In today’s beehive, JW would like to find out about the cost of florists.
Please feel free to add your question to the beehive! 
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21 Responses to “Beehive”
i think it depends! i got a few floral estimates ranging from $15K to over $30K. (that would be for ceremony, cocktails, and dinner/dance).
prices for bridal bouquets ranged from $250 - $300 and $95 - $125 for maids’ bouquets.
a friend of the family had gorgeous flowers somewhere in the $8K - $10K range. it does definitely depend on how many people, since centerpieces (at least in my proposals) ran from $250 to over $450 (including rental of silver vessels and candlesticks)…
as for what’s too much money? i have heard that certain (very high end) florists won’t even book your event if the budget is under $100K!! what’s too much to me, is clearly not enough for someone else.
pick your budget though and you will definitely find a florist who will work within it and give you beautiful stuff!
as the daughter of a florist, i have a lot of experience with flower budgets - and really, there’s no “norm.” if you want to go frugal, you can go with just bouquets + boutonnieres + 2 altar sprays + 1 head table arrangement for ~$300-600. but if you want to make statement, i’ve done weddings upwards of $1500 or more. but on average, people usually spend around $1000…
… the biggest cost isn’t going to be on your bouquets, because you shouldn’t really spend more than ~$150 on yours (if you’re getting charged more than that, you’re getting ripped off). the largest cost is in the # of centerpieces you’re going to have. the larger the wedding, the more tables, so the more arrangements you need, etc.
you can go REALLY simple and just buy your own votive candles and ask the florist to supply you with petals or even just one open rose to float in a bowl. or you can have elaborate multi-tiered arrangements, which can run $50-100 per table… so do the math, and you can figure how much you want to spend.
here’s a checklist:
bouquets (bride/maids)
boutinnieres (groom/groomsmen/father/officiant)
corsages (mothers/grandmothers/coordinator/etc)
runner
altar table (which can be used for headtable later)
2 altar sprays
candelabras + arrangements for them (optional)
pew decorations (ribbons +/- arrangements)
card table arrangement
centerpieces
flower girl basket + headpiece
flower petals
that’s a typical checklist for flowers.
Hi JW,
Are you getting married in the city?
$15k is definitely on the higher side (even for the city, but it really depends on how many guests you’re having). Most people I know in the city spent around $4000 for a 100 person wedding. But I also know people who’ve spent $80,000! The sky’s the limit when it comes to flowers - you can always do more, more, more.
But of course you don’t have to spend a fortune to have beautiful flowers! I’ve seen beautiful wedding flowers (everything included) for less than $1000 (ok well it wasn’t in the city). It really depends how many flowers you need and which florist you go to.
But nationwide, I bet the average spent on flowers is probably around $1500.
Cut a deal. Everything is negotiable!
It’s your money so you’re boss.
I’m spending 1000 for all my roses, callas, and cymbidium orchids… I’m definitely not skimping on anything… I even have flowers for the cake… and my florist’s even including all the round floating candle bowls and vases in that budget.
But you’ll definitely pay more if you want the ultrafab famous florist who supplies flowers to the raffles l’ermitage hotel or something..
My whole thing is…. they probably use the same flowers as the florist on your neighborhood corner… so why pay more?
If you have a very clear idea of what you want…. it really doesn’t make a difference.
I got married in CA and paid $1650 for flowers (ceremony, bouquets, reception, etc. -basically everything) and had 250 guests.
Thank you for the responses!
…what are the chances of growing my own flowers by next year? =(
I’m getting married next March in Los Angeles. The place is already beautiful, so I’ll need a minimal amount of flower decorations. I’ll only have one matron of honor, one bestman and two flower girls in the wedding party. As for the centerpieces, i like the cylinder vases filled with water with one or two stems of flowers completely submerged in them.
It all seems realy simple….so paying upwards of more than 1,000 dollars seems like it’s a lot.
i have a friend who bought her flowers in bulk online. i honestly have no recollection of what the centerpieces looked like, but the bouquets were beautiful. she bought roses, which seem to actually be the cheapest and easiest for diy flowers, using red for herself and yellow, orange, and red for the bridesmaids. all the bouquets (7 bm, 1 fg, plus the brides) were put together by her husband, his father, and his brother. i don’t know how much she spent, but i think it was under 500.
I second Ariel’s post. Go to the ultra-fabulous florist first, pick their brains, maybe wait for their written quote describing it all and then head to a smaller (local/more modest?) florst who can do the work but will charge less for his/her time. If you have a clear idea of exactly what you want, any good florist will be able to recreate it. Don’t forget to bring pictures!
