Assess my flower budget... pretty please!

nottheonlydreamer44 · October 2010

The other day during the discussion of what to cut out of the wedding to save money, flowers were spoken of. Now, all of you ladies seem to have spent WAY less than me and I need some help trimming things if possible. I honestly have zero time to DIY on flowers --- I'll be in class that entire week til Thursday and finals are the week before. (Stupid, yes)

That being said, I feel like my budget is ridiculous for 85 people and an outside summer wedding. I went the route of wholesale flowers last time and it was MORE than this -- now I'm using a florist. Dwest if you see this you probably know the place maybe. Anyway, can you wonderful ladies help me out? The budget is WAY out of control. LOL.

In case anyone wants to see our venue in detail here are two links: (Note: we are not getting married in the upstairs part we're getting married at the paviliion itself)

#1

#2

Bride

Bridal Bouquet

Hand tied and round in all purple. Using: 12 purple roses handle wrapped in yellow satin ribbon.

Price Qty

$65.00

Ext.$

$65.00

Bridal Party

Bridesmaid Bouquet

Hand tied a loose round in purple and yellow. Using: gerbera daisies, roses, oncidium orchids, alstromaria and dahlias.
Handles wrapped in purple satin ribbon.

4 @ $140.00

Groom Boutonniere

Mike purple rose with accent of yellow.

Best Man's Boutonniere

Price Qty

$9.50

Grooms Men Boutonnieres

Purple roses with babys breath.

B&G Fathers Boutonnieres

Same.

Grandfathers Boutonnieres

4

$30.00 (groomsmen)

2

$15.00 (Dad's
4

$30.00 (Gpa's)

Ushers Boutonnieres

Yellow rose with babys breath.
$7.50

Corsages

Bride's Mother Corsage

Karen to compliment.

Groom's Mother Corsage

Same.

Grandmothers Corsages

Same only smaller.

Additional Corsages

$17.50

1

$17.50

1

$17.50

4

$60.00

$0.00

Pew Decorations

Pomadore balls to compliment.

$50.00

Reception-1

Cake Table Bottom

Yellow and purple rose petals.

$15.00

Guest Tables Arrangements

**borrowing tall pilsners with yellow rocks and submerged purple gladiolous with floating candle. **borrowing square vase
with purple rocks and submerged yellow gladilous with a floating candle.

Bride's Table Arrangement

**low fish bowl to compliment.

$20.00

11 centerpieces $220.00

Other Reception Decorations

Arrangement to hang on the top section of pavillion. To compliment.

$65.00

Reception

Subtotal:

$762.00

Ceremony

Setup:

delivery:

$150.00

Subtotal:

$912.00

Taxes

Tax Rate:

GST Rate:

Rate:

6.25 %
0.00 %

0.00 %

Sales Tax:

$50.00

$919.00

Total:

Balance:

$969.00

I know it's hard to read she sent a PDF file and it copied weird. We are using all their glassware free of charge so that is not part of this cost. I know our centerpieces aren't cheap but that's about what I would spend to make my own. What can I cut or at least trim down?

The florist knows we don't care what kind of flowers they are (exception of carnations) as long as they are purple and yellow. TIA

**edited to be easier to read**

loves2shop4shoes · October 2010

Ok, well keep in mind that I have not even begun this process yet. So I may be wrong.

BUT...from the looks of it, you have a lot of unnecessary flowers. I don't think you need flowers for the pews. Tie a bow on the ends of every few and you're good.

Also, you don't NEED to have flowers as centerpieces. For all you know, some of your guests may be allergic to the types of flowers you use anyway. (My mom, for example, is HIGHLY allergic to lillies.) I would do some form of votive with unscented candle, or floating candles on water with maybe goldfish underneath. Either way, you do NOT need to spend $220 on centerpieces.

Also, do your parents really NEED corsages?

I know that all of these things are niceties, but if you really want to trim your flower budget, start trimming the superfluous flowers.

babybchbum · October 2010

The first thing I see is that you have a BUNCH of flowers. Decided which ones are most important to you. If your girls are going to have gerbra daisies... it might out do your simple rose bouquet.

Limiting the number of flowers will reduce your budget BIG TIME!

IMHO Flowers for Ceterpieces can be over rated. If you have a break in School do DIY center pieces and it will save you BUNDLES especially on flowers
POMANDRE BALLS are EXPENSIVE, and super easy to DIY. Get some of your girls together and enjoy an evening together doing some of your DIY stuff... Most would love to help and be involved!

nottheonlydreamer44 · October 2010

The centerpieces are honestly my favorite thing and the flower is submerged so I'm not too worried about allergies there. (plus the centerpieces just look freaking cool.) Candles will be everywhere in every shape and size so I want to break up the monotony of them.

I agree we can lose the aisle flowers (and that I can totally DIY with fake flowers for those.) As for the girls bouquets - I think you're right about not having a million flowers - limiting it to 2 one yellow, one purple is likely a very good idea. lol. I got carried away.

