How much would you pay for flowers?

[Claud88]

Due to get married in December.. and two of the florists I've been in touch with have asked for a minimum spend of 2k. I'm a little shocked as i wasn't planning to spend 2k on flowers.
Can I ask how much you paid or would pay for your wedding flowers? I am scared of getting in touch with florists now 😂
TIA x

I've gone with silk flowers. Far, far less expensive, beautiful, they can be kept and no running around on the morning to collect them, and they won't wilt! X

I bought £250 worth from the wholesalers, the lady who did the usual church flowers put them together there and we paid her for her time. I made my bouquet and the MOH bouquet.

It was not an area I cared to spend on. I bought lilies and sunflowers for the church, they smelled amazing. Roses for our bouquets.

Hi, Wedding florist here! You're absolutely not the only one to be surprised when it comes to the cost of wedding flowers I think most people don't realise until they have to deal with it

Obviously I can't speak for all florists but I can try and explain a bit for you

Flower prices currently are sky rocketing due to issues in the country's where they are grown, Covid and brexit. When your florist orders your flowers they have to order minimum quantities from the wholesaler so they will have to cost in for all the stems even if you just wanted say 1 rose you have to buy 25 so you will have to pay for all 25. There is also a LOT of work that goes into planning wedding flowers, the time spent consulting with the bride in face and or emails, time researching and ordering flowers, visits to venues, fuel, delivery, labour (they may need to pay staff over time or even get freelance florists in to help them) and also a good florist will charge their worth. If you want good quality flowers and well constructed bouquets you will pay for what you get kind of thing. It will also depend what flowers you're wanting as many are seasonal so will be very expensive to get out of season. Another reason personally for me having a minimum spend and booking fee is that it is very very hard to fill dates that get cancelled close to the time so you as a business person need to know your client isn't likely to cancel or mess you around. We are trying to earn a living after all.

I would suggest shopping around and get more quotes if you do feel it's excessive what they are charging and then you can compare.

I hope this helps and good luck with your wedding planning and finding the florist for you!

The church flower arrangers did the church flowers and they were glorious. £200 including a donation.

My bouquet, one bridesmaid's bouquet and 8 buttonholes were £90.

The reception (tent at home) my mother did mostly with sweet peas, delphinium and roses from the garden.

But tastes were simple back then and I had a two tier, plainish royal iced cake (delish) for £110 and we scattered flowers on it.

DS is getting married in September. Smart London wedding. I daren't ask but realistically a decent bunch from M&S is £45 so amplify that to 4 large displays in church and pew posies and you are talking £800; a couple of centrepieces and table flowers for reception probably the same and I can easily see a well made bridal bouquet and one for the bridesmaid plus a few button holes taking it to £2k and that's not going over the top although none if it is DIY. Village church and home venue shoukd be doable for £800-1000 plus bouquets.

Mine was £300 and that was one bouquet for me and a button hole for every guest (23). No floral centrepieces etc.

Also depending what date you are getting married in December flower prices will be high due to it being christmas, this is a hugely busy time in the industry and prices can almost triple due to the demand for the stock. Also there is next to no delivery's between Christmas and new year x

We paid almost £2k in 2010.

Our florist decorated our ceremony venue (bay tree alley type thing, 400 candles - tea lights) 200ish paper lanterns hung from beams.

Personal flowers for me, DH, 2BM, DM, MIL, SIL, DSM, best man, my brothers & my darling dad.

She also decorated our reception venue. Flowers for the venue - 14 tables I think! Massive arrangements.

I got dried flowers from Etsy. Beautiful AND I still have them! And half the price.

I paid £289 but I didn't go mad decorating the whole place with flowers.
The centre pieces doubles as door wreaths afterwards for family as we got married just before Christmas.

Meant to say, she is my best friend & her gift was our personal flowers. I think we got a bargain. She spent so much time on it all and it looked spectacular. Truly incredible.

I had a summer wedding which helped! My bouquet was pink and white roses with a few other bits. It trailed a bit. It also wilted a bit - temperatures hit 91° on my wedding day.

Sense check re my prices 30 years ago and I am not in charge of the wedding and have no intention of being involved.

Wow that’s expensive! I am getting married in March and I have been quoted £950. That’s for 8 centrepieces, buttonholes for 7 and bouquets for me and 3 bridesmaids.

We had a small, registry office wedding. I knew I wanted dried flowers and I spent £50 in total for my bouquet and 5 buttonholes.

