How much did your flowers cost?

[Gypsy]

All of them... but specifically your bouquets... and where are you located?

I've just started on the flower budget and I'm wondering if $160 is reasonable for this.

My total budget for flowers is $800. That includes seven centerpieces. Two large vases of flowers for the ceremony (then to be used for our sweetheart table), bridesmaids bouquet, 4 bouts., three corsages all made from Costco light pink roses by me. If I can get the bouquet for made by a profession for $160 it will work.

 

[larussel03]

This may not be super helpful, but the first florist I''ve talked to so far has quoted me at ~700.00 for:

1 bridal bouquet (calla lillies and orchids, dahlias etc) 155.00
6 BM bouquets (3-5 hand tied calla lillies with bear grass) 20.00 ea
2 mothers bouquets 20.00 or 30.00 each if simple like BM''s or small version of mine
8 bouts for dads and GM''s 10.00 ea (just a mini calla with bear grass)
1 groom bout (calla lilly, bear grass, orchid) 10.00
2 arrangements with all sorts of white and burgundy flowers for altar: 80.00each
aisle runner, bows for pews made up rest

Luckily our venue supplies the centerpieces, but that''d likely take us to 1000-1200 if we did them. She did mention that calla''s tend to be on the pricier side, so I may do some substitutions b/c I did want to keep it under 600.00

 

[curlygirl]

Um, yikes, my flowers were close to $5000!! I'm in NYC and I actually got a good deal with my February wedding. I think my bouquet alone was something like $200 (cymbidium orchids and cream roses), my MOH's bouquet was about $125 (all cymbidium orchids), 4 bouts were about $10 each (cymbidium orchids), church arrangements were $300-ish (which we had moved to be used during the cocktail hour), centerpieces were $175 each for 14 tables and $150 for the sweetheart table. She also threw in free votives, rose petals and a ladies room arrangement. It was all done so beautifully so for me, it was worth every penny and as I said, it was kind of a bargain for a top NYC florist.

 

[rainbowtrout]

I have been wondering about this:


How is it that I can go to a nice local florist and buy a bouquet of cream roses for 15 dollars, but if I attach "bridal" to that bouquet it costs 100 dollars?


That''s a very similar bouquet to what I want, Gypsey, and I was just wondering why it costs 160 to have someone do it. I can''t figure it out.

 

[Gypsy]

Because it''s bridal honey.

Everything bridal has a premium. White organza ribbon 1.00 a yard. BRIDAL orzanda ribbon? 3.00 a yard.

Arrangements do take skilll and time... labor-- but well... Not THAT much labor.

That''s why I''m doing everything but my bouquet and possibly FI''s bout. (he wants a dark pink calla lilly) myself.

You buy a white evening gown at macy''s? 300. Same gown in a bridal Salon? 600. It''s sucks but well... what can you do?

 

[codex57]

You can get a bridal bouquet for $160 for sure. With quite a good selection of flowers too. I can't remember the exact numbers, but I'm quite sure my wife got hers for that price or less and she had orchids and other more expensive flowers in it.

Our flowers cost about $3300 or so, but that included 1 bridal bouquet, 1 toss bouquet, 3 BM bouquets, a bunch of bouteniers, 6 small arrangements that went along the aisle, the aisle and petals scattered over the aisle, flower covered archway at beginning of aisle, 4 huge arrangements that went in front of our gazebo, another big arrangement attached to the gazebo on top, arrangement for the bridal party reception table, arrangement for guest signing table, cake decorations.... err, I think that's all the flowers. But, it also included decorations including a bunch of tule wrapping the gazebo, chair covers for 300 chairs, this huge lighted backdrop thingy behind the bridal reception table, 6 spotlights with out theme color... uhh, I think that about covers it. Oh, and these clapper thingies with our names and wedding date and stuff printed on them. I think they had mentioned them, but we didn't know what they were until the reception when all of a sudden all our guests started waving these white things around and making this huge noise.

And yeah, I'm positive there's a bridal premium. The vendors ALWAYS ask if this is for a wedding or some regular party. Didn't realize this until we'd already paid for a lot of stuff. That's why we ended up making our own table arrangements and a lot of our own bouteniers for family.

