A simple wedding bouquet in London

[Coffeedoodles]

Hi everyone, I am having a small civil wedding in London before the big event abroad. I am therefore saving all the tablescaping, flower arches etc for later.

I am having difficulty finding a simple small wedding bouquet for the civil and am wondering if you had any suggestions? I'm being quoted £300+ and I find this quite absurd for just the bouquet... any advice is welcomed!

FYI this is the type of style I am after (simple & white): www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/638103840972677075/

Thanks in advance!

This is the place I am going to use, www.blossomandthreads.co.uk/readytowed £95 for a bridal bouquet from their ‘ready to wed’ service, cheaper for the smaller bridesmaid option. I don’t know how much you can specify what flowers though, the one you linked to looks quite specialist to me in that it’s all orchids (not sure if you wanted that specifically or just something white)

Why not just buy the flowers you like and some ribbon. Supermarkets have really good flowers these days, Morrison's I find are particularly helpful.

Whereabouts in London? A smaller independent florist would probably be your best bet.

I made my own wedding bouquet (and button holes) - I popped to New Covent Garden flower market (near Vauxhall) the day before the wedding. It was a bit of a risk, but I got exactly what I wanted.

Don't say the word wedding.
Ask for a small hand tied bouquet

They are sweet peas which are currently expensive but will become cheaper later in the year. They however ate not that expensive. What area are you approaching florists in?
If you are north or central london I can offer a. Good recommendation of a lovely helpful independent florist. I think she does lots of small affairs like you're asking. Please ask if you need the info.

These guys www.flowersbyflourish.com/product/sweet-peas-white/ will send you white sweet peas. I’ve no idea about quality or reliability though so you ‘d want to check reviews and maybe have a trial order.

When are you getting married?

Sweet peas are generally £££.
Sweet peas out of season are £££££££££££.
London florists mark up is a higher multiple than the shires because rents are much higher.
Flower prices are sky at the minute thanks to energy prices, weak pound, Brexit

Similar papery flowers are ranunculus or anemones which should be cheaper but not cheap.
If you want cheaper again then go for tulips.

Don't compare the prices you are being quoted with supermarket prices unless you want to carry a bunch of shitty bullet roses or chrysanthemums.

www.floralevolutionflowers.com/

this is a friend of mine 😊

Thanks everyone! I will check out the links shared.

The civil will indeed be in central London.

@GlamGiraffe it would be great to learn more about the independent florist you've mentioned!

Are they sweet peas or orchids?

I’ve ordered flowers from here before though not wedding flowers. Their prices seem reasonable to me.

realflowers.co.uk/wedding-flowers

Looking at your photo it's a combo of sweet peas and phalaenopsis orchids, and those would need wiring individually, which is pretty skilled, as they're so delicate, and takes a long time. Cost-wise, each individual head of orchid 10 years ago (when I was a florist) was between £3-5, and there are lots in that bouquet.

If you're anywhere near Nine Elms, you could just go there and pick up 2/3 bunches of white sweet peas. They usually come in small bunches of 10 stems with an elastic band around them, so you can pop a few bunches together quite easily and tie them with a ribbon. A simple hand-tied bouquet, rather than anything wired, should bring the cost down a lot as it's much quicker and easier to do.

I don't know when you're getting married, but if they're in season (June-time) then they are not hideously expensive, but are never cheap, like carnations or chrysanthemum.