Wedding Blog

Mrs. Penguin here! Flower costs were, by far, the biggest mystery to me. We hope that by seeing the bees’ flowers and their costs, you can get a better idea for floral pricing for your own wedding! A big thank you to all the bees that continue to contribute to our Real Bee Budget series… you guys are the best!

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Mrs. Hot Cocoas’ Flowers

Florist: Kate Baker Florals, Southern California

Total floral cost: $6750
Included:

• Chuppah
• Bride’s Bouquet
• 6 Bridesmaid Bouquets
• 4 Small Posies for mothers and grandmothers
• 10 Boutonnieres
• 21 High/Low Centerpieces
• 2 VIP table vignettes
• 1 Head table vignette
• Miscellaneous arrangements for cocktail tables

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Mrs. Tiramisu’s Flowers

Florist: Poppy at The Ladyslipper Flower Shop, Gray, Maine

July 2008 Wedding

Floral budget: $1900, included (with delivery to York, Maine- approx. 1 hour away):

• Bride’s bouquet (Hydrangea, Mini Calla Lillies, Irises, White Stock, Delphinium)
• 7 Bridesmaid Bouquets (hydrangea)
• 2 Flowergirl Wands
• 3 Mom Corsages (wrist)
• 3 Grandmother Corsages (pin-on)
• Groom’s Boutonniere
• 7 Groomsmen Boutonnieres
• 1 Ring Bearer Boutonniere
• 3 Dad Boutonnieres
• 2 Grandfather Boutonnieres
• 24 small Centerpieces for long tables
• 12 larger Centerpieces for square tables
• 2 large altar arrangements (re-purposed as bar decorations at the reception)
• Hydrangeas to decorate cake

“I know very little about flowers, and showed up for our first meeting with a swatch of my bridesmaid dresses and a few scattered ideas in my head (”I like blue.” “No roses.”). Somehow, the Ladyslipper magically turned that into the beautiful flowers that appeared on the wedding day. They ran with my vague idea of wands for the flower girls, found the most beautiful dark blue hydrangeas for my bridal bouquet (from the Netherlands!), and achieved the perfect blend of simple and elegant in the wildflower centerpieces. Even better, they did all of this within our budget. My biggest tip is to ask if you can supply your own glassware. We purchased the round vases for the square tables at the dollar store, and the small vases at IKEA for 79 cents each!”

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Mrs. Sushi’s Flowers

Florist: Watanabe Floral

Spring 2009

Floral budget: $48

• 1 Jasmine Lei (for lei ceremony)
• 1 Maile Lei (for lei ceremony)
• 2 leis for the moms
• 1 lei for my dad
• 1 kukui nut lei for my brother

“Our venue was sooo beautiful that I didn’t want to “waste” the money on flowers. It didn’t need any. And I couldn’t justify spending $100 on a bridal bouquet that I would only be holding for a few minutes. I was worried about what to do with my hands while walking down the aisle (since I didn’t have a bouquet). I ended up holding onto my dad with two hands. In the end, I’m sooo glad I went the route I did, although I wish I would’ve splurged more money on the leis for our parents.”

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Mrs. Bee’s Flowers

Florist: Belle Fleur, New York, NY

Spring 2005

Total Cost: $7447.22

• 2 Ceremony pedestal rentals - $600
• Mantle flowers - $500
• Runner - $150
• Bride’s Bouquet + Free tossing bouquet - $225
• 3 Bridesmaids Bouquets - $375
• 2 groom bouts - $30
• 7 attendants - $12 x 7 = $84
• Place card table rental - $350
• Cocktail table arrangements - 8 x $65 = $520
• Dinner table arrangements - 10 x $175 = $1750
• Candles - 80x$3.50 = $280
• Cake Display - $75
• Window Vases Rental - $8.50 x 75 = $637.50
• Ladies Room arrangement - $50
• Garden Room arrangement - $150
• Spring branches - $450
• Delivery + Installation - $800
• NY Tax = $670.72

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Mrs. Cookie’s Flowers

Florist: Bloom, Breckenridge, Colorado

Fall 2008

Flower Budget: $1,600

• 1 Bride’s Bouquet
• 5 Bridesmaids Bouquets
• 8 Men’s Boutonierres
• 2 Mom’s Flowers (Pin-on)
• 8 Table Centerpieces
• Rose Petals
• Cake Flowers

“Since we got married in the fall, I wanted the flowers to reflect the colors of the changing landscape: reds and oranges. Also, red is Mr. Cookie’s favorite color. Overall, we kept the flowers to a minimum (e.g. only petals lining the aisle for the ceremony) as not to take a way from the beautiful view of the mountains. ”

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Mrs. Penguin’s Flowers

Florist: Huckleberry Karen, San Francisco, CA

Summer 2008 wedding

Floral budget: $800

• Bride’s Bouquet (Cymbidium Orchids, Peonies)
• (4) Bridesmaids’ Bouquets (Cymbidium Orchids, Roses, Peonies)
• (3) Mom Mini Bouquets (Cymbidium Orchids, Roses)
• (7) Men’s Boutonierres (Dendrobium Orchids)
• (1) Flowergirl Pomander (Mums)
• Box of loose Dendrobium Orchids, for decor scattering (one office box full)
• 10 stems Cymbidium Orchids for DIY centerpieces
• approx 10 Banana Leaves for DIY centerpieces

“We used very minimal flowers for our decor, so we could afford peonies and orchids. Our tables only seated 6 people per table, so we had to decorate a lot of tables, and this was a good way to go. Less was more! Karen had another wedding that day, so she made our flowers on Thursday and a friend coming in from SF drove them in a cooler to our place for our Saturday wedding. They held up beautifully! Peonies and Cymbidium orchids are really hearty.”