 

[larussel03]

the knot has some DIY instructions for making bouquets and other floral arrangements--maybe you should check it out and practice and see if you can pull something off!

 

[rainbowtrout]

Hmmph. It''s the great bridal Price Inflation is what it is. Yesterday I asked my father (a musician) why he charges so much more for weddings. His response "How do you think you ate as a child?"


Gypsy, I would say tell them it''s for a regular party, but it''s rather hard to do that with a bouquet. That''s a lovely arrangement though.


Are you having to do all the arrangements the night before?

 

[Mara]

our flowers topped out at $1300 but when we started shopping my budget was $800/900. it was only in the last few weeks that i kept adding stuff to the order, aka i wanted beefier centerpieces (we had all orchids since it was in kauai) and i also wanted everyone in the wedding party to have a fresh lei for the rehearsal dinner, and i wanted loose petals to throw on the beds before everyone arrived at the plantation, etc...i also added cymbidiums to my bouquet in the last 2 weeks which beefed up my bouquet a bit since they are expensive orchids, something like $5 per flower. i think my bouquet ended up being about $200 or so. it was lovely (and was featured in the wedding channel magazine in fall 2004!)...anyhow i think you should definitely keep the budget in mind, but also keep in the back of your mind that the last few weeks it seems like things can change and you are kind of more in a 'just gotta get it done' mode than 'oh this is going to cost an extra $200' or whatever...thats how we were anyway....just wanted to be sure it was all lookin' good. but the flowers were super important to us and we managed to get everything i wanted and more for that $1300 so it worked out great.

 

[Gypsy]

Rainbow...lol on your dad''s rates.

Yes, you can defintely say that your flowers are for your parent''s anniversary party or some such thing. But... that''s a bit hard with a bouquet. That''s why I''m only getting my bouquet and FI''s bout done at a florist.

One of our prospective venues is allowing us the use of their refrigerator for two days prior. So well.. the day before or the day before that. My BM will be good at this, so will her fiance... and so will mine. Four people. 7 arrangements. I''m only going to do the first to show them what to do... then let them at it. Then I''ll concentrate on the ceremony arrangements --- bouts, corsages and BM bouquet have to be done the night before anyway honestly.

Mara... I know what you mean wedding number two... two months prior my mother took a dislike to the chairs at the Mark Hopkins. So she offered to pay for the 4 dollar a peice chair covers (we were paying for everything else).

 

[E B]

$1000+ for flowers?

All in all, I''ll need around 12 centerpieces and one bouquet. Since I''m keeping the centerpieces simple (and doing them myself with help from family), I''ve priced everything at under $200.

 

[MrzNeicia]

That is alot of money to pay for flowers, unless your really wealthy. Mines averaged about $500.00. I know they do charge you extra when you mention that they will be for a wedding, and that REALLLLLLLLLY SUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKS.

 

[rainbowtrout]

I''m with you here EBree *whimper* I don''t know if we CAN DIY though, since there isn''t a fridge in my grandparent''s house big enough.

Also I''ll be busy the night before with the cake...so hmp.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Mine were a lot. I am kind of embarrassed....but they were BEAUTIFUL. It was around $3,000 for everything, all bouquets (mine I think was $150, three bridesmaids, two smaller ones for the moms) 9 bouts (including ushers & dads) crousages for 2 grandmothers. A flower arch for ceremony (that was $500 of the total) 6 "kissing balls" 14 center pieces (I think they were $65 each) including a "tree" on the head table, center piece for placecard table, petals...I think that is everything. That also included all the vases we had to buy.

 

[E B]

Date: 8/17/2006 2:31:39 PM
Author: rainbowtrout
I''m with you here EBree *whimper* I don''t know if we CAN DIY though, since there isn''t a fridge in my grandparent''s house big enough.

A fridge? I''ve heard from several brides on theknot.com that a cool, dark room is all you need. I''m going to look into it more, because I absolutely refuse to spend a ton on flowers (especially since I''m getting married in an Arboretum!).

