Looking for 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
- Prioritise your wedding flower budget
- Use flowers and/or foliage from your garden
- 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.
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 the horrific bush fires at the start of year have also had an impact on the availability of certain florals. So there is now mounting pressure on supply.
8 Top Tips on how to save money ON WEDDING FLOWERS
1. Use Flowers in Season
Ask your floral designer for advice on what flowers are in season. Let them know your style, numbers and colour scheme, and let them do the rest. Be open minded about what flowers are to be included in your arrangements. Consider using locally grown or farmed flowers instead of imports. Support the local growers! Your floral designer will be able to let you know suitable alternatives to fit your budget.
2. Minimise Flower Choices
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 may 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. Prioritise your flower budget
Decide which elements or items are the most important to you. 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.
If you are still keen on having them, you can choose to use these 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 may not realise the flowers they see on Pinterest are often of the expensive variety. Also some of these flowers may not be always available. And they become more pricey when not in season or are imported.
4. Use flowers or foliage from your garden to save money on wedding flowers
If you, family member or friend have a garden with varieties of flowers or foliage that you could forage, you might like to consider using these florals in table centrepieces. This can help you save some costs. Check with your floral designer to see if he or she could use any of these florals in their designs.
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 and stay within your budget. 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.
If you are interested in a minimalist or eco-friendly approach to weddings, check out our other blog post here.
