All brides ask "how much do wedding flowers cost for a dream wedding", or "what is the average cost of wedding flowers near me”? Both logical questions in order to think about your overall wedding budget for your big day as well as your flower budget. You don't want to break the bank, and it's smart to consider ways for saving money at this signficant point in your life. You have potentially many large expenses ahead of you in your lifetime (a house, children, vacations, etc.) so let's not spend it all now!
What is the Industry Average Cost of Wedding Flowers?
The typical rule of thumb for setting this budget is to plan on 8-10% of the overall wedding budget. Data from Fash.com (an online site to connect clients with service providers.) indicates the average cost of wedding flowers is about $2,200 for couples, or a cost range between $500 to $3500. 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 strong desire or carefree approach for specific flower varieties. You decide the aesthetic, and the types and number of florals, and that will in part dictate the overall budget. And this data will vary depending on where it's pulled from, as well as where you are located regionally.
Is 8-10% a Realistic Budget to Set for Your Wedding Flowers?
The 8-10% guideline (or about a $2,200) for the average cost of wedding flowers is a single data point, a place to begin thinking about an estimate for your floral budget. Let's refine that budget by looking at floral costs for all possible flowers you may want for your big day. These include personal flowers (bouquets, boutonnières), reception florals and decor, and ceremony florals, to name a few.
Costs for Popular Wedding Flowers
Wedding Floral Item | Average Cost |
Bridal Bouquet | $110 - $350 |
Bridesmaid's Bouquet | $50 - $110 |
Corsages and Boutonnières | $10 - $40 |
Reception Arrangements | $50 - $600 |
Alter Arrangements | $60 - $450 |
Ceremony Arbor/Arch | $200 - $1000 |
Your final floral costs will be determined by many variables - factors that you have control over to help keep your wedding flower selections budget friendly. See a more complete version of this table here.
What Floral Items Do I Want for My wedding?
Do a quick inventory of the wedding flowers you want prior to meeting with your florist. It will help you and your fiancé identify all of the items you are thinking for the wedding party, the wedding ceremony, reception, VIP guests, and more. This is just a starting point for discussion and will change as you refine your floral budget and make final decisions for all wedding florals. This will help your consultation go more efficiently, and your florist will really appreciate it. You can download our pre-consultation checklist here to help with this activity.
Steps to Establish Your Wedding Flower Budget
Establishing your floral budget is similar to shopping for a house - you take a crack at what you think you want, you look at the real estate market and current prices, re-evaluate your priorities, and adjust your budget as necessary to accomplish your goals. It's an iterative process, and establishing your wedding budget is similar in that you'll execute each of the following steps several times. As you work through these steps a couple of times, you will arrive at a solution that works for you and your fiancé: lush and elegant florals on a budget that works for you.
Identify your wedding flower and floral decor priorities. Are you hoping for a bouquet fit for a queen or reception decor that is talked about long after the "I Do's"? Also, consider your floral expenses in context of the overall wedding? How big of a priority are they vs other elements of the entire wedding?
Research wedding expenses beyond the information presented here. The Wedding Cost Estimator can help you estimate a wedding flower expenses and total wedding budget based on the location of you wedding.
Allow yourself to think outside the box at this point. Do you or a close relative have some creative juices that would lend themselves to doing a portion of the wedding and reception decor? These special touches by close family and friends can be such a blessing on your big day. Lush style and affordability can go hand-in-hand.
Florists have so many tips and tricks to help you manage the budget. Don't be afraid to inquire with them regarding suggestions to help you out - many will be more than happy to help you out.
TROPICAL WEDDING ARRANGEMENT
7 Tips for Affordable Wedding Flowers
We’re always ready to offer suggestions to cut costs to achieve a flower budget right for you, 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!!) Here are some of my personal favorite strategies for watching the flower budget:
Reuse and Repurpose Wedding Florals
This is one of the easiest ways to reduce your wedding flower budget. Read on and watch your budget shrink in the blink of an eye:
Reuse bridemaids bouquets to adorn the head table, guest tables, or around the venue on bars, seating chart table, and more.
After the wedding nuptials are framed with a beautiful arbor, move it to the reception hall as a backdrop for the happy couple or the photobooth.
Wedding ceremony arrangements also make beautiful decor at the reception. Depending on the actual design of these pieces, they can serve as guest table centerpieces or surround the sweetheart table.
As you can see below, this bride wisely chose to move her ceremony wildflower meadow boxes to the reception, near the sweetheart table. She also repurposed them a 3rd time, for a wedding breakfast!
Shine the Spotlight on the Bride and Groom
The bride and her bouquet are one of the show pieces for the wedding day. Her bouquet typically includes a few flower varieties that are found nowhere else other than the groom's bout. The bridesmaids' bouquets, while still beautiful, take a supporting role and are smaller in size, and contain flowers that complement the overall theme for the day. No need to fill them to the brim with prized, expensive blooms that are found in the bridal bouquet.
The groom should be adorned with a pocket boutonnière, while the groomsmen still look awesome with standard pin-on-bouts. Easy and more affordable ways to set the happy couple apart from the bridal party.
Buy What's in Season
Local, in-season flowers are unmatched in quality and freshness. I'm able to walk to my garden and pick a dahlia at the peak of perfection for your wedding. Dahlias don't have the longevity that a rose does, so avoiding the expensive dahlias that have been sitting at the wholesaler far too long is my preference for your wedding.
Leaning into seasonal, local flower availability works for Christmas weddings (pines), spring weddings (larkspur), summer weddings (snapdragons), seasonal foliages, and themed weddings (wildflower) as well. While you can get peonies off season from Alaska or Holland, they could burst your bouquet budget before you know what happened!
Explore Bloom Substitutions
With help from your florist, you can explore flower substitutions that help you maintain the overall floral vibe you desire, but with less impact on the flower budget.
This bride selected cremones and carnations to compliment her roses and dusty pink floral décor and designs. While carnations are not always a favorite flower for everyone, they do enhance the overall appeal of floral arrangements when done by a seasoned floral designer. Not only that, they have a high petal count, much like their expensive, more popular cousins, dahlias and peonies. I love the cremones that flatter the color palette for this bride, but they have a nice size blossom head that adds volume to her bouquet but without the price of a rose. Win-win!
Also consider artificial wedding bouquets such as silk. They look very realistic and come in beautiful colors, so they make a wonderful alternative.
Brainstorm Do-It-Yourself Options
What easy floral tasks can you undertake to alleviate the pressure on your wedding budget? Do you have interest in doing silk bouquets or dried boutonnières with your attendants as a pre-wedding party? This is a fun way to prepare for the wedding and have time with friends as well.
I always ask my brides if they have a good friend or favorite aunt that is asking to help with their wedding. More often than not, they do! If they are working really hard to stay within a budget, I encourage them to consider asking their volunteers to assist with getting flowers into bud vases, or to set up the cylinders, water, and candle collections. It's an easy task, people feel included, it helps the flower budget, and it relieves me of setup-day tasks I know are easy for most people. Everyone wins!
What are the Inexpensive or Cheapest Flowers for a Wedding?
There are many flowers that are less expensive than premium focal flowers (garden roses, peonies, hydrangeas, orchids, etc.), which complement the focal stems and allow them to stand out in a bouquet. Carnations, mums, daisies, and babysbreath come to mind immediately. They serve nicely as a backdrop to the focal flowers in many wedding florals while still maintaining your aesthetic. In my mind, I think there's a difference between cheap florals (inferior quality or worth, bargain-basement) vs practical and affordable wedding florals. Let's take an example.
You want garlands on your head table or guest tables. A well-meaning friend or special aunt offers to forage for some foliage or stems on their property, but doesn't take into account how to properly process those stems for longevity to prevent wilting at the wedding reception. That wasn't your goal while watching your budget, true? An affordable alternative would be to forego the lush, garland that starts at $15 or more a foot. Instead, opt for a beautiful, delicate spray of italian ruscus down the reception table, possibly dotted with an occasional rose. Or my favorite, is to go with a hand laid garland that competes with the premade garlands. It looks just as amazing, yet more affordable. My personal recommendation is to consider "floral substitution options" to maintain your style and design goals, rather than "cheap" alternatives. Read more about my thoughts about Affordable Wedding Flowers here.
Manage the Size and Scope of Your Wedding
Consider the size of all wedding details when dreaming of a affordable wedding flower budget. How big is your guest list? Do you need reception centerpieces for 10 tables or 20 tables? 10 tables with centerpieces is different than 20 tables.
The same thought process applies to the size of your wedding party. Will you have 10 attendants or 5? Will the wedding still be beautiful if the girls' bouquets are smaller than you originally planned? These are easy, straightforward ways to reach your affordability goals.
And last, but not least, consider going with larger arrangements on 1/2 of the reception tables. On the remaining tables, go with smaller scale centerpieces that clearly coordinate with the overall style and ambiance for the day.
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 affordable for you, start by looking at average flower prices in your area. Bounce it against your overall floral design and style goals you have set for yourself. Do you have top priorities you don't want to budge on, as well as other priorities you are willing to adjust if necessary?
Browse the tips we have included about and explore if any of those options sound appealing to you. Talk with a florist or 2 to not only get some other thoughts and ideas, but see if they seem like someone you'd like to work with. Remember, this can be an iterative process, similar to buying a house. Start 6 - 12 months before your wedding date so you don't feel rushed and are able to make decisions without the pressure of the wedding being right around the corner.
Request a free, no-obligation consultation here! Or submit the form if you have any questions.
Best wishes for a beautiful wedding, filled with moments and memories with family and friends as you start your new life together!
Additional Resources:
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Share Your Tips with Others
If you have time, what is the best tip you've picked up for managing wedding flower costs? Leave us a comment and share the knowledge with other wedding couples! Thank you.
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