Wedding How much is too much for flowers?

[museikchik]

Good morning ladies,
I just received a quote from a florist I met with that totaled to $1766.30. That is for a bridal bouquet, two smaller bridesmaids bouquets, a flowergirl halo, 6 boutonnieres, 2 wristlets, an arch, petals down the aisle, flowers on 8 chairs, 12 centerpieces, flowers for cake and a garland to go over the fireplace. For some reason it just seems expensive to me. My FI saw the quote this morning and almost had a heart attack.

 

[diamondfan]

not sure.

how elaborate are the arrangements? what flowers are being used?

I want peonies in November for my son''s bar mitzvah and I know they are out of season and will be pricey.

Can you ask for a break down, meaning, each item costs X? If she is a really creative and good florist, with labor involved, that may not be that bad, though it has been years since I priced anything like that.

 

[neatfreak]

Doesn''t seem out of the realm of possibility at all depending on where you are and what you are getting flower wise.

 

[loverocks]

That actually does not sound bad to me? I am at about 2600 (I think), and I think I have a bit less then you are doing (bridal bouq., 3 bridesmaids, 5 bouts, 1 coursage (sp?), right now 10 centerpieces, and one med arrangments for the alter.
Sometimes I think my flowers are overpriced though? I hope other chime in for you, although it seems like you are getting quite a bit and it sounds reasonable to me. Oh, and you have an arch too. Those can be very expensive.

 

[cara]

Depends on the flowers and the cost of living in your area, as well as the particular florist and their overhead and other costs. And how big and elaborate the centerpieces/arch are. Get another quote from someone else if you are uncertain, but remember that the cost of flowers has a lot to do with the labor involved and the time arranging at the last minute/transport issues/set-up under time constraints.

For reference, I had a similar amount of stuff, no super-expensive flowers and paid about that much for the cheapest florist I could find that I trusted. I had quotes for twice that amount, but this was in a $$$ area of the country. I too was appalled at flower prices, but decided to suck it up ultimately. You could cut back a bit on what pieces you want or switch to less expensive flowers to help some.

 

[Gypsy]

It depends on what the peices are like. It doesn''t sound bad to me at all, but again... it depends on what the pieces look like. Can you post inspiration pics?

 

[marchswallowbird]

Sounds very reasonable to me!! Arches tend to be expensive, as do petals down the aisle.

 

[sap483]

I agree with others in that it depends on where your live, how elaborate your arrangements are and what flowers you use. My wedding was in a pricey area, I had some really tall centerpieces and used a lot of expensive flowers such as orchids, callas and tulips (which were out of season). I also had 4 bridesmaids and 16 centerpieces. Our flower total was about two and a half times your quote for reference.

 

[Haven]

Our flowers cost about $2300 for nearly the same amount. That quote sounds very reasonable to me, most of our friends spent over $6,000 on flowers for their weddings.

 

[modernsparkler]

That sounds pretty reasonable. Our flowers are now > $4k. That is for 16 centerpieces, 4 huge ceremony arrangements, 5 bridesmaids bouquets, 4 corsages, and 8 bouts. That said, we are having arrangements with orchids, gardenias, white roses, hydrangeas, and stephanotis- some of those flowers have also drive up our price. I think it really depends on how big the flower arrangements are and the level of detail. One article I read suggested that to cut costs use one style of flower (like only roses) but vary the vase height and style to get different arrangements. As others have said part of the cost is in the arranging and the more flowers you have the longer it talkes the florist to make each piece balanced.

 

[Blair138]

sounds very reasonable...I just asked a friend what she paid for hers-ummm $7500...I almost fell over

 

[miraclesrule]

I think it''s a good quote, but the only way to know for sure, it to put it out to bid. Then you have something to compare it to.

If push comes to shove, nix the flowers on the chairs. I would rather have the petals on the ground, even though the cleanup for that is usually ridiculous. Or you could go with the flowers on the chairs and nix the petals on the ground, but that is always so pretty.

And, maybe don''t show FI.

Well, that was a pipe dream, I suppose you have to show him those types of quotes.

 

[honey22]

OMG! Where is the falling-over-dead-with-a-heartattack emotie when you need it! I am feeling a little bridal stress today, and now I just found out how much freakin flowers cost. I need a drink!

Well, lookey here!

Maybe some pie too for good measure?

Drats!! I am on "revised day 1 of wedding dress diet"

 

[museikchik]

You are too funny honey22. That is the way I have felt about this whole process. I think I am just going to keep everything as is. We had already planned on spending $2000 maximum on flowers anyway. So it won''t hurt to just go for it. I really like everything and don''t really want to give anything up. Plus I just don''t have the time to run around and talk to a million vendors anyway. I know that she can provide beautiful flowers.

I don''t really have to show him anything miracles considering I am paying for most of the wedding up front and all he has to do is help me pay off my student loan. Sounds like a fair exchange right?

This site is awesome and I just want to thank everyone for their help. I did try to post pics but the sizes are too large. As soon as I have time I will try to fix them so I can get them up here for all to see.