Flowers are a big part (read budget item) to your wedding day. The options are endless from color, scent, texture and design. It’s no wonder that many brides spend countless hours researching, creating Pinterest boards and planning for their wedding day flowers. We have gathered some of our best wedding flower information here for you.
Bouquet Options.
While there are several options for your wedding bouquet some of the most common are listed below.
Cascade. A cascade bouquet will have an elegant look with its free form shape that gently slopes downward into a cascade of trailing blooms.
Hand Tied. Perfect for a rustic or casual wedding theme, hand tied flowers are loosely gathered together. Hand tied bouquets are often comprised of seasonal or wild flowers.
Nosegay. This bouquet is a ball of hand tied blooms. Simple, yet elegant, they often feature a single color or bloom and range from six to sixteen inches in diameter.
Pageant. These bouquet of long stemmed flowers, such as roses, lilies or sunflowers, are cradled in the arms of the bride and her bridesmaids.
Budget
The average wedding flower budget can easily exceed $3,500! Here are some tips to help you get the look you want without breaking the bank:
Incorporating local, seasonal flowers and blooming branches can help keep you within your budget. Displays of fresh cut garden blooms, or a single seasonal flower displayed in simple arrangements can be beautiful, easy, and inexpensive.
Think quality, not quantity. Trying to stretch your budget and spread the flowers into many small arrangements can lessen the impact and effect of the flowers.
Prioritize your arrangements by keeping in mind that guests will spend more time at the reception site than at your ceremony. Consider using your ceremony flowers at your reception as well.
Shop around for your florist. Unless you have specific and exotic choices for your flowers, a large, and often more expensive, floral designer is not always necessary.
Beware of details that seem small, but can actually be the most costly due to labor costs or specificity of flower. (For example, placing a single small bloom at each place setting.)
Substitute votive candles for some of the flowers for each centerpiece. Elevate the candles and sprinkle flower petals around the lift, or use the petals in a vase of water surrounded by the candles.
If your heart is set on dramatic, tall, expensive centerpieces, save money by varying the height of the centerpieces from table to table. You will still provide the beauty, as well as some added visual texture from the various heights.
Keeping your flowers simple provides a beautiful, sleek, sophisticated, and modern look. Think single calla lilies or a few large flowers such as peonies or sunflowers displayed in clean and simple vases.
Be sure to check out a florist that does high volume business. Perhaps your chosen flower is one that they order a lot of, thus lowering the price per stem.
Beware of creating your own centerpieces. Often, the money saved, if any, is lost in the amount of extra hassle and stress taken to create the pieces. A simple yet lovely potted plant is a good alternative.
Mix your favorite expensive flowers with filler greens or less expensive blooms. Again, keep it simple and think quality over quantity.
What You’ll Need
Attendants
Bride’s bouquet
Bridesmaid’s bouquets
Flower girl’s bouquets
Groom’s boutonniere
Groomsmen’s boutonnieres
Ring bearer’s boutonnieres
Mother of the bride’s corsage
Mother of the groom’s corsage
Father of the bride’s boutonniere
Father of the groom’s boutonniere
Grandmothers’ corsages
Grandfathers’ boutonnieres
Ceremony
Entryway arrangements
Altar arrangements
Pew or chair arrangements
Flower girl petals
Candles
Aisle runner
Memorial arrangements
Reception
Centerpieces
Bar, Buffet, Table arrangements
Bouquet Toss
Questions to Ask Potential Florists
Does the florist have a design philosophy? Be sure this fits with your style, theme, and personality.
- Can you see photographs of their work or live floral arrangements?
View their creations and compare them to what you are wanting.
- How big is the shop, how many staff members, and who will work on your wedding? Make sure you feel comfortable with their numbers and people.
Do they have recommendations for the flowers available and appropriate at the time of your wedding, and suggestions about how to creatively work with this selection? This can keep prices lower and flowers fresher.
- How can you maximize your options? Are there ways in which you can save money? Can your florist provide recommendations based on your budget? Make sure you communicate your budget. Bits and pieces really add up here.
- Can the florist provide you with information about current wedding-flower trends in the Chicago area, such as popular flowers, colors, and styles of bouquets and decorative pieces? This can help in your choice and planning.
Have they done weddings at your ceremony and reception sites before? Can they suggest appropriate arrangements for your venue, as well as how and where they should be placed? Ask to see pictures of arrangements done at your site.
Will the florist deliver flowers for your wedding, spend time at the site, and set up? Make sure you talk prices here as well.
- How many weddings will the florist do on the same day/weekend as yours? Make sure you feel comfortable with this answer. Go with your gut.
- Can the flowers be delivered to separate locations? (For example, centerpieces to the reception site, bouquets to the bride’s parents house?) This can be very convenient.
- Does the florist offer rental items, like vases, potted plants, candelabras, or cake topper? This could be cost cutting versus buying new ones for only one day.
- What is the substitution policy if your chosen flowers are not available on the day of your wedding? Do you have any input on the substitutions? Plan for the unexpected.
- In what way does the florist ensure that your flowers will look fresh and beautiful on your wedding day? Do they mist, wrap, and/or protect flowers for delivery? Make sure you are comfortable with their answers.
