Flowers and décor are a big-ticket wedding item. So it’s understandable engaged couples look for ways to reduce their wedding costs wherever possible. A question that’s likely to arise is whether you should hire a wedding florist or do your own flowers. Either way there are several points you might like to consider before making a decision.
Whether or not you should hire a wedding florist, you might like to consider the following points:
- Will You Have the Time
- Your Experience in Arranging Flowers
- What Your Cost Savings Will Actually Be
- The Unpretty Side of DIY Wedding Flowers
- Your Peace of Mind
Time
If you’re thinking of doing your own wedding flowers, bear in mind you’ll need to set aside time for planning and ordering flowers. For instance, once you’ve decided on the style of bouquets and arrangements for your bridal party, ceremony and reception, you’ll need to work out what quantities to order for each type of flower and foliage. This and not forgetting sundries such as vases, pins, ribbons etc.
Also, wedding bouquets and arrangements are usually prepared the day before the wedding. This is the time where you’ll be at the busiest finalising last-minute details of the wedding. If you have a professional taking care of your wedding flowers, you can then spend time on whatever is most important to you and that only you can do.
Experience and expertise
When you hire a wedding florist, you can rely on his or her expertise and experience as well as connection with growers and suppliers. For example, a floral designer knows what flowers are in season and which flowers can last out of water especially for bouquets and buttonholes.
He or she will also prep flowers so the flowers look their best no matter what the weather condition. Moreover you can rely on your wedding florist to advise on bouquet styles that will suit your dress and frame plus execute the designs in the right manner.
Another important factor to consider is that the wedding florist ensures the flowers turn up perfect at the event. The challenges of transporting florals to the venue cannot be underestimated. In fact you’ll need to organise for help to transport the flowers. The flowers will need to pack nicely into their vehicles and are transported in the right conditions.
On the other hand if you decide to make the arrangements at the venue on the day, you’ll need to ensure you have enough hands on deck to style all the arrangements before guests arrive.
Cost Savings
A wedding florist will know how to choose quality flowers and how much to order. Not knowing the right quantities to order can often lead to wastage. Moreover flowers are delicate and be unpredictable to work with. So you could potentially risk damaging flowers while making the bouquets and end up with flowers you can’t use or damaged petals that won’t photograph nicely.
If you have a limited budget, the floral designer has the creativity to come up with designs and solutions that suit your budget. Furthermore he/she can provide recommendations on floral options to fit your colour scheme and aesthetics within your budget.
Another point to consider is a DIY bride might not know what to do if she’s not able to find the flowers she wants for her wedding day. In addition to feeling more stressed, she could end up spending money on unsuitable alternatives.
The Unpretty Side of Things
Prepping flowers, de-thorning roses, stripping leaves from stems – all these tasks are time-consuming and hard work. Plus the last thing you want is to have dirt-stained fingers and fingernails from prepping flowers and foliage on your wedding day – not a nice look.
Peace of Mind WHEN YOU HIRE A WEDDING FLORIST
Planning a wedding can already be so stressful. When you have a professional florist to handle your flowers, you can focus on other parts of the wedding, or relax and enjoy the time leading up to your wedding. You won’t have to stay up late the night before, making your bouquets, buttonholes and centrepieces. The wedding florist will take care of all aspects of your wedding flowers and ensure everything is picture perfect for you.
How in Advance Do You Need to Book Your Wedding Florist?
If you decide to hire a wedding florist, then you should start looking anywhere between 6 to 8 months prior to your wedding day. Generally it would be after you have found your venue, your dress and have picked a colour palette.
Nonetheless it also depends on the length of your engagement and when you are getting married (that is whether it’s during the busy wedding season where popular wedding florists are booked up quickly). If flowers are important to you, then you may want to start your search sooner.
How to Work with Your Wedding Florist?
- Set a budget on how much you wish to spend on wedding flowers. A general rule of thumb would be to set aside approximately 10-15% of your overall wedding budget.
- Decide what kind of feel you’re going for, like whether it is romantic, simple, modern, bohemian, rustic, chic etc. Collect or pin some photos for inspiration that you can show the wedding florist.
- While you may have some inspo pics, give the wedding florist “creative space” to come up with ideas that meet your needs and budget. After all wedding florists are professionals. Their work is a reflection on them. Trust their expertise.
- Prepare a list of floral items you wish to have for the wedding. (Note the list below is not exhaustive nor do you have to include everything that’s mentioned!):
Bridal Party Flowers:
- Bride’s bouquet
- Bridesmaids’ bouquets
- Boutonnieres for the groom and groomsmen
- Buttonholes/corsages for ushers, readers, and/or officiant
- Buttonholes/corsages for parents, grandparents
- Flowers for ring bearers, flower girls
- Floral pieces for your hair
Ceremony Flowers:
- Arch flowers/altar flowers
- Pew, aisle, chair flowers
- Signing table flowers
- Welcome and gift table flowers
- Tossing petals
- Car decor
Reception Flowers:
- Bridal table
- Guest table centrepieces
- Couple’s chairs
- Bar arrangements
- Wedding cake table arrangements
- Various other arrangements for place card table, guestbook table, fireplace, etc.
If you like more ideas on how to save money on wedding flowers, check out our blog post here.
Thinking of whether you could include your furry family member in your wedding? Check out our post here.
Thank you for mentioning how transporting flowers to events safely can be a difficult task. My sister is planning on getting married at an outdoor venue next summer, but she is worried that she will not be able to find the white flowers she needs since she lives in a remote area. She should rely on a florist that can help her ensure that she has the flowers she needs at her wedding.
Yes, I think people tend to underestimate the skills and experience required in transporting event flowers. I’m sure if your sister engages a great florist, she’ll be able to create the vision she wants for her wedding!