Hi JW
One $$ saving option is buy some of your flowers from Costco. That’s what my best friend did. Half of the flowers at her wedding were done by professional florist, and the remaining half she got $200-$300 worth of roses from Costco. And they were sooo beautiful too just like the ones from the florist! She used the Costco roses as petals on the tables, and putting the whole flowers on her cake as decorations. Supposedly her florist was going to charge $200 already just for putting a FEW roses on the cake. Not worth it. She did her own cake with a lot more flowers. And it’s one of the most beautiful flower-adorned cakes I’ve seen! So yes, Costco sells TWO dozen roses for only $15. That is amazingly cheap. And these are not small roses either, they’re pretty good size. I’d suggest you to order ahead of time so they have enough for you. And this way you also get the newly shipping in ones too. And let them bloom a bit for 2-3 days so they’re ready for your wedding. Hope this helps.
I plan on ordering online in bulk to create my own centerpieces and cocktail tables. I’ve seen a couple places on line, but does anyone know of a reputable online place to purchase bulk flowers? Has anyone done this before?
Good luck JW.
Ohh you’re in LA too!!!
So cool!
We need a Los Angeles Weddingbee!!
Umm, growing your own flowers is very limiting in choice of flower… and you can’t guarantee good results… so I say, save yourself the stress!
Those professional flower farms in freaking netherlands or wherever they are must feed their flowers something interesting, cuz roses do NOT look like that from the average person’s garden.
You can go to the wholesale market in downtown~ and explore the possibilities… But unless you’re really really penny pinching… or unless you have a sweatshop with little elves to help you arrange and transport all the goods…. just pay someone else to do it.
I really really contemplated doing them myself too…. but I’d rather sleep than arrange flowers at 2 o’clock the morning of my rehearsal. (Plus, I don’t have a huge fridge to store the flowers and LA is hot all year round… they will wilt!)
You could contact my florist if you’d like.
Email me at ariel.inhye.kim@gmail.com if you’d like her contact info.
Vons has good flowers too…
I’m doing submerged floral centerpieces, like you mentioned. I am spending about $1200 total (9 bouqets, 15 boutonnieres, 9 corsages, 27 centerpieces, and 1 large floral arrangement).
costco roses sound like a great money-saving idea..but I actually read a knottie bio filled with sadness b/c her diy costco throw away bouquet had died on her..I guess it all depends on how you treat/prep the flowers/bouquets?
theknot.com & hgtv.com (or you can google it) has some how-to videos on making wonderful bouquets & centerpieces…
here are some links I bookmarked in regards to buying wholesale flowers online:
http://www.onlinewholesaleflowers.com/
http://www.flowerbud.com/
http://www.fiftyflowers.com/index.asp
Hi! I love reading the weddingbee site and seeing what all the other brides are up to. I have a question about invitations. I love the look for pocketfold invites but I don’t have a huge budget. I’m willing to do most of the work but where are some good places to find the paper (precut or not)? Thanks!!!
wow JG! that sounds like an awesome deal you got! which city of CA did u get married in?
Depends on what you want, josie. Are you DIYing?
paperpresentation.com
paper-source.com
envelopemall.com
invitesite.com
For ideas, go to indiebride.com and diybride.com.
You could also give http://www.growersbox.com a try - I’ve ordered roses and rose petals for a theme party I threw… and they were really amazing flowers… they have wedding flowers to… it was their testimonials and calling their phone line that made me feel good about ordering… Hope the planning’s still going well…
I recently got married and wished that I had purchased my flowers from http://www.wholesale-wedding-flowers.com/ . Their prices are far lower than the others I saw, and I was surprised at the really great freshness
Hi All,
What a cool website! I am getting married next August (Aug. 31, 2008) the Sunday before labor day, and I am trying to accomplish a certain look at an inexpensive rate. My colors are grey, white, and light pink. I have an obsession with Cherry Blossoms, but unfortunately they won’t be in bloom in late August. So I have been working with a florist to use some different types of Vanda Orchids and other flowers that resemble a “flowering branch.” I also am using some little lanterns to alternate on the tables (because I can’t afford to put flowers on every single one). The other flowers I’m using for the wedding part are calla lillies (the bridesmaids bouquets will be plain white from Costco, and mine will be a hand tied bouquet of a bunch of pink mini and medium callas). I am trying to find several things:
1) Grey table runners (that do not look SILVER! I’m definitely going for more of a “graphite” than a silver, if that makes sense) to decorate the reception tables.
2) Three tiered cylinder vases to use as centerpieces (should be a small, med, and large).
I am willing to rent, if I could find anything, or buy - whichever is most convenient and easiest!
Any suggestions/websites would be greatly appreicated! Thanks!
Mrs. Bee, New York
Age and Occupation: 29, Weddingbee Publisher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Internet
Engagement Date: May 7, 2004
Wedding Date: March 5, 2005
Venue: Westside Loft, New York
About Me: Yes, my name really is Bee! I love my blogging, wikis, and tabasco sauce!
Hi,
Planning a wedding is HARD WORK!
I know, that must be the understatement of the blog. hahah..
Anyhow, I’m in the midst of trying to find a florist. Does anyone know what the going rate is for wedding florists these days? I know there are a lot to consider (i.e. type of flower, how many bouquets, what kind of decor, centerpieces etc…), but what’s considered too much money on flowers? How much is a bridal bouquet nowadays anyway?