I recieved quote of 000's. We decided not to spend that. I had artificial flowers in vases for the tables. Which I sold on after for half the cost each.
We bought flowers and did 3 or 4 big vases for the church entrance, alter table and window sills. I made the button holes the night before - do practice a few times before hand. I made my bouquet last minute from the left overs!! I had planned to carry some artificial flowers but thought the real ones were prettier on the day....I still think I did the right thing there but wish I had bought some additional flowers for this.
My mum and I had many discussions about the bouquet. She thought we couldn't afford the flowers rather than I was actively choosing not to spend £100 on a bouquet. Over all we probably spent around £200 on flowers, vases, ribbon, supplies etc.

It all depends what you're prioritising for the day, doesn't it?

I heard of someone who thought the wedding florist was a rip off so went to the supermarket just before the wedding and got a load of flowers. When it came to actually doing anything with them though, they quickly learned why florists cost what they do!

A lot of work goes into it if you want a certain look - they have to source the flowers, do a lot of design work, consult with you, the venue, and ensure that everything is delivered fresh at the venue for you on the day. It's a lot of work, even if you don't have a huge number of flowers.

We are having loads of flowers so spending a lot, but that was always going to be a priority for me, as I love flowers

Some people are less fussed and you don't have to spend £1000's if you only want the basic bouquet, buttonholes and a few decorations for the venue.

I paid £300 for the flowers and it was a gift from my new SIL and a couple of relatives to do all the flowers; archway, table centrepieces, bouquets, buttonholes. The ceremony and reception were in the same place, so no worries about two venues.

@violetanemone you are right it is about priorities. If you want them to look amazing you need to pay for the experience. We prioritised food and drink over other bits. Talking to my cousin last week she couldn't remember anything we had done with decor at all!!! So maybe we prioritised right for our guests. Or maybe if we'd had amazing flowers they would have been remembered. Who knows. It was right for us. I hope yours are beautiful and bring a lot of joy.

We paid £1,500 for our flowers in 2020. This included a flower arch, my bouquet, flowers for the groomsman and the grooms lapels, fresh flowers on all tables (only 6 as we have a COVID wedding!), a single rose for bridesmaids (6) and a bouquet for each mum

I ordered a bouquet for me, 2 small bouquets and 3 button holes for 60 quid from the florist a few days before the ceremony and did not mention it being for a wedding so i didnt get robbed. Then went to tesco and bought lots of carnations about 50 quid the day before the wedding for centre pieces. I had been collecting nice vases from charity shops in the lead up and arranged them myself, they were beautiful. No way was I going to waste such a huge sum of money on flowers. They can be so expensive and I cant see why.

My hotel did a basic tall vase with a long stem rose (I think) on the table included in the package.
I made my own bouquets...it's so easy!
My MIL made the button holes. And I did glass jars of tulips at the table and the top of the aisle (in the hotel) I think it cost me about 200 all in!

I looked a silk flowers but couldn’t bring myself to buy them. They just aren’t as nice.

I went to an independent florist and took her advice on seasonal flowers.

I knew the overall look I wanted she vetoed certain flowers and encouraged me to consider others.
Bridal party flowers looked awesome and came in at under £300…

For tables, if you speak to your local supermarket they can/will put an order in for you so you aren’t racing around trying to find enough from various supermarkets.
Also look at focusing on foliage

If you’re getting married in December is it a hotel or somewhere which will likely be decorated for Christmas anyway? You can cut down on the cost significantly if there’s less “dressing” to be done.
If you’d consider faux flowers there’s also lots of Facebook groups where people who have had DIY style weddings sell on a lot of things like props and flowers.

Wow! We're getting married in June and our florist has quoted around £400 for my bouquet, 3 corsages, 4 buttonholes, flowers for the the end of every other pew and all the reception tables.

We've just asked for bright seasonal / wild flowers. Christ knows what we'd need to hang flowers from to reach a £2k minimum

Another vote for silk flowers.

Ours were dyed by the provider to match our colours, they used paint charts from Homebase for colour matching it was inspired and the flowers are still perfect 8 years later.

They didn't wilt and were great on the day cause I didn't have to worry about them.

We are lucky as our venue provides all the flowers for the decor throughout and centre pieces etc from their gardens. I'm growing wildflowers this summer for next year and will make my bouquet and button holes and flower girl bunches myself. I want an ethical/ environmentally friendly wedding so will only use local flowers in season. If its going to be at Xmas then research what flowers you can have for that time of year. If it was me I'd be buying nice pots from charity shops or The range/tkmaxx where it is cheap and planting winter pansies etc for colour and then you can bring them rather than vases and then you can take them home again! Maybe just have a bouquet made up if you want something fancy