Venue Vs. Flowers - Wedding on a Budget

kkp2013

I am going back and forth about having my 2013 wedding at a venue that I love (buts eats the budget considerably) or sacrificing the venue for other aspects of the wedding such as a live band and flowers. At the moment I am leaning toward picking the venue that I love and considerably lowering my budget on all other aspects of the wedding. With that said, will $1500.00 be enough for my flower budget. I am looking at a brides bouquet, 3 bridesmaids, 3 groomsmen, groom, mothers and fathers flowers and 17 table centerpieces. One idea I had is doing 8 center pieces with flowers 9 with candles. Does this sound realistic or should I move on from the dream venue? Help!

fallbride1109

First, try posting this on your local board too so that you have an idea of what the costs will be in your area.  In Dallas, 17 floral centerpieces alone would eat up most of that budget.

It also depends on how important flowers are to you.  There are ways to have minimal flowers with greenery, candles, even fruit and still have it look full and pretty.  Having flowers for only half the tables is a good idea also.

Another option would be to pay a florist for the wedding party flowers and DIY your centerpieces by ordering flowers from Sam's or Costco and just doing a simple vase arrangement so it's not too much stress for you.

Even though flowers were important to me, I don't think I would sacrifice my dream venue for them, especially since there are other options.  Consult with a few florists in your area, tell them your budget, and see what they can do for you.  A good florist can do alot with even a small budget.

[Deleted User]

We had a similar dilemma. The venue was a little more than what we wanted to spend, but since so much is included in that price, we ended up picking the venue over the other aspects of the wedding. We are getting married in October 2013, so there is plenty of time to not only save money but also complete DIY projects. We are doing synthetic Real Touch flowers for the bridal party and alternative centerpieces like branches, books, fruit, etc. With that in mind, we are only spending about $600 with shipping on flowers for 1 bridal bouquet, 1 toss bouquet, 5 bridesmaid bouquets, 9 boutonnieres, and 2 wrist corsages.

fallbride1109

Oh and another thing--is there any chance the venue might provide something?  My venue would have given me floating roses in a glass bowl with candles for free.  Although I ended up bringing in my own centerpieces, I did use the floral they provided for my cocktail hour, and they let me use a candleabra, etc.  It doesn't hurt to ask.

kljowens

Have you considered silk flowers, I used <a href="http://www.SilkFlowersByJean.com" rel="nofollow">www.SilkFlowersByJean.com</a> and it was much more economical than real flowers and I get to keep my bouquet. Thanks, Kim



In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_flowers_venue-vs-flowers-wedding-on-a-budget?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:28Discussion:9b4af5d9-e9c0-4a4c-80e6-97289b2ac41bPost:a7ef7f8a-7311-4046-adf6-36214a799abe">Venue Vs. Flowers - Wedding on a Budget</a>:
[QUOTE]I am going back and forth about having my 2013 wedding at a venue that I love (buts eats the budget considerably) or sacrificing the venue for other aspects of the wedding such as a live band and flowers. At the moment I am leaning toward picking the venue that I love and considerably lowering my budget on all other aspects of the wedding. With that said, will $1500.00 be enough for my flower budget. I am looking at a brides bouquet, 3 bridesmaids, 3 groomsmen, groom, mothers and fathers flowers and 17 table centerpieces. One idea I had is doing 8 center pieces with flowers 9 with candles. Does this sound realistic or should I move on from the dream venue? Help!
Posted by kkp2013[/QUOTE]

chrayme

Try going through a whole sale site like Costco.com or SAMs club it's a little more work, you have to put together everything yourself but in the end I got 15 centerpieces,6 bm bouquets and mine for around 550. I also had the flowers I wanted which were Lillie's. Something to consider

kisskiss30

If you  found a venue you love you should make that your first priority in your budget.  $1500 does sound like a good budget for flowers but each area varies and it depends on the flowers you want. I had a dilemna with my flowers as well (guarantee and money) and solved the problem with ordering simple but elegant centerpieces from a local florist.  My bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages I bought on-line from Etsy. com.  The name of the store is LOVE THE BLOOMS.  They were great and very reasonable I think.  She custom makes anything you want.  My flower were beautiful and I saved myself alot of money.  We also got to keep our bouquets.  Best wishes.  Marie

mabapunta

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_flowers_venue-vs-flowers-wedding-on-a-budget?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:28Discussion:9b4af5d9-e9c0-4a4c-80e6-97289b2ac41bPost:9824cbd1-d546-4505-828c-6f34d2df6828">Re: Venue Vs. Flowers - Wedding on a Budget</a>:
[QUOTE]If you  found a venue you love you should make that your first priority in your budget.  $1500 does sound like a good budget for flowers but each area varies and it depends on the flowers you want. I had a dilemna with my flowers as well (guarantee and money) and solved the problem with ordering simple but elegant centerpieces from a local florist.  My bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages I bought on-line from Etsy. com.  The name of the store is LOVE THE BLOOMS.  They were great and very reasonable I think.  She custom makes anything you want.  My flower were beautiful and I saved myself alot of money.  We also got to keep our bouquets.  Best wishes.  Marie
Posted by kisskiss30[/QUOTE]

kisskiss30 -- Do you have the link for that specific Etsy shop? I couldn't find it by searching either Etsy or Google, which is kind of weird. Would love to check it out!

We've put down a $500 deposit for our flowers, thinking we'd end up spending probably around $1500 for everything we need for us, 6 ppl wedding party and centerpieces. Having options to save a little money would be great tho! I don't think there was a non-compete on the contract...but maybe I'd look only for items like the toss bouquet or family members.

gottadance64

My venue is also going to be more than expected; I went to two florists this weekend and after getting estimates I've decided I'm going to do mostly silk and just have my bouquet and the bridesmaids' be real flowers.  There are some really good reviews for www.afloral.com and www.silkflowerfactory.com - re: their flowers looking very real. I even picked up some white and red tulips at Walmart last week - on clearance for $2.50 a bunch. When I put them in a vase and stepped back about five feet - you could not tell they weren't real. One florist quoted me $18 for a boutoniere - I'm like for a rose, a smaller rose bud and  some baby's breath? That's crazy!