Saving on Flowers

Katie DiAntonio

Does anyone have any suggestions for saving money on flowers? 

clbartnicki

Ask your florist what types of flowers are in season for the time of year you are getting married. You can use larger "filler" flowers for more bulk (i.e. hydrangea if it was in season is a larger flower).

kates2480

I wanted to do hurricane candles on every other table to save some $$$, but MIL vetoed me and paid for the difference, so I couldn't argue.

sboston06

Make your bouquets smaller.  I saved $100 by taking 10 flowers out of each BM bouquet and my bouquet.  I don't think anyone will notice.Be up front about your budget and they will usually work with you.  She originally quoted me $100 more and I told her that was too much for me, and asked for ways to reduce the cost.  She was able to take the crystals out of my bouquet, reduce the amount of flowers, and cut out the extra money.

jenwindy

I used artificial flower bouquets for my bridesmaids, and resold them for the same price I bought them. Short centerpieces don't necessarily save money. My tall centerpieces ($25 each) were cheaper than my short ones ($65), because I used asiatic lilies. We used roses & orchids in the short ones.Flowers weren't my priority.

jkepros

Order the flowers from a grocery store or wholesale club and make the arrangements yourself. Or you could just cut down the overall amount of flowers &/or use alternatives.  I have seen boutonnieres and centerpieces made of all kinds of non-florals, and  bouquets of paper or wood flowers...I've even seen adorable felt flower bouquets!  Or use colorful (and cheaper) foliage instead of flowers.

jenvalet

I did small centerpieces of sunken hydrangea and that saved me a lot.  Not having those gigantic centerpieces...

opalsky007

DIY is a good route to go if you have the time...flowerwholesale.com is the best resource I've found so far. Also, you may want to consider decorating as much with nonflorals as possible--for example I am buying inexpensive lanterns and attaching a single gerbera daisy to each instead of paying for entirely floral centerpieces.For both DIY and your florist, simplicity is key. You can make a major impact with minimalist arrangements or bouquets of a single flower for much less than using a variety. Also, large blooms (hydrangea, gerbera, and many lilies) give you the most bang for your buck.

cappellachica

We are going the route of DIY. For my bouquet we are doing red roses with flame cala lilly's and hypericum berries, etc. With the BM we are doing all white flowers (probably cala lilly's) and hypericum berries. The hypericum berries are great fillers and we've found them to be rather cheap. We are using only hypericum berries for the GM bouttinere's to keep costs down. ***Remember lots of color can go into your bouquet but try to stay away from it in BM bouquets the colors blend into their dresses in photo's and go unnoticed. (Best peice of advice the florist has given me yet!).

Sarah1514

i bought mine at stop and shop... they did 4 bouquets, and 4 bouts for $290 total. Just tell them your budget and what your looking for looks wise and they will help you for sure!! GL

SoonToBeMrsDBC

I took a class on how to make my own wedding bouquets at a flower shop in Watertown that also has a school. They gave us so much information about how to save a ton of money on flowers but still have beautiful bouquets and centerpieces. They taught us how to make two gorgeous bouquets that we got to take home. I have been practicing and we are going to make ours with green hydrangeas, roses and orchids which I have ordered from Wilson Farm in Lexington and my local Costco. A couple of girls from work have also taken this class and loved it too, its at Cass the Florist and they also have a centerpiece class, which is this Saturday 9/26, Its a great deal for $95, my best bridal bargin by far http://www.cassflowers.com/wececl.html One of the many tips we learned and have found to be true is that you can get the same price by buying bulk from some florists, Costco and farms as you can get ordering on line. This way you don't have to prepare the flowers (cut & hydrate) your self and you have someone to contact if there is an issue. I bought hydrangeas on line for our engagement party on a Sunday and they came all dried out and never opened but the on line seller was closed on Saturday so we had no flowers. The class is one of the few wedding things were I felt they were trying to save us money rather than jacking up the price because its a wedding.