 

[Gypsy]

Ebree-- it depends on the flowers and how they''ve been kept. The warmer it is the more they will start to bloom. Irises for example have like no staying power so you want them to stay as tight as possible for as long as possible... that requires a fridge... outside of one they are ''blown'' within a day. Roses-- it depends. They stay best in a fridge... but if they are good quality and haven''t been over refrigerated they should be okay out overnight in a very cool room. Tulips you want to keep refrigerated. Peonies I think are fine out. Lilly''s it depends. Callas are usually fine out overnight, orientals it depends how open they are when you start. Personally... I''d crank the air conditioning in any space that had my flowers if I didn''t have access to a fridge. Orchids are usually okay out but like oriental lillies they bruise badly and you have to be careful. Gardenias.. forget about it... have to be refrigerated. Gerbers are great and in a cool room will be fine.

If you are DIY do a two small test bunches-- leave one out (in water) and refrigerate the other. See how the flowers hold up.

 

[codex57]

Date: 8/17/2006 2:33:45 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
Mine were a lot. I am kind of embarrassed....but they were BEAUTIFUL. It was around $3,000 for everything, all bouquets (mine I think was $150, three bridesmaids, two smaller ones for the moms) 9 bouts (including ushers & dads) crousages for 2 grandmothers. A flower arch for ceremony (that was $500 of the total) 6 ''kissing balls'' 14 center pieces (I think they were $65 each) including a ''tree'' on the head table, center piece for placecard table, petals...I think that is everything. That also included all the vases we had to buy.

Don''t worry about it. I actually got quotes from 2 other florists for about what I ended up getting. Both were charging $3000+, but WITHOUT all the decorations I got. I think that''s just the standard price in some areas.

Photographers were another area where I saw some shocking prices.

 

[E B]

Date: 8/17/2006 2:56:37 PM
Author: Gypsy

If you are DIY do a two small test bunches-- leave one out (in water) and refrigerate the other. See how the flowers hold up.

That''s a good idea! I''ll definitely be testing before committing.

 

[rainbowtrout]

shoot, I was thinking irises+sunflowers for aisle decorations too...


Well, we shall see. I''ll def. try that trial run.

 

[Gypsy]

Sunflowers are fragile. Those petals are delicate and bruise really easily when your working with them. Make sure you do some trial runs with them in terms of arranging to see how they hold up. If you want purple delphinium is delicate but not nearly as bad as irises. I know you like sunflowers... but gerber dasies with brown centers and yellow petals are a nice sunstitue and they really hold up well.

 

[Mara]

$3000 is not that much tacori...if we got married locally i am sure we would have spent at least $2k on the flowers if not more and not gotten 1/2 of what we wanted. i was so jazzed when in hawaii they were 'only 900' for pretty much everything i wanted. flowers are so expensive for weddings!

i'm a total flower person though, as a gardener, so i LOVE flowers and would much rather spend on flowers than cake or whatever. our cake was $200. one of the things i remember the most was the flowers, especially since i love orchids. and to get orchids in california would have been more than double what it was in hawaii! so we got lucky.

ebere, where are you getting all the flowers from? even flower markets and stuff are not cheap!! i'm always shocked when i go check them out. though with only centerpieces and a bouquet yes it would be much cheaper! we had 5 bm bouquets, my bouquet, the bouts, corsages for the moms and grandma, rehearsal leis of orchids for about 15 people (which were about $15 each), 5 centerpiece bunches of i think 30 orchid stems each (in tall hurricane vases i bought from PB and had shipped out to Hawaii), strewn petals all amidst the tables, strewn petals to create the 'walkway' aisle, arch greenery and orchids (which cost a fair amount), flowers for the cake, and i think that was it. so all in all i think we got alot for $1300! hehee.

 

[rainbowtrout]

Fantastic idea Gypsy! Thank you!!

I actually love Gerber daisies but couldn't think of a place for them in the whole scheme of things.


I'm not totally sure I know what delphinium looks like but I'll give it a look.

ETA: It's not that I think spending a given amount for flowers in unreasonable AT ALL, if I had it I would hand it over to a florist in a minute to save me the trouble. I *want* to do the cake...I'm not crazed about doing the flowers.

 

[gingerBcookie]

my bridal bouquet was $100 with a free toss and the bms were $60 a pop (cuz they were peonies which cost mucho dinero). i really wanted to diy the bouts and bouqs cuz i love my online vendor (as elborated on page 2 of my prof pics thread for jcrow), but the crazy scedule i had kinda prohibited it. i did DIY my favors, which i loved and saved sooooo much money on...seriously, under a buck for each favor with the peronalized ribbon. anyway, we kept the roses fress by cranking up the AC since we didn''t have a fridge big enough to hold 300 hugely blooming roses. they were perfect for the big day and lasted well into the week.

