This blog is based off of my personal experience as a florist- I hope this information will help you understand some common misconceptions floating around out there so you can find a great solution for your wedding’s floral goals!

1. Use more green, $ave more green
   
   • Not always true – some greenery is expensive – but *seasonal* is always going to be a huge key to big savings for your wedding day. Check out this link to help you figure out what’s in season, and make sure to pay attention to location!
     
2. The bigger the flowers, the bigger the bill
   
   • Again, not always true. White hydrangeas, for example, are one of the biggest flowers in the market, and often cost less than many specialty flowers (ranunculus, sweetpea, lily of the valley). Also, as I mentioned before, seasonality is often key!
     
3. Flowers should cost 10% of my overall budget
   
   • I’ve heard this one over and over again, but it’s rarely true. If you are looking for a florist to provide full service for your wedding (bouquets & boutonnieres, ceremony decor, and reception decor), even if you’re planning a $20K wedding, you should still expect to pay at least $3K.
     
4. Fake flowers are less expensive
   
   • This is a tricky one. If you buy used or wait for a KILLER sale, and then do the arranging yourself, and then resell them at a good price, then yes, fake flowers are less expensive. They also do not photograph as well (especially close up), don’t move organically, and don’t trigger the happy calming hormones that real flowers can (didn’t know about this? Check out this article if you’re a mere mortal, or this article if you’re looking for the nitty gritty science!).
     
5. My family and I can do our flowers ourselves to save money
   
   • Sometimes true! As a professional florist, if a couple has a really small financial comfort zone, I suggest three options:
      
     1. Order premade from Costco. This is the easiest of the options. They have a limited number of bouquets, arrangements, etc. and you’ll still have to order vases/things to hold your bouquets, and have someone put things out on the day of. It is not very customizable, but you will have fresh flowers and they will not look bad (but maybe a little old-fashioned). For example, below is an image of the Costco classic white option.
     2. Call Costco and tell them your rough numbers and color palette. This is the cheapest option. The flowers might not be the highest quality and you’ll still have to do all of the arranging yourself, which can be a pretty high risk if you don’t have floral design experience. It is slightly more customizable than the first option, but only professionals can really get your “stem count” (the number of flowers you’ll need for all your pieces) correct, so you may end up accidentally over/under ordering.
     3. Hire a florist (or use a site like Kukka) to build your recipes (how many flowers and what flowers go into each bouquet/arrangement) and order the flowers for you from their wholesaler. Because florists have resale licenses, we can order from places couples can’t. Not all florists are willing to do this, but you can get much higher quality flowers, and rest easy knowing your flower count is right, which can save either panic when you realize you didn’t order enough, or money when you realize you ordered too much.

If you take away one thing from this list, it might sound familiar when dealing with any wedding vendors… or any contractor in any sphere: you get what you pay for. Saving money almost always means sacrificing time, quality, or convenience. Happy planning!

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