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Mrs. Tulip’s Flowers

Florist: None
Total Cost: $440

“We used silk flowers from Save-on-Crafts for bouquets, corsages, and boutonnières, and Peruvian lilies and garden roses from FiftyFlowers.com to decorate the ceremony and reception spaces. Of course it would have been easier to work with a florist, and I don’t have any experience with florists to know how much money we saved. But I suspect we saved a lot.”

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Miss Cherry Pie’s Flowers

Florist: Glacier Wallflowers & Gifts, Columbia Falls, MT
Total Cost: $1550

Cost Breakdown:

• Bridal Bouquet: $210
• Bridesmaids bouquets: $55 each (x5) = $275
• Groom & Groomsmen’s bouts: $10 each (x6) = $60
• Flower girl clutch: $20
• Bouts for the mothers and fathers: $10 (x5) = $50
• Centerpieces: $45 (x12) = $540
• Uncut dahlias to line the aisles: $2.65 per stem (x 100) = $265
• Delivery and setup: $135

“We chose seasonal flowers in colors (burgundy, yellow, red) that complemented our autumn wedding. To highlight the seasonal feel and pay homage to one of Montana’s major crops, we incorporated wheat and other grasses into our arrangements. Wheat also symbolizes fertility!

I was absolutely thrilled with our flowers, and glad that our florist let us buy uncut dahlias by the stem for our shepherd’s hooks. That saved us a lot of money, but even so, flowers in Montana don’t come cheap!

We were also quite limited in our choice of florists. Glacier Wallflower was great to work with, but really our only option given their proximity to one of the two entry-points to Polebridge. Thankfully, they took direction very well and produced lovely floral accents for our wedding day.”

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Mrs. Butterfly’s Flowers

Florist: Flowers of the World, Maria Nino
Total Cost: $4,400

“Her bubbling personality was exactly what I needed in a florist! I gave her colors and styles that I sorta liked, and she came up with the rest. Every time that I went in for a meeting, she had examples of what centerpieces or bouquets would look like. This helped, since I wanted to know how the flowers would incorporate into my color scheme. She dropped off all of the flowers that I needed herself at the hotel on the day of the wedding. When I got to the venue, everything was done. She had made extra boutonnieres for the men because apparently boys always tend to ruin theirs before the ceremony. For my petal cones, I bought several dozens of roses in colors that I wanted, and she and her staff picked off the petals for me the night before the wedding. She stuffed the cones, then laid out extra petals at the program card table and other tables. The lighting was fantastic! I loved working with her and I would highly recommend her to anyone!”

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Miss Bunny’s Flowers

Florist: Our florist is the first vendor (or wedding elf, if you’re of A Practical Bride’s school of thought) I’ve booked.

Total Cost: $370

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Mrs. Pineapple’s Flowers

Florist: Diane of DK Designs Hawaii
Total Cost: $825 after packing and shipping (a gift from Momma P)

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Miss Joey’s Flowers

Florist: Local U-Pick farm, Costco, Home Depot, Local Grocery Storey, Pike Place Market
Total Cost: $175 - We may only need about $100 because we’re doing single stems for centerpieces.

Cost Breakdown:

• Bouquets: $30 for Bride and MOH
• Billy Bouquet
• Baby’s breath
• boutonnières/corsages: 8 @ $10 a piece from JMGJewelryDesign
• $10-12 for groom’s bout (it came in a package with my hairpiece)

“I wanted to go with fake flowers just because I knew I wouldn’t have had the time to make bouts/corsages myself before the wedding.

Check out your local u-pick farms. Apparently there are 4 or 5 dahlia farm/gardens within 50 miles of Seattle that sell stems as low as $0.50 each. I think it’s a nice little activity to do with some of my out-of-town guests the Wednesday or Thursday before the wedding.

Using bud vases really saved us a lot. Yes, the vases ranged from $2-5 but I only need 1-3 flowers per table.
Also, we decided on succulents because all you need is one and they are a bargain at $2.50 each.”