 

[E B]

Date: 8/17/2006 4:20:06 PM
Author: Mara

ebere, where are you getting all the flowers from? even flower markets and stuff are not cheap!! i'm always shocked when i go check them out. though with only centerpieces and a bouquet yes it would be much cheaper!

As of now, I'm looking into Sam's Club. They have 20 stems of white hydrangeas listed for $35.00 on their website! I figured it had to be too good to be true, so I asked a wedding community I'm in if they knew anyone who had used Sam's Club for flowers. Several people responded that they or a friend used them, and the flowers were magnificent! I love flowers too (it's one of the reasons I chose my location), but I couldn't care less if my centerpieces consist of seven different kinds of flowers or not. I think simple makes just as much of a statement for less $$$. FH and I are trying to focus most of the budget on things like photography and food.

I'm also not a fan of the huge bouquet (I want something small that won't block out half of my dress in pictures!) so to put that together won't be more than $20, I'm guessing. Regarding bouts, I'm not sure if I want them or not. FH thinks they're too prom-y, and I haven't decided if I agree with him or not.

 

[Gypsy]

ebree that''s a great deal! FI doesn''t like hydrangeas though... if anyone sees a great deal for pink callas... let me know though, please. I''m thinking of white roses and dark pink callas for the ceremony flowers. 3000 is easy to do. Seriously... if I were to gt my ''dream'' flowers... I would easily (and I kid you not) be able to spend 10K on flowers. Without even thinking about it. LOL. Ginger I''m flying over there right now to see which vendor you used.

But well. Can''t.

 

[E B]

Date: 8/17/2006 4:54:58 PM
Author: Gypsy
ebree that's a great deal!

I know, right? I couldn't believe it. That's the delivery price, though, and I'm wondering if it would be better to just pick them up from our local Sam's. Hopefully they won't be much more expensive this way.

I haven't decided (100%) on my centerpieces just yet, but FH and I really like this look:

 

[Mara]

oh that''s a great look ebree! i love hydrangeas personally....!! it probably helps that you are getting married around florals and plants...i wanted to stay super simple with our stuff since we were in hawaii and lots of greenery around us...i felt like there wasn''t a need to get all crazy with color or anything, so we just did mostly white orchids (strewn, on the tables, in the vases etc) and then in the bouquets we had white mixed with hot pinks and pale purples for a splash of color. it all worked out quite well and the white played off all the green grass and everything so it was a cool look!

 

[flopkins]

EBree that is a fantastic price for hydrangeas. Too bad my wedding was in spring, and it''s almost impossible to get them in spring time. Sigh. I wanted them really bad but my florist bascially said they''re uber expensive that time of year.

I ended up with mostly cymbidiums and roses, I think for the bouquets... I actually don''t know how much my flowers cost, DH''s aunt and a friend of hers did all my flowers, and the aunt paid for them as our wedding gift... I imagine it was quite expensive even w/o labor ''costs'' since we had 15 centerpices, three huge altar arrangements plus 5 BM bouquets, mine, and a bunch of corsages and bouts. Acutally my florist said that the cymbidiums aren''t *that* pricey, bc you get multiple flowers per stem. I dunnos how much they are though. It couldn''t have been too bad bc I had one per guest as a favor, kinda like what ginger did w/her roses.

 

[Gypsy]

For anyone who missed Ginger''s flower vendor''s information: www.theflowerexchange.com cheaper than costco for roses and you actually get to pick your varieties... which is invaluable. The ''THE'' in the addy is key... there is another vendor without the THE and it''s not her vendor.

 

[E B]

Date: 8/17/2006 8:09:25 PM
Author: Gypsy
For anyone who missed Ginger''s flower vendor''s information: www.theflowerexchange.com cheaper than costco for roses and you actually get to pick your varieties... which is invaluable. The ''THE'' in the addy is key... there is another vendor without the THE and it''s not her vendor.

Ooh, they have nice prices on hydrangeas too! Thanks!