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How to set a floral budget?

jburkie1jburkie1
First Comment
in Flowers
I'm looking to start meeting with florists, but I'm afraid they'll ask me my floral budget. I have no idea how to go about setting a budget!

I need:
1 bouquet
4 bouts
3 corsages
8 centerpieces

I was thinking hydrangeas for the centerpieces....

Thanks in advance!
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Re: How to set a floral budget?

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    jagore08jagore08 member
    5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    You should look at how much you have to spend on your wedding and pick it apart.  Usually your biggest expense should be food and beverages, followed by venue, then flowers or dress.  I budgeted about 8% of my total budget for flowers.
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    tommyandytommyandy member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Look online for what's going to be in season at the end of July.  Also, check out sites like FTD or PROFLOWERS for ideas.  If you can avoid any imported flowers or custom items it should keep your costs low.  Our local florists seem to think that $150.00 is a good starting price for a bridal bouquet.  I may just order a bunch of arrangements online , use 1 as my bouquet & plunk the rest on the tables.  Our local chain grocery stores do flowers as does Sam's Wholesale Club.      
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    Goldlie11Goldlie11
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    8-10% of your total budget is what they say you should spend.  However, you have to think about what you're comfortable with and how important flowers are to you.  Some people are really concerned about their centerpieces and bouquets.  Some, not so much.  My flowers are going to account for about 3% of the budget or less.  Then again, I'm not using them for centerpieces.  
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    CA2MT4EveRCA2MT4EveR member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    It also really depends on where you are located and what kind of place you are getting your flowers through.  Many high schools offer agriculture classes (even in the cities!) and have floral design.  You can get quality work for a fraction of the price. 
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    whitneykaye87whitneykaye87
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We didn't really know what to do for flower budgets either because it's not something I've ever purchased or thought about.  We ended up kind of 'winging it' and met with a bunch of different florists and talked about what we wanted.  That gave us an enormous range of price and quality, and we chose what we wanted and could afford from those estimates.

    If you want to set up your budget first, figure out what you're comfortable with in terms of your overall budget.  Then, take that number to a florist and ask what they can do for you.  Definitely bring your own ideas, but be open to their suggestions, as they often know flowers that look similar but have vastly different prices.

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    miss.jawrightmiss.jawright member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My venue is lovely and full of plants (a zoo) So I am only buying what people where and this still cost 5% which includes a chuppah. Flowers aren't as important as other things to us so we reduced the cost. I think you look at you whole budget and decide in the grand scheme of things how important the flowers are to you.
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    sophistrylizsophistryliz
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    That won't be too bad, especially because you don't need much.  I'd say you can definitely do it for under $1000.
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    caseyandlizziecaseyandlizzie member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Shop around too. If you find flowers that you like, meet with several different florists in your area to see what they would charge. You'd be surprised at how much the cost varies from one florist to the next.

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    edwina-Nedwina-N
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hydrangeas are great for CP's cause it doesn't take a lot of stems to make it look really full. I would say your best bet is to make a rough draft of your whole wedding budget and go from there. Super markets like a stop and shop or a dave's market place have really great selections and are usually cheaper the going to a regular florist.
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    Catwoman708Catwoman708 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    edited December 2011

    You really need to know how the rest of your budget is going, and what the typical prices are like in your area. 

    I'd suggest you have a rough idea of what kinds of flowers you want, and then meet with a few florists for estimates.  If th prices don't fit with your budget, see if the florists can give suggestions on how to keep the cost down.  Or think about DIYing the centerpieces or something. 

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    californiadreamin07californiadreamin07
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    If you have the time and desire, you could make your own!  I'm ordering my flowers from an online retailer (www.fiftyflowers.com), and I'll be doing all my own arrangements.  Doing it that way, my flower budget is about about 5% of my entire wedding budget.

