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Original poster

To think £4500 is ridiculous for wedding flowers?

126 replies

KnightlyMyMan · 04/12/2018 11:12

Got our quote through from the florist yesterday and almost fainted! I kid you not £4500 for

  • 3 bouquets- mid size and a mix of flower/foliage (they sell these in MnS for £15- I could just tie a ribbon around them)
  • 4 small button holes (1 flower and a bit of spray)
  • 4 standing plyth/urn decorations (not the largest - about hip height)
  • 6 table flowers in vases (medium size- again could buy these for £35 each in MnS)
  • Foliage garland for the top table
  • Some candles 😂🙈 (about 8 in glass jars- both of which I can get at Asda for £20 all in)

I got the quote as DM thinks a florist is very important and MIL agrees. I had expected about £1500 as know they’ll add a charge to be there for the day...etc. I understand they need to make a living and add a premium but it seems EXTORTIONATE.

Everything I’d read online suggested a budget of £1000-£2000 should be apple for what I wanted!

Is this just a randomly crazy high quote or is this normal???

I was happy to do the flowers myself and at least now DP is on board with that idea!!

OP posts:
Blanchedupetitpois · 04/12/2018 12:56

The total budget was £75k. I know that’s a totally wild amount to spend on a wedding, believe me! In our case it just happened that the money was there, along with the expectation (from parents, mainly) that the wedding would be on that scale. We had an amazing day but I don’t for a second think weddings need to be like ours was. I’ve been to weddings across a full range of budgets, and I’ve loved every one and thought they all really suited the couple getting married.

(I don’t tell anyone in real life what ours cost because I do know it’s a crazy amount to spend on a wedding...)

Myheartbelongsto · 04/12/2018 12:58

That's more than twice what i paid to get married in jamaica inc hotel, flights, entire wedding and lots more.

Don't get ripped off

MarshaBradyo · 04/12/2018 13:00

Easy to buy loads of flowers yourself

mrsseashell · 04/12/2018 13:00

That's an extortionate amount. We are paying £500 for bridal bouquet, four bridesmaids bouquets, 12 centre pieces and 8 button holes.

Excited101 · 04/12/2018 13:03

Wow! petit I’m in awe! That is a HUGE amount of money to have for a wedding day! The £4,500 for flowers I thought was far too much but then I wouldn’t have a clue how much flowers would cost.

LadyinLavende · 04/12/2018 13:06

I think the church flower arranging ladies did the church flowers for our wedding (they were beautiful.... one of my favourite wedding photos involves the flowers)- obviously I paid for the flowers themselves and the church kept them for the Sunday services and then distributed them among the sad and sick in the parish for them to enjoy .... perhaps you could enquire about a similar solution...... unless, of course the venue for the ceremony is not a church in which case no one will do anything without charging you a fortune.

AmperoBlue · 04/12/2018 13:08

Got married in France this October. Only one florist in the village.
€120 for 3 bridesmaids, 1 bridal and 5 buttonholes!

Didn't need flowers at the ceremony as the flowers still out.

CharlesChickens · 04/12/2018 13:09

Seventeen thousand pounds on FLOWERS ! faints how is that even possible ?
I absolutely do not begrudge anyone spending whatever they want to, but blimey. All the frocks you could buy with that...

MarshaBradyo · 04/12/2018 13:11

That is a lot? Shock

Do they do that charity over here where they get donated to hospitals etc - I actually saw that on a Gwynnie wedding post

3WildOnes · 04/12/2018 13:11

I bought my flowers wholesale and spent £550. Lots of roses and peonies. Some friends helped me arrange them the day before. We actually had quite a few left over.

MarshaBradyo · 04/12/2018 13:11

No ? Needed

Blanchedupetitpois · 04/12/2018 13:13

@CharlesChickens see, priorities! my wedding dress was £450. I got it in a sample sale. First one I tried on, loved it. Tried on 20 more and none of them compared. Whereas the flowers (and the food were so important to me.

Blanchedupetitpois · 04/12/2018 13:15

Do they do that charity over here where they get donated to hospitals etc

We did this ourselves. We gave loads away to guests but still had tons left, so the day after the wedding we took them to nursing homes and a hospice. It was really nice that they got a second life.

MarshaBradyo · 04/12/2018 13:16

That is nice, I’m glad they got a second life

Also I bet Gwynnie spent loads, tg she did it

AndThereSaw · 04/12/2018 13:25

I bought a corsage bracelet, some glue, pins, jute string and wire (£15).
4 packs of seeds (£4).
We had a practice the year before to see how everything would grow but it saved us a fortune and the garden looked amazing.

Obviously not the look you are after OP, but if you can get post of them from M+S for a couple of hundred perhaps you could do the rest yourself with wholesale flowers?

pinkdelight · 04/12/2018 13:34

I didn't even have flowers at my wedding so am in no way pro fancy florists, but you do say it's a posh area and a top end florist so really there's no sense comparing them to Asda or M&S.

You went to a florists for people with £££ to burn and no, they weren't to know your background, but even if they did, you then wouldn't be their target customer. They're not appealing to the 'know the value of money' supermarket shopper. They're presumably marking themselves are not being for such people by charging the earth. Not saying it's good or right - that price is eye-watering - but the more you say about your venue and prominent family etc etc., the more it makes sense that this place has quoted you silly money. And no doubt some silly minted folk would pay it. But that's not you so absolutely take your business elsewhere.

Cthulwho · 04/12/2018 13:56

We had artificial flowers collected from various shops for pennies and made into arrangements. Still have them in rooms around the house and my bouquet in its box in the cupboard looking lovely. We really weren't bothered about flowers though - wanted to spend the money on something we cared about like the cake - plus it was spring and we both get terrible hayfever!

sulflower · 04/12/2018 14:03

That is absolutely insane. Absolutely no way would I spend that on flowers even if I had a bottomless purse. A friend of mine spent a grand on her bouquet alone which she then had freeze dried after the ceremony, I dread to think what the whole package cost.

LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 04/12/2018 14:05

I know a couple of florists and there is a real skill involved in dressing a formal room that I don't think you can just recreate with M&S bunches. My niece's wedding was very informal with handfuls of wildflowers crammed into jam jars, which was absolutely beautiful but very much suited the style of the wedding and the room.

That all said, £4,500 is bonkers unless you're marrying Elton John.

Vanillaradio · 04/12/2018 14:17

Wow, that's about the same as the food and drink bill at our wedding! Because our venue was owned by the City Council they suggested the Council Parks Department, we had bride's bouquet, 3 bridesmaids bouquets, 8 buttonholes, 2 corsages, main table and registrars table arrangements and 8 centre table arrangements for £400. And they were beautiful! Can you look somewhere like that?

madeyemoodysmum · 04/12/2018 15:24

See if you can source an independent freelance florist for the hard bits and do the rest yourself. My mum was an independent florist. For work like that she would have charged about 1k

JustMarriedAndLovingIt · 04/12/2018 15:29

I thought i’d Been very extravagant spending £230ish but £4.5k is crazy! We got 1 large bouquet, 1 small bouquet, 1 wrist corsage, 6 x button holes , 1 x table topper and 14 x glasses filled with flowers.

Pomfluff · 04/12/2018 16:13

The flowers at my wedding cost close to £3000 so I can actually believe that quote! The problem was I left my planning too late so I had to go with the florist that works with the hotel. The lowest point was being charged an additional £500 for 30 paper cones of fresh rose petals that people could toss after church! I knew that could have been done MUCH cheaper with more preparation but I simply ran out of time and didn't have anyone who could have DIY'd that on super short notice from the local flower market.

It was a catch 22 since I messed up a lot of my wedding planning due to having to work so much during that time, but because of work the costs weren't that much of an issue and I was just glad to have the logistics taken off me. And as many people pointed out, vendors will quote their numbers because there will always be people who can afford it. If that works for both sides it's a win-win, but if the price is clearly over budget then there are tons of other places who can do it for cheaper.

Bishalisha · 04/12/2018 16:21

That does sound like a lot. Terrible pic as this was the next day after they were shoved in their crates and back at home but all the below, plus 4 bouquets and, 10 button holes and 2 swags for an arch as well as an additional 2 decorative foliage bits come to £800

To think £4500 is ridiculous for wedding flowers?
fussychica · 04/12/2018 16:29

Blimey, most people I know would rather put that kind of money towards their house deposit or furnish their home. Insane.