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Mrs. Plumeria’s Flowers

Florist: Albertsons
Total Cost: $2500

• Bride’s bouquet
• Toss bouquet
• 6 Bridesmaids’ bouquets
• Groom’s boutonniere
• 6 Groomsmens’ boutonnieres
• Ring bearer’s boutonniere
• Flowergirl’s pomander
• Boutonnieres for relatives and closely-involved helpers (18 total)
• Wrist corsages for relatives and closely-involved helpers (15 total)
• 2 Arm bouquets to present to the mothers during the ceremony
• 2 Large flower-filled urns for the altar
• 1 Small arrangement for the unity candle table
• 4 Small arrangements for the cake
• 40 Centerpieces

“As to the vendor: I wrote earlier about how my mother-in-law handles much of the floral ordering for Albertson’s/SaveMart’s/Lucky supermarkets in the Northern California region. Thus, we were privileged to work directly with the wholesale floral designer that supplies all of the flowers for the supermarkets for a phenomenal price! The retail stores do have wedding floral catalogs if you go and inquire, so if you are interested in flower options beyond the normal florist, be sure to check out these lesser-known sources… you never know what you could discover!!”

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Miss Mary Jane’s Flowers

Florist: N/A
Total Cost: $60

“…if I get them at a florist, which I might. I don’t intend to buy a “bridal bouquet”; I’m just going to get some flowers and wrap them myself. Grocery store flowers tend to cost about $20/bouquet, so I’d estimate about $40 in case I want to combine two bouquets.”

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Mrs. Kiwi’s Flowers

Florist: Laura of Utopian Designs
Total Cost: $644.60

“We never really wanted a lot of flowers, just the bouquets, boutonnières, corsages and two altar arrangements. Our florist Laura (of Utopian Designs), was easily the most personable of our vendors. I just adored her. She was very friendly and knew almost exactly what we were looking for. Our flowers consisted of calla lilies, roses, freesia, ranunculus, and hypericum berries. At first our estimate was for $800.00, still a bargain! Once we really started discussing what we wanted, the final total became: $644.60.”

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Mrs. Corn’s Flowers

Florist: Jeremy at Check the Florist
Total Cost: $341

“Originally I was going to purchase my flowers for everything but my bouquet from Costco and put them together myself, but Jeremy suggested he could give me the same rate for the flowers and then I wouldn’t have to put them together. I was sold. Plus Jeremy was so awesome to work with. I highly, HIGHLY recommend him.

My biggest tip… make your own centerpieces. There are so many wonderful things you can do that are so much less expensive than florals. We saved a LOT of money by not having floral centerpieces!!”

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Miss Powder Puff’s Flowers

Florist: Essential Designs, Spring Lake, MI
Total Cost: $900

Cost Breakdown:

• 1 Bridal Bouquet (pink lisianthus, green berries, peach stock, purple freesia, and greens)
• 3 Bridesmaids Bouquets
• 12 Boutonnieres
• 8 Corsages
• A garland of greens for ceremony gazebo, 2 shephard hooks with jars of flowers
• 13 baby’s breath centerpieces, both high and low

“We had a difficult time finding a florist who had good ideas and didn’t just shove a book of 1980s arrangements in your face. After looking around town, we got a recommendation for Lori from Essential Designs from a friend. Lori works out of her home, but is so sweet and has the best ideas, for way less money than the other florists in town were quoting! I think she’s going to make our wedding look beautiful!”

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Miss Beagle’s Flowers

Vendor: N/A
Total Cost: $500 ($300 for centerpieces, $200 for all other floral related items)

Season: Fall-October

Cost Breakdown:

• 6 Bouquets (Includes bridal bouquet)
• 6 Bouts
• 4 Corsages for Mom, FMIL, Grandmothers
• 6 Bouts for Dad, FFIL, Grandfathers
• 20 Dried floral centerpieces

“I knew going into this that I didn’t want to use fresh florals. I searched for alternatives and finally decided on a combination of dried florals for the centerpieces and fabric flowers for bouquets. I was able to DIY all of these, which saved on cost and, as a bonus, they are all reusable and will last beyond the wedding day. Once we get closer to the wedding, I will provide a more acurate and detailed breakdown of costs.”

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Mrs. Flamingo’s Flowers

Florist: Fleuriste Exo-Design, Blainville, QC, Canada

Summer 2008 wedding

Floral budget: $480 (taxes included)

• Bride Bouquet : $100 (Peonies and ranunculus)
• 3 Bridesmaid + 1 MOH bouquet + Toss Bouquet : $240
  Maid of Honor : Roses and Peonies
  Bridesmaid: roses + an unknown flower (to replace the never delivered ranunculus)
  Toss bouquets: Mixture of various blooms
• 6 bouts: $60 (roses)
• 5 corsages : $50 (miniature roses)
• DIY Bouquet Bling: $30

“When I started planning my wedding, I wanted to DIY my florals, bouquet and all. I was ready to buy my flowers at the market and make them the day before the wedding. My stepmother convinced me not to go that route and even offered to pay part of my floral budget. Even though my flowers weren’t expensive, I regret not doing my own bouquets… and I would suggest, if you want to DIY your flowers, don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.

I loved florals… and I am sure I would of been more stressed if I did my own… but I felt like it would of been even more special if I had done them myself.”