Shoes - the custom around here at least, is definitely for the parents to have corsages and whatnot. They are niceties and I feel like because this is Mike's first (hopefully only) go-round then his parents should get to be "honored" in a way. I did it for mine last time. We might however, lose the grandparents, not really necessary and we hardly see them anyway.

I love it -- costs are flying out the window! Thank you ladies

nottheonlydreamer44 · October 2010

Hahah thanks for the support!

I want this flower bill down to AT LEAST $500 and I believe I can get it there - just need to tweak everything a bit. And all of you are right -- too many flowers. I was there with my MOH and I got so excited it just turned into a flower extravaganza. Haha.

That will now be fixed!

Victoria2013 · October 2010

FYI its cheaper using more of the same flower. Most flower shops have to order at least so many of one type of flower and you will generally end up paying for some of the unused. So that might be something else you should consider. Good luck getting the cost down!!

babybchbum · October 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_assess-flower-budget-pretty-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:a560b93b-f594-48b5-ad06-30881f6ce1abPost:7f3f4ade-a133-4667-b916-bbd15f7ca7e1">Re: Assess my flower budget... pretty please!</a>:
[QUOTE]Just an idea, since pp have mentioned the expense of flowers for centerpieces. We are doing hurricane globe centerpieces with a tall white candle in the center (rented from the venue, hooray!) and sprinkling rose petals on the table around them. I think the rose petals are costing us maybe $10.
Posted by laurenb09[/QUOTE]

Ditto.... This is simple and easy.

[QUOTE] Also, do your parents really NEED corsages?
Posted by loves2shop4shoes[/QUOTE]

I dis agree with PP... YES PARENTS NEED CORSAGES AND BOUTINERES. They deserve to be recognized and trated like royalty for all they have done to help you through out your life.

nottheonlydreamer44 · October 2010

BBB- (love it) - I have decided to keep the centerpieces but lose some of the flowers in the girls bouquets. The pom balls are gone and so are the grandparent's flowers. Like I said before getting rid of our parents corsages and flowers wouldn't happen.

It might just be around here but it's a custom for them to be honored that way. I 'd rather go over budget then not do those. But so far -- the budget is coming along well!

leia1979 · October 2010

Dreamer, you actually came in right at my budget! I don't think I could find a florist around here who would give me all that for under $1k. I'm probably going to DIY the bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages.

I think as others have said, maybe decreasing the variety of flowers. You might also ask the florist if she has any suggestions on how to decrease flowers.

Also, is there anything you can reuse? For example, we'd probably reuse our arch swag as our table's decor. A friend of mine had her bridesmaids put their bouquets on the cake table to decorate it.

P.S. I love your venue!

desertsun · October 2010

It doesn't look like there are many flowers at all in the photo, and I think it looks lovely. Sometimes flowers in the ceremony area just look crowded. Nature is beautiful all on its own!

Keep the parents' flowers. We didn't do flowers for grandparents and no one complained.

Also, even just one stem of a particular type of flower might be quite expensive, so you might check into the cost on your submerged flowers. You might be able to do a low vase of a couple roses for less, and have just floating candles in the higher vases. and I don't think you need colored rocks at all. I would skip those. I had submerged flower centerpieces with no stones at all. Anyway, all anyone talked about were the candles! We had floaters and votives around the bottom, and it turned out gorgeous. In the photos, you can't even see the flowers all that well, but they are nice to have for earlier in the evening for a pop of color on the table. We also had a navy runner on our tables to bring a bit of color in, and that might be less expensive than your gladiolus.

But it's your money. Spend it how you like.

Good luck, dreamer!

oceana919 · October 2010

1. Request in-season only flowers. You may not get all the same (like all roses or all lilies), but a florist can typically come up with something gorgeous in your color scheme or theme with whatever's at it's season peak (and therefore, least expensive).

2. I just came from my sister's wedding, where, along the aisle, she had a few pillar vases with pillar candles, water up the candle halfway, and some floating rose petals. Very inexpensive, but sooooooooooo pretty looking.

3. Several wholesale flower sites have pre-assembled bouquet/bout package options. We're going through Costco, and they have 9-piece, 20-piece, and 40-piece packages that arrive pre-assembled and ready to go. I know they will also interchange components to a certain extent (we need 6 BM bouquets, so we're getting that instead of 2 BM, 1 MOH, 1 Bride, and 2 centerpiece), etc.

4. DIYing doesn't necessarily have to be crazy hard. We're having floating flowerheads and petals, which will take us (me and bridal party) all of about an hour to put together the morning of - all to the tune of about $150 for EVERYTHING.

nottheonlydreamer44 · October 2010

Oceana & Desert - Those are all amazing ideas. Now you're making me rethink it all. I did actually get in season flowers but the gladiolus were pricey. I picked them as an inside joke between Mike and I but they may not be worth it for that cost. A stem of something cheaper may be the answer.

Our table linens are going to be white with a sheer black overlay (since black is just an accent color), I think. I want a ton of candles everywhere but our only problem with the whole thing is that sunset is not until 9:34PM (yes, I am crazy I looked it up). Our ceremony starts at 6:30, Reception @ 8, it's still going to be pretty light out so I like the idea of rocks. I wanna see your pictures desert.

