy” are bouquets full of peonies and garden roses…not just a couple of each.
One of the simplest bridal bouquets would be an all rose bridal bouquet of the same variety/color using standard roses, not garden roses. It would take approximately 24 stems for a nice dinner plate size. The large all rose bouquets that are featured in many magazines can contain up to 48 stems. The average price of a 24 stem all rose bouquet, of the same color, would be approximately $175.00.
An all rose bridal bouquet with two colors still take the same amount of roses, approx. 24, but now 25 of each color must be purchased since rose bundles are sold to the floral designer in 25 stem bundles. Even though the same number of roses would be used, since 2 different colors are used which would require the floral designer to buy 2 different bundles of 25 each, the price of the bouquet would go up. The average cost would be approx. $225.00.
Bridesmaid’s Bouquets
Bridesmaid’s bouquets typically range from $125 – $175 with the higher price point coming into effect if the bride selects flowers like peonies, garden roses and other costly flowers. A smaller version of an “in season” mixed bridal bouquet designed with hydrangea, a few roses and other seasonal flowers generally run on the average $100. Mounds of baby’s breath seem to be popular for vintage style weddings. A salad plate sized mound is generally one full bunch of baby’s breath and can average $60. One single stem rose, wrapped in the bride’s choice of ribbon and adorned with a bow would run around $12.50.
One recommendation Blossoms by bev makes to all of our brides is that they reuse the bridesmaid’s bouquets as floral centerpieces for the reception. We always deliver our bouquets in clear, cylinder vases, so they can easily be set on a reception table for a bridesmaid to place her bouquet in after the ceremony.
Boutonnieres
A single bloom of rose or ranunculus or a double bloom of spray rose with a leaf or berry accent falls into the range of $20. The cost does not come from the material used…typically it’s only one or two buds per boutonniere with a filler and foliage, but the cost of boutonnieres as well as corsages comes from the labor involved. Although small, they are labor intensive floral arrangements.
Corsages
These pieces are typically given to moms, grandmothers, and other women that the bride or groom may want to honor. They come in several different styles. Pin on corsage will run $40, wrist corsages will run $45. Trending now are mini bouquets for moms to carry instead of wearing a corsage. They will run $40.
Flower Girls
These young ladies can carry mini bouquets for $35 and up. Kissing balls or pomanders (round balls of flowers on a ribbon handle range from $55 filled with mini carnations to $135 or more if filled with roses.) A small basket full of flower petals, adorned with a bow, will start at $40, depending on the kind of flower petals used. Floral halos/crowns made from baby’s breath or greenery will cost approximately $50 each and a floral halo made from greenery and sweetheart roses will cost approximately $60.
Ceremony Flowers
Altar flowers can be a beautiful focal point of the ceremony. After the ceremony, most brides reuse these pieces at the reception on the buffet or at the entrance as a show piece. Some brides even add a few more at the reception to have that “Wow” effect when her guests walk into the reception! The average cost of an arrangement similar to the first photo below is 250.00 plus tax and delivery. The average cost of an arrangement which if fuller and designed with more flowers similar to the second photo below is $350.00 plus tax and delivery. These types of arrangements are designed in tall vases – elevated vases which lend themselves to making a visual impact.
Arches
At Blossoms by bev, the florals for arches are designed on wet foam or oasis which are attached to the arches. These can be taken down very easily for use at the reception by cutting the zip ties with which they are attached
Floral arches designed by Blossoms by bev will run a minimum of $900 for a simple design of greenery and flowers similar to the first photo below with the emphasis being heavy on the greenery. The bride can choose to have the design run along the left or right corner of the arch or totally across a portion of the top, horizontal bar of the arch only.
An arbor that has a lush, full asymmetrical design as in the second and third photo below will typically run approximately $1300 – $1500.The scale of this floral design must fit the size of the arch in order for it to be a successful, visually. To extend any of the first 3 designs below to cover the total horizontal piece at the top of the arch and half way down each vertical piece would double the price of each from $900 – $1800 and from $1300-$1500 to $2600-$3000 since it is at least doubling the amount of product needed and well as the labor involved.
An arch whether circular, rectangular or hexagon covered with lush, full greenery and flowers all around the arch as shown in the photo below will run a minimum of $4500. If only the top 1/3 of the circular arch is covered, the cost would be $2250. The cost factors driving these floral designs are not only the number of hours of labor involved in designing and creating the floral arbor which is done on site, but also the number of floral and greenery stems used in the design of a floral arch. This can easily run into several hundreds of stems necessary to get this look.
The cost of an asymmetrical design of a baby’s breath and roses arch similar to the one below would be $2500. The labor involved in covering an arch with the tiny pieces of baby’s breath is very time consuming and can only be done on site the day of the wedding. To cover the arch in full would be $5000.
Fireplace Mantles
Many wedding venues have a fireplace. Often, the bride will want to dress that mantle up making it a focal point in the room. Blossoms by bev has worked on several floral designs for fireplace mantles. Some examples of those are given below. The minimum cost for the floral design on a fireplace mantle is $350 and the design would be similar to that in the first photo. The second floral design on a fireplace mantle below where many more floral stems are used would run $450 and the third floral design on a fireplace mantle shown below would run $700.00
Centerpieces
These designs come in many shapes and sizes. Weddings typically feature low designs and elevated designs. A centerpiece similar to the candle design in the first photo below would run $90.00 to complete that look. This includes all greenery, flowers, cylinder vases (rented), single stem vases, votive candleholders and all candles. A centerpiece similar to the blush, burgundy and white compote design given in the second photo below will run approximately $125.00. A huge misconception is that gatherings of little designs or water designs with submerged flowers is less expensive. This is simply not the case. Filling multiple vases with submerged flowers or floating candles is costly due to the amount of on site labor involved. Think of 20 reception tables with 3 -5 cylinder, water filled/flower submerged vases for the reception, plus single stem floral vases plus votive candleholders. That’s 60 -100 cylinder vases that have to be transported and filled on site, plus 60 single stem floral vases plus 100 votive candleholders.
If you choose to do farm tables or oblong tables, also known as king tables or feasting tables, this style of seating lends itself to long, long arrangements of flowers or greenery and candles.
Cake Flowers
At Blossoms by bev, on average, the flowers needed to adorn the Bridal Cake would cost approx. $30-$75 depending on the size of the cake and the flowers used.
Truly, nothing is more painful for most floral designers than having to tell a bride that her flower requests are out of her budget. Although Pinterest is a great source for ideas, remember, those floral designs that make a Pinterest site are typically the lushest, fullest, most expensive designs. They require a lot of stems and a lot of time to pull together. So to keep that from happening, make a list and concentrate on the areas that you want to concentrate on the most – the bridal bouquet, the wedding party flowers, and the area behind and around where the bride and groom will stand for the ceremony. All of these areas will be photographed over and over, so that’s where you want to put the majority of your budget. Then let the extras be the extras if they fit in. If they don’t, be creative with how to do centerpieces other than flowers if your budget won’t allow that. Photos, candles, etc. can go a long way in adding that personal touch to your wedding and they make beautiful centerpieces.
While it’s impossible to know without working in the floral design field, it’s important to understand the work that goes into bringing the floral design for a wedding all together for that special day. It typically starts on Tuesday of wedding week with more than 50% of those days being 12 – 14 hour days. That is what it takes from a labor and design standpoint to bring the freshest designs that are at their peak for the wedding day.
Be transparent with your floral designer and let her know what you are able to spend on the flowers for your wedding. It’s not a big deal – really. We work with all kinds of budgets and are able to guide our brides in the direction that their budget will allow. And sometimes, that even means recommending another floral designer that would be a better match for you. And that’s ok. We are professionals and although we would love the opportunity to work with you, sometimes it just is not what is best for you or us.
We love what we do at Blossoms by bev and have been told over and over that it shows in our designs. Trust us to bring your floral vision to life and then let us do our magic for your special day! Edit