How much did your flowers cost?

[sparkel]

Hi I don''t post on here too often as I am much more of a lurker but whenever I see something about flowers I just can''t help myself as I have worked in flower shops for over seven years. Obviously budget is one of the biggest issues when planning a wedding and flowers often fall lower on the list of high priority items. I think though that often times when brides decide to go the DIY route they are not necessarily aware of what this means in terms of flowers. Flloral arranging is often extremely messy and dirty (think of freshly manicured hands) Invitations and things of that nature are much more easily done as they can be prepared well ahead of time thereby eliminating last minute stress. I think though that chosing to do your own flowers is generally not a good idea.

I realize the markup on floral design is quite high but it is not fair to compare the cost of a table bouquet to the cost of wedding flowers and countless hours are spent on wedding where a walk in the door sale is over in 15 minutes, and most shops do not actually "make" that much money on weddings. I have seen many brides who opted to do their own flowers which sometimes works out but depending on the type of flowers that you are dealing with this can go wrong in a hurry. Some flowers just cannot stand to be out of water or they will wilt especially in a summer wedding. Our shop has literally had to rescue bouquets "gone bad" with whatever we had available in our shop.

Some people on PS have a dream budget when it comes to flowers *drools ($800 seems fine as long as you have a clear expectation of what that will give you) but the bottom line is that a good florist will be able to work within whatever budget you have and give you something to make your day special. You just have to adjust your expectations a little and look for creative solutions together. The analogy that I often think of is the difference between cutting your own hair vs going to a salon, some people can but most wouldn''t dare. Florists like hairdressers often go to school or spend many years developing their skills.

At the end of the day your bouquet is going to be front and center in all the pictures so if u''re going to skimp on flowers do it somewhere else. If you decide that the DIY route is really the way to go then make sure you do a trial run. I just hate to think of something like flowers being a source of stress on what should be a happy and magical day.

I know that wasn''t entirely related to the orinigal post and sorry it''s so long!
Cheers,
R

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 8/17/2006 8:37:59 PM
Author: sparkel
Hi I don''t post on here too often as I am much more of a lurker but whenever I see something about flowers I just can''t help myself as I have worked in flower shops for over seven years. Obviously budget is one of the biggest issues when planning a wedding and flowers often fall lower on the list of high priority items. I think though that often times when brides decide to go the DIY route they are not necessarily aware of what this means in terms of flowers. Flloral arranging is often extremely messy and dirty (think of freshly manicured hands) Invitations and things of that nature are much more easily done as they can be prepared well ahead of time thereby eliminating last minute stress. I think though that chosing to do your own flowers is generally not a good idea.

I realize the markup on floral design is quite high but it is not fair to compare the cost of a table bouquet to the cost of wedding flowers and countless hours are spent on wedding where a walk in the door sale is over in 15 minutes, and most shops do not actually ''make'' that much money on weddings. I have seen many brides who opted to do their own flowers which sometimes works out but depending on the type of flowers that you are dealing with this can go wrong in a hurry. Some flowers just cannot stand to be out of water or they will wilt especially in a summer wedding. Our shop has literally had to rescue bouquets ''gone bad'' with whatever we had available in our shop.

Some people on PS have a dream budget when it comes to flowers *drools ($800 seems fine as long as you have a clear expectation of what that will give you) but the bottom line is that a good florist will be able to work within whatever budget you have and give you something to make your day special. You just have to adjust your expectations a little and look for creative solutions together. The analogy that I often think of is the difference between cutting your own hair vs going to a salon, some people can but most wouldn''t dare. Florists like hairdressers often go to school or spend many years developing their skills.

At the end of the day your bouquet is going to be front and center in all the pictures so if u''re going to skimp on flowers do it somewhere else. If you decide that the DIY route is really the way to go then make sure you do a trial run. I just hate to think of something like flowers being a source of stress on what should be a happy and magical day.

I know that wasn''t entirely related to the orinigal post and sorry it''s so long!
Cheers,
R

I worked with florists from the age of fourteen... and started doing complex arrangements when I was in my early twenties. It is messy and the hands do take a hit... A hit I can take as I''ve learned how to work with my acrylics (gloves) and I know how to do nail repair on my acrylics in an emergencies... and I''ve chose relatively simple centerpieces and ceremony pieces... but I totally agree with you. It''s something I''m prepared to do... and want to do. But it''s not for everyone, and even with my experience I will be do trial runs all year long to figure out how to do things so that my ''assistants'' will be able to follow along and pick it up quickly. I have bout. stuff here, and I''ll be brushing up on those skills as well as my BM hand tie skills (haven''t uses these skills in years).

But I''ve keep my own expectations modest... if it were another person''s wedding... I would have chosen different arrangements and flowers... but for mine with my budget I''ve stuck with roses as I am very familiar with working with them, and because they are relatively forgiving flowers to work with. Also, while I could do my own bouquet and grooms bout... I''m not going to. Don''t want the stress, and I don''t want the responsibility. And we will be getting a hotel room with a kitchenette to do the arrangements.

DIY flowers are definitely not for everyone.

These incidentally are the centerpieces I''ve decided to make. I need 7.

 

[flopkins]

sparkel -
thanks for coming out of lurkdom!

I do agree with you - there is no way I would have even considered doing my own flowers, it would have been too much stress for me!! They are not something you can do ahead of time. I spent an entire afternoon the day before my best friends wedding putting together bouquets for all 7 BM... it definitely takes more time that you might anticipate.

I think it is something that everyone that is considering DIY flowers needs to think about -
1. do you have the time to do this 1-2 days before your wedding?
2. did you do a trial run? are you happy w/your results?
3. will DIY flowers cause too much extra stress?

One of DH's friends had a gorgeous, very expensive wedding at a very exclusive golf club in LA... we had prime rib, there was an 8 piece live band, the works... But the MOB DIY the centerpiece flowers that morning - and she said she would NEVER do it again, bc of the time, stress, etc... and to be honest, I didn't think they looked that professional. I suppose it depends how ambitious you are with the arrangement, I think in this case they were a bit ambitious. But still, you could tell the flowers were not on par with the rest of the wedding. I think if it had been a more casual, relaxed affair, they would have blended in well. It is all a matter of taste, though.



ETA: Gypsy you must have been posting as I was replying. I like your centerpiece mockup - they are very cute!! And reasonable to handle!! Roses are very forgiving. I guess I was talking about ppl who try use very delicate flowers, in complex arrangements, it just doesn't work unless you have the experience.

And back to your original question, I think $160 is very reasonable for a bridal bouquet, I am in SF/Bay Area/California.

 

[Mara]

your post is great sparkel, it''s SOOO true. i have done some flower arrangements from the garden and if you are not familiar with flowers, how they lay, how stems bend, what flowers continue to grow after cut, what temperatures various flowers need to stay fresh etc (and i am only barely familiar with some of that stuff) then it would be totally stressful to have to learn all that just to do your own flowers and especially the night before the wedding or the day before that, you have SO many other stresses going on...the flowers were the last thing i wanted to deal with. even though i love playing with flowers, being a gardener. instead i did the wedding programs and the placecards and things that were a little lower stress and could be worked on a week or so before. also half the arrangements that i come up with in the house look nothing like i expected them to, so for something as uniform as centerpieces or similar, it would make me crazy if they weren''t perfect, hehee. but if you are doing something simple, and have others to help you...it could work out great!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Thanks codex and mara. One of the reasons we did pay so much was I really wanted purple hydrangeas. I guess they are expensive this time of year. But I think they are SO beautiful. I also agree that doing your own flowers sounds VERY stressful. I would rather buy a cheaper wedding dress than have to deal with that.

 

[peonygirl]

Wow, everyone is paying so little! We were quoted about 8K for the first florist we went to, and I thought we were getting a steal at 3K for everything. This is for our chuppah, 12 tall centerpieces, wedding party personals (5 BM, 3 GM), and a few other minor things. I'm in a big city though, so things may be way more expensive.

 

[MrzNeicia]

I went to order flowers this last weekend and the total cost is $502.00 with tax and delivery charge. In which we had to make a $100.00 deposit to hold the date. ONE STEP CLOSER! YAH!