Question for Oceana: I love love the idea of floating candles and petals. How did she float the petals in the pillar? I think my mind is in stupid mode and I cannot see the idea in my mind. Do you by any chance have a picture of them? That idea might work amazingly for all our small cocktail tables.

@ Leia - I would usually not care about $1000 bill for flowers (we might be crazy) but I want to hire a DOC and I need to cut money somewhere. There's not anything else to cut. Haha. So far so good.

Thank you all!!!

SeaTea02 · October 2010

I have said this a million times but I will say it again. I work at a florist.

You do have a lot of flowers, but that isn't uncommon to have that much. The prices for the flowers in each was about what we would charge. It seems very reasonable. The delivery and set up seemed about $50 more than ours though. Your florist isn't unusually costly if that is what you are wondering. What is necessary or important to have is really up to you.

oceana919 · October 2010

I don't have a picture of what my sister did, but they looked similar to this:

Just flower petals sprinkled in, floating on the top. Was super pretty.

We're doing something similar for our cocktail tables, here's a pic of our mock-up:

With our mock-up centerpieces:

To do all the centerpieces, aisle decor, and cocktail tables, we're just buying 200 bulk white roses from Costco - will run us about $150 total.

Another thought - if you want tons of candlelight/candles flickering but don't want a ton of glassware, try getting 2-3 different heighted/sized/shaped vases and top the water with several little floating candles. You can buy them in bulk online and they usually last about 4-5 hours.

katanne9 · October 2010

IMO, If you are looking to cut $$, I would take out corsages for the Moms and Grandmothers. I would also take out the bouts for the guys. We didn't have any of this and I don't think anyone noticed!

I would also tell your florist to do whatever it takes to get your BM bouquets down to X price. $140 is pretty steep.

I would also take out the Bride's Table compliment. Just get an extra vase for your bouquet. That's what I did.

Hope that helps. : )

oceana919 · October 2010

Listen to Kat. She only got married to be in Martha Stewart Magazine. :P

nottheonlydreamer44 · October 2010

LMAO --- I didn't think my florist was being unreasonable at all - I thought I was being unreasonable, especially for an outside wedding in summer.

Thank you Oceana that helped majorly - I am definitely using something similiar to that for the cocktail hour tables that will be out by the dance floor.

@Kat - No cutting of the GM or Mom's (we really don't want to do that at all) but the Grandparents are out. I also nixed two tables I can condense people and make it easier. I'm taking out our centerpiece and using my flowers. DUH, me! Why the hell didn't I think of this? I don't know where I was going with that.

Without changing out any of the types of flowers we had I got the cost down to $600 including delivery. I think I am okay with that.

Thank you ladies!!

meamolly · October 2010

ok so it is also tradition here for the grandparents and parents to get the corsages. Both my sisters did it and both ended up giving them to random people cause they never got claimed by the grandparents. If you are going to do them make sure they get them.
Also I loved what my sister did for her wedding. She had white calla lilies and daisies, i as the MOH got yellow petite roses and the other girls got brown looking dahlias. then after the ceremony was done they got pulled apart and each center piece got parts of them.

and here is a picture of a hair style my sister created just cause i wanted to.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs005.ash2/33617_10150297533710188_895590187_15508085_6168302_n.jpg

oceana919 · October 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_assess-flower-budget-pretty-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:a560b93b-f594-48b5-ad06-30881f6ce1abPost:a7f7f65a-bbc1-4f02-b6bc-7375e95ce340">Re: Assess my flower budget... pretty please!</a>:
[QUOTE]LMAO --- I didn't think my florist was being unreasonable at all - I thought I was being unreasonable, especially for an outside wedding in summer. Thank you Oceana that helped majorly - I am definitely using something similiar to that for the cocktail hour tables that will be out by the dance floor. @Kat - No cutting of the GM or Mom's (we really don't want to do that at all) but the Grandparents are out. I also nixed two tables I can condense people and make it easier. <strong>I'm taking out our centerpiece and using my flowers.</strong> DUH, me! Why the hell didn't I think of this? I don't know where I was going with that. Without changing out any of the types of flowers we had I got the cost down to $600 including delivery. I think I am okay with that. Thank you ladies!!
Posted by nottheonlydreamer44[/QUOTE]

One thing worth checking out:

<a href="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/3/13/9378a4a5-252a-49f0-bd5d-d766b1b63b67.large.jpg" title="Click to view a larger photo" onclick="return gSiteLife.LoadForumPage('ForumImage', 'plckPhotoId', '9378a4a5-252a-49f0-bd5d-d766b1b63b67', 'plckRedirectUrl', gSiteLife.EscapeValue(window.location.href));" class="PhotoLink"><img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/3/13/9378a4a5-252a-49f0-bd5d-d766b1b63b67.medium.jpg" alt="" /></a>

Would give you the candle light you're looking for and you could put your bouquet in it. They've got them at Michaels and Joann's for about $25, but you could easily wait until you get your hands on a 40% off coupon for Michaels and get it on the cheap.

Assess my flower budget... pretty please!

Re: Assess my flower budget... pretty please!

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