Looking for the best ways to save money on wedding flowers? Here are my 8 top tips on how you can keep the costs of wedding flowers down:
- Use flowers in season
- Minimise flower choices
- Use premium flowers sparingly
- Decide which floral elements are the most important to you
- Have a smaller wedding
- Re-purpose your wedding florals
- Avoid major special occasions like Valentine’s Day (or the month of February) and Mother’s Day
- Combine flowers with other décor elements
How Much Do Couples Spend on Wedding Flowers?
Flowers and decorations are one of several big-ticket wedding items. According to moneysmart.gov.au couples spend on average $2896 on flowers and decorations. Due to increased costs of flowers during the COVID 19 pandemic, this budget will have to be adjusted accordingly.
Generally a good rule of thumb would be to set aside about 10-15% of your wedding budget towards flowers and decorations. You could adjust this figure up or down depending on your personal floral vision.
You may like to try our online budget calculator here to work out how much you would expect to spend on wedding flowers.
Why have the costs of flowers increased?
Costs of flowers have skyrocketed since the start of COVID-19. The reduced number of flights coming into Australia has affected the supply of imported flowers.
What about local flowers? Perhaps you may not realise the increased volume of imports over the past decade (tripled since 2009) have put many local growers out of business. Moreover extreme weather conditions (like those we have experienced recently in Australia) have also had an impact on the availability of certain florals. So pressure on supply has never been greater.
8 Top Tips on how to save money ON WEDDING FLOWERS
1. Use Flowers in Season
Let your wedding florist know the vibe you wish to create on your wedding day, your style and the colour scheme. Then let your wedding florist do the rest.
Using local flowers in season will generally cost less than imported flowers. Feel free to ask your wedding florist for advice on flowers that will be in season around your wedding date. But if you’re keen to keep your costs down, be flexible about what flowers are to be included in your bouquets, table centrepieces and other feature floral arrangements.
Your floral designer will be able to let you know of suitable alternatives to fit your budget.
2. Minimise Flower Choices
Some wedding floral designs can use up to 10 different flowers in an arrangement! Minimising flower choices means that the florist will only need to buy 2-3 varieties in bulk.
Let’s say, if you want several different varieties of flowers, the florist will still need to purchase each variety in bulk. This is because growers sometimes only sell in certain numbers, for example bunches of 50.
While you require only a few stems in a bouquet or an arrangement, the florist will still need to purchase the whole bunch. This can result in lots of extras and potential wastage. Moreover there will be more work for the florist in terms of prepping the flowers, which in turn, adds to costs.
3. Use premium flowers sparingly
Statement-making flowers such as peonies, David Austin roses and phalaenopsis orchids are gorgeous but they can really blow your budget. Filling your table centrepieces with these flowers will be pricey.
However if you are still keen on having them on your wedding day, use these premium flowers sparingly. For instance, have them in your bridal bouquet, or have one big bloom in your table centrepiece and fill up the rest of the centrepiece arrangement with cheaper options.
Many brides look to Pinterest for wedding inspiration but may not realise the flowers they see on Pinterest are often designs or premium flowers that cost more.
Moreover many of the Pinterest images are based on weddings in the US and wedding flower prices are different to those in Australia. So while your floral inspiration may incorporate lots of white hydrangeas, these flowers are actually expensive Down Under.
Also some of these flowers may not be always available. And they become more pricey when not in season during your wedding or are imported.
4. Decide which floral elements or items are the most important to you.
Decide which elements or items are the most important to you. This decision can generally be influenced by considering the places where we can create the maximum impact.
For example, if your wedding ceremony outdoors will be held in a naturally beautiful garden setting, then you can save some money by not requiring a wedding arch or floral feature where you and your partner are exchanging your vows.
Also if you wish to stick to your wedding floral budget, you can skip the rose petals on the ground or the wedding-exit toss.
Another idea where you can save money on wedding flowers is if you have a reception venue with lower ceilings, then you could forego the more pricey elevated table centrepieces. Because these tall centrepieces are usually more expensive due to a variety reasons including amount of florals used, additional hire costs of stands, and pack-down costs after the reception.
5. Have a Smaller Wedding
By having a smaller guest list, you will reduce the number of floral wedding centrepieces needed for the guest tables. Additionally a smaller bridal party will mean less bouquets, hair flowers, buttonholes etc. So you could end up saving some money on flowers here.
6. Re-purpose or re-use florals
Re-purposing your wedding flowers is another way of saving money. For example, you can re-purpose bridesmaid bouquets as centrepieces or use them to decorate the cake table. Also the flowers for the signing table can be re-used for the guestbook table. Organise to have someone transport those florals from the ceremony to the reception venue and place those florals for you.
7. Try and avoid major special occasions so you can save money on wedding flowers
If you can, try to stay away from major special occasions such as Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day when setting your wedding date. Flowers around this time will be more expensive.
Note also that around Christmas time (from end December to early January) many growers or wedding florists in Sydney take time off. This could possibly reduce your choices of flowers and suppliers.
8. Combine flowers with other décor elements
Another way to save money on wedding flowers is to style flowers with other décor elements such as candles, lanterns and bud vases. Candles are wonderful for creating ambiance. Use a variety of candles with different heights such as pillar candles and votive candles for greater impact. Tip: Work with odd numbers, for example threes, fives, or sevens etc.
For brides who are open to trying something off-beat or different, Flowers by Gwyneth also create unique designs that incorporate unconventional materials. Examples of materials we have used are include wire-mesh, decorative wire, washi paper, etc. What a fun and inventive way to make an impact on your wedding day. Your wedding flowers will definitely be like no other!
So all in all, it really IS possible to have your wedding floral vision, stay within your budget and save money on wedding flowers.
If your wedding is in Sydney, Blue Mountains or Lower Central Coast, we would love for you to consider us as your wedding florist. Let’s create some floral magic together! Get in touch with us today.
Need Help with planning your wedding flowers?
We help you navigate through the overwhelm. All the essential stuff you need to know in our FREE Guide, including budget samples, planning timelines, seasonality guide for the most popular flowers and more!
If you are interested in a minimalist or eco-friendly approach to wedding flowers, check out our other blog post here.
