Community› Local Wedding Boards› Pennsylvania-Central
Pennsylvania-Central
New Discussion
Options

Really need officiant/florist recommendations on a VERY TIGHT budget

corrine88corrine88
First Comment
in Pennsylvania-Central
Hello ladies, I really need some advice. I'm in the Lancaster area and on a very tight budget. I need help finding an officiant (hopefully in the 200 range) and a reasonable florist. Now a family friend is payng for the bridal bouquet and the bridesmaids bouquets (there will be three, 1 MOH and 2 BM) but she's not made of money and I'm so appreciative of her doing this I want to find a place that's not super unreasonable and will work within a budget. All suggestions welcome! 
Report Reply to Post

Re: Really need officiant/florist recommendations on a VERY TIGHT budget

  • Options
    daria24daria24 member
    First Comment First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer
    My florist was Floral Designs of Mount Joy http://www.floraldesignsofmountjoy.com/ and everything was AMAZING. Jill & her staff really blew me away and so many of our guests commented on the flowers. The prices were very reasonable.

    I also met with Floral Designs by Heather Ann http://www.floralsbyheatherann.com/
    I really liked her and she is by far the least expensive person. She works from home, so she doens't have the shop overhead to cover with her prices, you can save money by picking up the flowers directly from her, and she will work within any budget. I believe her quote to me for 10 centerpieces, bouquet, MOH bouqet, all the corsages & bouts, ceremony flowers, etc was about $600, and she had options to make it even lower. Even though I didn't end up using her, I was very impressed.

    As for the officiant, we actually self-united and didn't have one, so we just paid for the marriage license fee. Some people self-unite but have a friend/family member who leads the ceremony. Just an option to consider, if you have quesitons about it feel free to PM me.
    image
    Report Reply
  • Options
    Jessimb0587Jessimb0587 member
    First Comment

    Just a word of warning... I would not use Heather Ann.

    I booked her for my wedding, and she is very hard to reach. After many many phone calls I finally was supposed to have a meeting with her (AT HER PLACE) and she was a no show. So be careful with her. I booked her because of the amazing things I heard about her, but because of this I ate my losses and chose another florist who is amazing.

    Wedding Countdown Ticker
    Report Reply
  • Options
    az1177az1177 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    Tight budget?
    Consider me for your photography needs!
    Report Reply
  • Options
    kimberlyr22kimberlyr22 member
    First Comment
    @daria24: I'm a little jealous of your floral quote from Heather Ann...mine was right around $600 for five bouquets and five bouts (roses and hydrangeas). 

    as far as officiant and flowers we are DIYing both b/c of cost...

    We're doing the self-uniting options b/c neither of us are affiliated with a church and we found the cost of officiants higher than we were looking to pay ($400-$600).  Plus, as said above, with the self uniting option you can have a friend/family member lead the ceremony, instead of someone you've only met on one or two occasions.

    Flowers, we're doing hydrangeas and roses from Sams clubs...about $250 will do bouquets and ceremony/reception flowers; i'm doing real touch roses for the bouts and corsages so they can be done well in advance.
    photo KimberlyWedding_zps9ece9155.jpg
    Report Reply
  • Options
    corrine88corrine88
    First Comment
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-central_really-need-officiantflorist-recommendations-on-a-very-tight-budget?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:107Discussion:70aeeb9c-5762-43f1-84c0-b91061199226Post:20a7f33d-02fb-4ab4-8dfa-e80389ec61f1">Re: Really need officiant/florist recommendations on a VERY TIGHT budget</a>:
    [QUOTE]My florist was Floral Designs of Mount Joy  <a href="http://www.floraldesignsofmountjoy.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.floraldesignsofmountjoy.com/</a> and everything was AMAZING. Jill & her staff really blew me away and so many of our guests commented on the flowers. The prices were very reasonable. I also met with Floral Designs by Heather Ann  <a href="http://www.floralsbyheatherann.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.floralsbyheatherann.com/</a> I really liked her and she is by far the least expensive person. She works from home, so she doens't have the shop overhead to cover with her prices, you can save money by picking up the flowers directly from her, and she will work within any budget. I believe her quote to me for 10 centerpieces, bouquet, MOH bouqet, all the corsages & bouts, ceremony flowers, etc was about $600, and she had options to make it even lower. Even though I didn't end up using her, I was very impressed. As for the officiant, we actually self-united and didn't have one, so we just paid for the marriage license fee. Some people self-unite but have a friend/family member who leads the ceremony. Just an option to consider, if you have quesitons about it feel free to PM me.
    Posted by daria24[/QUOTE]

