All brides ask “what is the average cost of wedding flowers” so they can start to think about their own flower budget. It's a great question. Let's talk about the wedding industry 10% rule and bounce it off prices for real weddings. And we'll wrap up with tips to help control your wedding costs that are in your control.
Is there truly a typical, average cost of wedding flowers?
The typical rule of thumb for setting this budget is to plan on 10% of the overall wedding budget. It's a starting point! I have seen many brides go over this, under, and everywhere in between. These different approaches reflect the importance of flowers to a bride's overall aesthetic, their individual wedding priorities, and desire or carefree approach for specific flower varieties. You decide the aesthetic, and the number of florals, and that will in part dictacte the overall budget.
Is 10% a Realistic Average Cost of Wedding Flowers?
To set your personal budget, it helps to start by educating yourself on actual, real wedding flowers and their costs (these weddings represent ones we’ve done in our Western NY region). What did other couples spend on lush, extravagant florals for the ceremony and reception? What did they spend on personal custom florals for a small wedding vs a large wedding? Compare these weddings and associated costs to your current budget, then re-evaluate if you need to adjust your floral choices as well as your budget.
This is like shopping for a house - you look at the real estate market and current prices, re-evaluate your priorities, and adjust your budget as necessary to accomplish your goals. We hope this transparency into our previous weddings is a starting point for assessing what is affordable and where you might want to set your wedding flower budget.
Tips for Managing Your Wedding Flower Budget
We’re always ready to offer suggestions for maximizing your flower budget, and we know other florists are happy to do the same if you ask them for suggestions (hint: florists love to share their ideas to help you out!!) There are many good suggestions out there, including this one from wedding wire: Here are some of my personal favorites:
1. Reuse your wedding bouquets as floral arrangements for the reception. They can usually be repurposed for florals on the head table, bar, and escort card table to name a few.
2. Arbors are beautiful, eye catching décor that make for amazing moments and pictures. If you have one that’s portable, repurpose it and consider moving it to behind the sweetheart table for more amazing pictures!
3. One my other favorites for the arbor is to use silk foliage for the base of the floral arrangement, then fill in with real or silk florals. The silk base is less expensive for my couples, still looks great in pictures, holds up better in the beating sun, and it allows me to reduce my labor costs for the arbor – which I pass on to you!
4. If your venue provides different size tables, consider using the larger tables. Tables of 8-10 people rather than 6 people will require fewer centerpieces, as you are using fewer tables!
5. Watch the size of your wedding party and guest list! It's one of the easiest factors to help control wedding costs!
If you’d like help getting your arms around the various personal, ceremony, and reception flowers you should be considering, you are invited to access a wedding flower checklist that will help you with just that.
Conclusion
10% of the wedding budget is a great starting point to estimate your own wedding flower budget. To arrive at a budget that is realistic for you, consider the tips we shared above to manage your floral budget, and look at real weddings we've done and what they cost. It's insightful to see real costs, compare those to your floral desires, and then prioritize what is important to you on your special day. This is an iterative process, so it does take some time to arrive at that important number.
Best wishes for a beautiful wedding, filled with moments and memories with family and friends as you start your new life together! Would you like to connect with us? Request a free, no-obligation consultation here!
Can You Help Us?
If you have time, what is the best tip you've picked up for managing wedding flower costs? Leave us a comment! This will help us better serve our wedding couples! Thank you.