Wedding flower quotes when you’ve got no idea. Help

[ZolaBudd]

Hi all, I am mother of the groom and chatting with the couple about the confusion that you get with wedding flower quotes.

Could anyone give us some tips on what questions to ask, what to look out for on quotes and just generally what on earth are we doing?!

All I can say is what I did.

I bought a load of wedding magazines - they all have run downs of average costs.

I then thought of what I was actually prepared to pay.

Went to florist with my budget and she said how many buttonholes, bouquets and centrepieces this would cover.

There was a bit of back and forth and then we agreed it.

Oh thanks so much for replying. I think they’ve been confused by seasonality and stuff like that. And I don’t really know how much is a reasonable price

My florist I think found me a bit disappointing as basically I just made her get on with it

Her: What is your theme?

Me: I haven't got one. Um, I like bright colours?

Her: But you must have a theme???

Costs vary a lot, one tip is to ensure that specified flowers are in season and hopefully common colours. We had a bride who wanted a very specific shade of purple and whilst it could be sourced it was 10x what the standard ones would have been!

We found it much cheaper if we just specified colours and let florist pick what was available. I found a local floral company that grow all their own flowers which I wanted as more eco friendly, and it was so much cheaper than some of the more ‘wedding’ florists with fancy websites etc

Oh thank you so much. It’s a July wedding and yes they are going with a grow your own type of person. I don’t know how much the quote was but it’s really shocked them

Am not surprised it shocked them. We see so many pictures of weddings with displays of flowers on every table, every row of chairs, big arches of flowers.

And then you personally speak to a florist and discover your budget covers 3 table pieces, 5 buttonholes and a small bouquet for the bride.

Goodness I'm getting married next year and I couldn't answer that question either! What even is a theme? What sort of themes do other people have?

We're getting married next weekend and our flowers have come to £700. Thats for a bouquet, 6 corsages, four button holes and the table centrepiece (one table with a long floral arrangement and some bud vases - we had to buy the vases).

I spent about £200. MoH and I made rose bouquets for the two of us the night before. The lady who usually does the church flowers did ours - I supplied piles of lilies and sunflowers, she did the rest. I paid her in gin! I think MiL paid for the dress/suit flowers - a few £ per item.

I had no theme, just picked the flowers I liked which were in season when I went into the wholesalers!

I've just looked on our spreadsheet- £3000! Think we really downsized as well.

It also varies HUGELY with what you mean by "wedding flowers"

Are you decorating the Church, or the room the ceremony is in ?
The Reception ?
Even 2 weddings in the same Church can vary by hundreds, or even thousands of £££ - some people have things like pew ends and a barn a friend was looking at have a huge cartwheel thing suspended from the ceiling, which another wedding had covered in flowers for the cost of £1400 just for that !!! Quite different from one nice arrangement in a vase somewhere on the alter.

Do you mean bouquets for the bride and bridesmaids ? (How many)
Button holes ? (how many)
Corsages ? (how many)

We ordered a load of flowers in white and yellow- didn't specify variety do whatever was in season, buttonholes and a bouquet. We then bought a cheap vase per table and arranged the loose flowers ourselves - really enjoyed it actually! And it was loads cheaper.

Theme... what colour the bridesmaid dresses/ mens accessories are.

Our venue were really helpful in guiding where to put flowers for most impact. Speak to your coordinator to get a list which florists can quote on.

Ours was £800 in 2016. That was my bouquet, posies for 5 bridesmaids and 8 table decorations. We did our own buttonholes and the bridesmaids posies went onto our top table as decoration. Church wedding so no church flowers, we had the ladies do them for a donation and the church kept the flowers for Sunday.

2018! We got engaged 2016. 🙈🙈

Be radical. Skip them! I mean, just have a bouquet and ones for the bridesmaids. Do them yourself. Sorted. Much cheaper. You don't have to replicate Pinterest stuff.

We’ve just agreed to about £1,800 for our wedding next year.

includes ceremony flowers (which will then be moved into the reception room for cake table or something), candles, table runners and mini vases along 3 long tables (seating 50 people each), 6 bridesmaid bouquets, 6 buttonholes, flower girl crown.

they also include coming back to the venue and making all flowers into take away bouquets. A lot of florists do not do this - it all gets chucked which is terrible!

I like the idea of doing it yourself, but when you’re working and you don’t live near the venue and it’s massive the idea of ponying up with a few flowers is a little bit ridiculous

I paid £300 + a £50 donation to the church flower fund in 2015.

Shop around, consider making your own table decorations. There are some very inventive and cheaper options. A friend of mine has bought slim glass vases and tied raffia around them and has dried flowers and grasses. She is having a Countryside wedding and they look lovely.

I am not a formally trained florist but have made wedding flowers, wreaths and arranged flowers for church for many years.

I made a bouquet for my sister recently and a button hole, the flowers cost close to £37. Six white roses, three stems of lisianthus, three sea thistles, baby’s breath, eucalyptus and greenery from my garden.

My friend had varying shapes of those cheap ikea wide vases - square rectangular, fish bowl style and then floated flowers on top. Different sizes, hydrangeas dahlias and chrysanthemums etc looked amazing.

I paid £380 for a brooch bouquet for myself, 2 bm bouquets, flowergirl wand, 8 buttonholes and a spray for the candles to sit in. Didnt bother with anything else fir the chapel. Not bothered about flowers and didnt need them for reception venue as table decor included in package .
Mine are a mix of artificial flowers with some preserved in there aswell.