Floral Budget $500

NuggetBrain

A friend of mine is also getting married and looking for a florist, but she's on a very tight budget for it.  Like, around $500, possibly up to $700.  Has anybody who's had this budget worked with a florist they can recommend?  I know Deven Nelson is highly recommended on here, but can she work in a budget like that?  Anybody else?  Thanks!!

emilykathleen511

What I would recommend to her is to order flowers in bulk online or go to a wholesale market or farmer's market and make the bouquets herself. It is pretty easy. Basically just wrap some floral tape around the bouquet, then wrap some wide ribbon around the floral tape. If you do a google search, you can find plenty of instructions.

NuggetBrain

I believe she's in medical school right now, so DIYing the flowers really isn't an option for her.  She's going to be pretty busy right up until the wedding. 

emilykathleen511

Well, you can't really do them in advance anyway. You just kind of take a couple hours and do them the weekend of. But whatever.

NuggetBrain

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_floral-budget-500?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:81Discussion:363d5925-5f42-4b5e-9937-bffcdfa1634fPost:9127e952-3c71-479c-a787-99a2514f24a4">Re: Floral Budget $500</a>:
[QUOTE]Well, you can't really do them in advance anyway. You just kind of take a couple hours and do them the weekend of. But whatever.
Posted by emilykathleen511[/QUOTE]

All I know is that she wanted to know if there were florists that worked within her price range.  I don't know what the "whatever" was for.

Sara191431

Yeah kind of a weird response she gave you, a little odd. 

Thanks for posting this though cause I would like to hear the responses as well! 

veijes

Our floral budget is around $600-700. We are still trying to decide on DIYing some of the flowers (since I'm not a huge fan of using greens/filler so by having all flowers that gets expensive) but we are having Deven Nelson do our bouquets and such. Deven has been amazing to us! Like $60 for my all peony bouquet and $40 for the BMs peony/anemone bouquet. She can work within any budget and if your friend is ok with using more "filler" I know she can work within her budget. Deven will take her to the wholesale store and show her options and price points! I remember a couple brides on here around $700 budget and using Deven Nelson. HTH!

Also, I know you are looking for florists for your friend but if she was at all intersted in DIY flowers, my friend is getting married this Saturday and using 300 roses in her wedding for under $250 from Costco and getting them on Thursday, I'm helping her do all the flowers so if you want to know how it goes and how much time it actually took, I can give you an update!

Sara191431

Veijes - I'd love to hear an update and to see how it all went!  Also, the prices you got form Deven really don't seem all that bad, def. have to meet with her later in my planning.  Thanks for posting the prices you got! 

butterflytina7

Jeni from Simply Stated Elegance charges the flower wholesaler price for flowers and only $30/hour for her time.  She's very creative and can help you pick out the less expensive flowers.

emilyj77

I used Christine Anderson from Christine's Floral Touch and she was fantastic! We paid around $500 for all of our flowers for the ceremony. We didn't need any at the reception, so it may be more if you want centerpieces. There are a few photos in my bio if you'd like to see some of her work.
Her e-mail address is:
christine@christinesfloraltouch.com

Good luck!

jazmineruby

I'm using Jen at Simply Stated too. She's great! I can't wait to see the final product. Our budget is tight too, so she was really resonable on the pricing.

shameless_ad

I still recommend Deven Nelson.  She quoted us between $250-300 for bouquets, boutenieres, and corsages (15 total), as well as flowers for the cake.

We're meeting with Christine of Christine's Floral Touch tonight.  I'll let you know how it compares!

We don't need flowers for centerpieces, so I know that is one of the main reasons our flower budget is so low.

I know that doing DIY flowers can save a lot of money, but I decided that I didn't need the extra stress.  Plus, I feel like the results just wouldn't be what I wanted.

heatherwu1998

I think $500 is completely do-able, as long as she avoids pricy centerpieces.  We're spending less than $500 for everything, including my bouquet, 2 bridesmaids bouquets, petals to line the aisle, and 12 bubble bowls with floating roses.  We're also using Deven Nelson . . .

NuggetBrain

Awesome, thanks ladies!  I will let her know about Deven and Jeni.

kristigiles

our florist is doing everything for 850...EVERYTHING.  She's doing 7 bouquets, 11 bouts, 10 corsages, 20 centerpieces, 2 alter arrangements, memorial flowers, cake flowers.  The key is using less expensive, in season flowers.  Our centerpieces are gladiolus which are very very in season in august so they are really cheap!  My florist by the way is "I Do" flowers

http://www.idoflowers.biz/

hjh444

I am using Jeni from Simply Stated Elegance as well and its just under $750 for everything...all flowers and centerpieces.

munkychip

Alissa : IDO Flowers.... she rocks. Amazing price.

qwerty777

I'm also suggesting Alissa from I Do Flowers.  She quoted me $585 for 6 bouquets, 4 corsages, and around 10 bouts.  If you give her your budget, she can definitely work within it!

KittE7

hi ladies! thx for all the great suggestions to nuggetbrain's query... 

We're at the beginning of our planning, but right now, the "floral/ decor" line on my budget planner is starting to scare me!  It looks like we'll only have ~$400 for CM flowers & RC decor.  We're not having attendants, so I guess that cuts out bouquets/corsages, but I'll still want pretty accents around the RC site (tall decor. topiaries, floral arrangements near entrance, 2-3 on bar, 12 tables).

It sounds like it's doable if we do it ourselves - I'm saying DIO, because I can't do this whole project by myself!  My friend said that Costco has bulk flowers, which I had never thought of, so it's great to hear that someone is doing that this weekend!  Does Costco also sell nice-looking yet inexpensive appropriate vases?

I may also call those recommended florists to see what can be done... I wish I could just hire a planner to arrange all these decor details, it's really not my forte!

esmurphy

My suggestion with the vases is to get creative and shop around if you can.  I ended up buying vases for my centerpieces from The Dollar Tree for $1 each.  They are about 10 inches tall and about 5 inch diameter. The glass is a bit thinner then similar vases I saw at Michaels but those were going for $4.50 a piece and it really doesn't matter once the filler is in

Steph0871

I'm also in need of ideas! Keep the inexpensive florist suggestions coming

gettingmarriedin2011

I am also using Jen from Simply Stated Elegance.  She is super creative and reasonable.  I shopped around and she was 1/3 cheaper than a couple florists and 50% cheaper than another.  You buy everything at wholesale and then just pay her to put things together.  She also has great vases to rent for inexspensive.  My friend just did her own flowers and she almost pulled her hair out- she said it was so not worth it but... good luck with whatever you decide.