    <div>You have a PM</div>
    Report Reply
  • Options
    Shutterbug101108Shutterbug101108 member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    Weddings and Blooms, Leah is awesome! 

    officiant: Dave Dirrado but not sure how much he costs?
    Report Reply
  • Options
    tjandsashatjandsasha
    First Comment
    Ebay- Lilyofangels for your flowers- everything (silk) for around 200 for a 17 piece set.  She is great to deal with and does customizations.  Check her out! 
    Report Reply
  • Options
    yellohbirdyellohbird
    First Comment
    I would absolutely recommend Heather Ann...she was by the far the sweetest person to work with, we had the same vision from the beginning. I never had a problem reaching her and her quote was impossible to beat.The flowers were absolutely breathtaking and all night long guests were asking who did our flowers. Even servers at our venue were asking. We used Robb Green as our officiant and he was very nice and easy to work with. He let us customize alot of the ceremony even though his ceremony was still beautiful and unique. He lets you decide what to pay him and we didnt have to give him anything until the day of the wedding. He responded to every call and email promptly and answered all of my questions and made everything easy on us. Both of these vendors were fantastic and I highly recommend them. Good luck
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
    Report Reply
  • Options
    slpankuchslpankuch member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    I second Floral Designs of Mount Joy. Jill, the owner, is absolutely amazing. She works within your budget and her style is so modern and different from anything that I have ever seen at other florists.

    The officiant I used was Pam Brehm. Her packages ranged from $100-$350.  She is from Boyerstown but doesn't charge to travel. She is wonderful to work with and has thus far made my planning experience very easy. She's such a sweet lady too!
    http://www.reverendpamela.com/

    Wedding Countdown Ticker

    Report Reply
  • Options
    daria24daria24 member
    First Comment First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer
    Corrine YGPM back
    image
    Report Reply
  • Options
    CurucuCurucu member
    First Comment
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_pennsylvania-central_really-need-officiantflorist-recommendations-on-a-very-tight-budget?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:107Discussion:70aeeb9c-5762-43f1-84c0-b91061199226Post:7ef1c334-b8a2-408b-b630-5f3986654cf2">Re: Really need officiant/florist recommendations on a VERY TIGHT budget</a>:
    [QUOTE]Weddings and Blooms, Leah is awesome!  officiant: Dave Dirrado but not sure how much he costs?
    Posted by Shutterbug101108[/QUOTE]

    Dave starts at $190 for a simple ceremony.  He did an awesome job at our ceremony - I gave his info out a LOT after our wedding!
    Report Reply
  • Options
    cinderellaslippercinderellaslipper member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    We are using Weddings and Blooms in Mechanicsburg:  www.weddingsandblooms.com

    Leah is AWESOME!!  It's a little bit of a drive from the Lancaster area, but totally worth it.  She has a package for your entire wedding party that starts at $350.  Here are the details:  http://www.weddingsandblooms.com/budget-flowers.html

    Good luck!
    Report Reply
  • Options
    shorsegirl24shorsegirl24 member
    First Comment
    I have frequently purchased bulk flowers from Giant!  They are very easy to work with and the flowers are nice and inexpensive.  they can pretty much order whatever you want.  The best way to keep costs down is to order something in season, or something they stock all the time.  When you get into out of season or exotic flowers the cost goes up because they have to special order.  I actually found them to be cheaper than Sam's depending on what you order. 

    So if you have someone that can arrange them, this is by far the most inexpesive way to go!

    Good luck to you!
    Heather
    Report Reply
  • Options
    panda3677panda3677 member
    First Comment

    Not sure when your wedding is planned for but have you thought about using the local votech school for flowers and arrangments?

    Report Reply
  • Options
    ameliakwatsonameliakwatson
    First Comment
    Using Lori at Karns in Hershey for flowers, she also does hair and make up. She is amazing, so personal and sooooo cheap. For 18 centerpieces, 5 bm bouquets, 5 butons, my bouquet and FI's buton, Grandpa's, etc it's only about 500!!!
    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards