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No, I’m not talking about the quality of our florist. She’s great. I’m talking about the dud job for which she probably wishes she hadn’t signed a contract, the dud job at a fancy hotel that will barely reap a profit. That dud job would be our wedding—no fault of her own; we’re the lame ones.
Let me back up. Here are the kinds of flowers available in March (tulips, hyacinth, freesia, lisianthus, etc.), that I was dreaming about for my bouquet:
Source (my fave)
(I’m not sure I’m an all-tulip kind of girl, but these look like Easter eggs, don’t they? I just wanna crack ’em.)
Beautiful bouquets, eh? How lovely it would be to hold thee. Until I saw the estimate from our florist.
Since we are definitely splurging on the venue/food, I was really hoping not to spend that much on flowers other than for dinner table centerpieces and cocktail hour table arrangements.
I met with our lovely florist at the Ritz on one of my trips out to the Bay Area. She was awesome. Warm, funny, conscientious (took copious notes), and talented. Below are the items that I first discussed with her and for which she drew up an estimate.
After seeing the her estimate, here is the list I sent back to her, with my strikethroughs to indicate what we had to drop in order to get close to our budget. I used red font in the email for extra effect!
That’s 2 out of 8, i.e. we approved a mere 25% of what she originally envisioned for us. I am surprised that our florist is even talking to us anymore.
Sigh. Must DIY a little. For the cake table, I’m going to be buying freeze dried petals instead, probably from flyboynaturals, to scatter on the table.
For the candles on the windowsills I think the Ritz can do a big chunk of that. Double sigh. I guess the words “festooned” and “profusion” will not apply to our wedding as far as flowers go.
Anyone else have to cut so far back on an item that you almost felt embarrassed telling your vendor?
I’m sure you can do a lot with DIY! Are you going the Costco route for your bouqet? or maybe a farmer’s market?
i absolutlely love that first bouquet! That’s my inspiration to!
We don’t hacve a florist yet. I had contacted a few for proposals months ago, only to have to cut back on the wedding, which primarily fell on the flower budget. We too had to cut out a huge chunk. I’m hoping we’ll be able to find someone who will work with us!
yes!!! when I commissioned Lindsey Ryan to do our invitations, I estimated 50-75. After chopping our guest list, we only need like 20… whoops!
I’m gearing up for this very discussion. I have a contract signed, but can fiddle with the flowers. I don’t think I’ll go too small, but the bouquets are definitely getting shrunk. Poor vendors, I wonder if they can smell the bargain-hunting brides coming, or if we take them by surprise . . .
I had a very small budget for a DJ, and when I talked to one on the phone, he told me I was nuts and that he would never work for anyone for my budget. I was floored that a vendor would say something so rude to a potential client! I hope your florist was nice about it.
On the way to Half Moon Bay I always drive past a bunch of super inexpensive flower nurseries, in case you do want to do the DIY flower route..
I haven’t met with our florist yet, but I’m afraid of the estimate already!
Don’t worry. You are far from the first person to have to cut back on flowers. I too just met with a florsit on Sunday, and had to scale down to fit a $800 budget. Let me say for the record, I have 8 BM’s, 9 reception tables, 3 grandmother’s corsages, 2 mother’s corsages, and cocktail hour arrangements to account for. The potential florist threw in flower girl rose petals, ring bearer and father’s boutoneires (sp.). The grand total was way over budget. We had to axe the arch, and decided to DIY some type of ceremony decor. Keep the faith. You will come up with something that is comfortable. Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had sticker shock when we went to the first florist. I shopped around a bit and was able to get what I wanted and I’m very happy with it-but I did have to be a bit flexible.
That’s a bummer that you had to cut back, but I have to imagine, with the economy the way it is, you’re probably not the only ones. I know our event coordinator at the venue was kind of surprised that our guest count was so much lower than the estimate (people didn’t bring guests and OOT folks didn’t all come).
I started talking to a wedding planner who refused to give me any price estimates, but instead wanted to have multiple conference calls discussing my wedding in detail. I finally told her to give me a price or I would go directly to a florist/design company that can do exactly what she can. I actually went to the florist that she shares a building with and would have done all my flowers through. It took them about 2 seconds to figure out I had contacted them both. The planner was a little ticked, but I was so fed up at that point that it had been 2 months and still no price estimate. I realized at the end of the day that I probably don’t need a wedding planner since the florist can do everything I need, and even if I do need a planner I don’t want to work with her.
We are having a vendor from our farmer’s market supply the flowers for the reception. We were able to get 3times as many flowers that way. Our florist however is awesome. She really gets my idea of smaller bouquets/bouts/corsages and is able to get me some of the fancier flowers I want that way. Are either of those an option for you?
I love “flowers for dogs!” I’m sad they had to go…. I can’t believe how expensive flowers are!
Yeaaah, flowers are outrageously expensive - what’s up with that?
i’m sure you weren’t the first nor will be the last to do that to a florist. no worries!
Could you ask how much bluk flowers are through her?
When we did our big cut back (from a $1,000 estimate to a $400 budget), our florist offered to make a few of the key arrangements and offered us bulk flower to do our own. With that we made our budget!
Miss Pug, I hear you- I feel like I am handing our florist the lamest list of items. 
My DIY ambitions have her job kinda boring. boo
Oh- the florist is the next meeting on the list, I’m scared of offending them with my list and budget. I would love to have big bunches of flowers everywhere, but we just really cannot afford it
Ugh, flowers are too expensive… my planner is awesome and is going to do them wholesale for us to save us money. One less vendor to deal with works for me.
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Mrs. Pug, New York City/Half Moon Bay, CA Age and Occupation: 33, Lawyer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 32, ditto Engagement Date: July 2008 Wedding Date: March 2010 Venue: Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay About Me: The Mr. and I are two 30-somethings who enjoy tasty sweets of all kinds, our neighborhood wine store, and cuddling with our pug. NYC is where we live and the city we love, but we’re doing the deed out in Northern California. We are trying to keep the affair small, intimate, and manageable. Our motto is: the less people, the better! (I’m kidding.)
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