    Hope that helps!
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    KMB611KMB611 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My co-worker referred me to her father-in-law who is a florist. My budget for flowers is about $500. We're not giving our grandmothers any corsages, but we are giving each of them a single rose. Check with your reception venue to see if you can use their centerpieces or if you have to provide your own centerpieces. There are ways to do flowers on a budget and still make it nice. I like Californiadream's idea with perhaps DIY for bouquets and centerpieces.
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    flower_divaflower_diva member
    First Anniversary First Comment Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    find a good florist.They will work with you to maximize your flowers for what you want to spend. They are there to help you determine your budget. Take any pictures you have colocted and a list of the people you want to give flowers to. Then they will be able to give you a rough estimate. You can then decide if you need to adjust your budget and or expectations.
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    lrn7804lrn7804 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I think it really depends on if you have your heart set on a certain flower and kind of boquet. I HAD to have cala lilies and roses. They are my absolute favorite flowers. Hence my daughters name is Lillian Rose. SO we budgeted around the fact that cala's are expensive. I also went to a florist that was willing to make me  unique boquets within any amount I told her. Then I went to my FH and we ultimately looked at what was already paid for, and how much time we had left, and came up with a number that we could commit to. Then the florist did the rest! She was amazing and had tons of ideas on how to cut costs and get the same desired look. Good Luck
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    LaureltQLaureltQ member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We're heading down to the local farmers market and buying loads of flowers the day of (after meeting with flower retailers a few weeks prior) and putting together centerpieces then.  That's obviously not for everyone, but  will cut your floral budget down to practically nothing.  I don't expect to spend more than $250 on flowers for the entire wedding.
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    ashrey06ashrey06
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    i got real lucky with my flowers, i thought i wanted real but after looking into prices there was just no way so i decided on fake flowers. i went to a floral & craft store and they were having a 50% off sale and was able to get ALL my wedding flowers for $60!!! my aunt has done flowers for weddings before and always does an amazing job so i asked her to help me put them together. im all about saving money but still want the wedding to be beautiful and this was definately the way to go for me
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    flobabe28flobabe28 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    not sure where u live, but i called this week and basically it looks like $1500-$2000 for bridal bouquet, BM bouquettes, corsages, boutniers, and centerpieces...
    i called 4 different places and the brides bouquet alone starts at $185...i thought it was outrageous too so i called 3 other places and i got a range of 185-225 for my bouquet and 50-75 each BM, $50+ for centerpieces...also, keep in mind some places throw in the aisle runner for the church and bows for the pues so that can make the church look nice as well...and all 4 florist charge a delivery charge for Sunday weddings...i dont know what im going to go with in terms of flowers- roses are more expensive, but ask the florist for other flowers that look JUST like roses- lazinthias i think their called (or something like that), orchids and calla lilies are pretty $$$$$$... just ask around...ask your reception site who they recomend and they will probably work with you since the venue recommended them... 
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    2dBride2dBride member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    One of the problems with setting the budget for any item in a wedding is that all the advice about what percentage "should" go for any one function is pretty much meaningless.  What you should do is keep the cost of your entire wedding within your overall budget, and then make sure that every dollar is used in the ways most important to you.

    So, your first question is, are flowers among the most important things in the wedding for you?  More important than the venue, or the number of guests, or the quality of food?   If they are not, then wait to start pricing them until you have priced out the most important things.

    If flowers are the most important things for you, then start with what you would ideally like in the way of flowers, and get prices from a couple of florists on that.  If they are within 8-10% of your budget, then you should be fine.  If not, you can also look at variations of the ideal--e.g., how much would it save to use nonfloral centerpieces, and have flowers only for the bouqets and bouts?  Or to have the flower centerpieces, but carry something besides a bouquet (parasol, fan, book, etc.)?  Or to use a similar flower that costs less?  Or to buy the flowers wholesale and DIY the centerpieces and/or bouquets?  At that point, you can either go with an alternative that is about 8-10% of your budget, or decide that flowers are so important to you that it is worth cutting back  on other areas to have the ones you want at the higher price.

    If you start with the things that are most important to you, and work down from there, then by the time you are getting to the last of your budget, anything that you can't afford will be something that isn't important to you, anyway.

    For us?  Flowers weren't particularly important.  In a $10,000 wedding, the flowers were under $300.
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