How To Get The Most Out Of Your Floral Budget
One of our favorite parts of the wedding planning and designing process is flowers, and we have a feeling it’s one of your favorite parts too! Once you start planning a wedding it can be so tempting to go all out with flowers: stunning centerpieces, gorgeous bouquets, delicate wearables, and incredible installations. But cost adds up quickly, which can be really frustrating.
In this blog post we have a few tips on how to maximize your floral enjoyment without breaking the bank, and we’ll also share some of our favorite and least favorite flowers to work with. So grab a cup of coffee, settle into a comfy chair, and stop and smell the roses with us!
01. One way to save floral money is to have a smaller wedding party. Fewer bouquets and boutonnieres means that budget could be used on the bridal bouquet, which is photographed most and can be preserved for a lifetime of memories! Most bridesmaid bouquets get left behind at the end of the night, and most boutonnieres wilt or get squashed as family and friends are hugged and celebrated with. Larger wedding parties also means more people to communicate with, coordinate during the day, and can sometimes be more overwhelming than anticipated. If you still want to have a bigger wedding party with bouquets and bouts, just know that they will take up a large portion of your floral budget.
You could still have a larger wedding party but not have bouquets and bouts, which brings us to our next tip!
02. Skip the wearables: boutonnieres and corsages. Instead of having all your groomsmen or important males (fathers, grandfathers) wear boutonnieres, give them a special tie or bowtie to set them above the rest. It can be worn again and will always remind them of your special day. Boutonnieres are nice in the first part of the day but once dancing starts, those suit coats and bouts usually come off to make room for some stellar dance moves. Instead of corsages, gift your important women (mothers, grandmothers) with a special piece of jewelry for the day. It can be worn again and could be seen as a familial tradition to be passed on. Corsages look beautiful for photos but most of they come off as the day progresses, since it’s a bit clunky to have something so big on your wrist as you’re trying to eat, dance, and use the restroom. Use the money saved on wearables for a gorgeous floral installation!
The next tip is admittedly one of our favorites, so here are a few gorgeous examples:
03. Repurpose your ceremony flowers in your reception space! We live for creating those jaw-dropping ceremony installations and we are firm believers that they should be appreciated all night! So whatever floral installations you have at your ceremony, repurpose them in your reception space. It could be an arch that is moved behind the head table, or our signature floral poles that are moved to flank the dessert table or the entry to the reception space - whatever your heart desires. Flowers that are used for your ceremony could even be reused with a neon sign as a cool photo op for your guests! This is one of our favorite ways to maximize your floral budget and it always adds to the lush romantic vibes of the evening.
04. Instead of huge floral centerpieces on every table, use a mixture of textures. Your tables could have candles and greenery, simple yet tasteful bud vases, photos of you and your partner, special family glassware; you name it! With the romantic glow from the candles and the buzz of excitement, your guests won’t notice the lack of flowers. And once dancing starts, your guests won’t even notice the tables - they’ll be too busy rockin’ the dance floor.
05. Ask your florist to use seasonal, local flowers. This was mentioned in a previous blog post of ours, but it’s a great way to simultaneously save money on flowers and be more eco-friendly! They’ll likely end up being more fresh as well, since they won’t have been mailed in from places across the country, or across the globe. This is harder to achieve in Minnesota in the winter, but you’d be surprised by the selection of stunning flowers that cycles through the spring, summer, and fall!
Now that we’ve shared a handful of floral tips, let’s dive into some of our favorite and least favorite flowers to work with. At the end of the day we are obsessed with all things floral and we love being able to work with our hands to create something you will cherish for years to come. But sometimes, there are flowers that are a little harder to process or design with, which lands them on our “not so favorite” flower list.
Do you agree or disagree with any of our selections?
Some qualities that our favorite flowers possess:
Easy to process (taking leaves off, plucking bruised petals off, trimming stem, etc)
Sturdy, strong (able to withstand a long wedding day and still look gorgeous, like lisianthus dahlia, smilax, and more!)
Playful (just adding a few to a bouquet can really make your eyes dance - we see you bunny tail!)
Lush filler (easily filling in the gaps in bouquets or arrangements while looking like a million bucks)
Just plain beautiful! (I mean come on, look at those ranunculus!)
Some qualities that our least favorite flowers possess:
Hard to process (baby eucalyptus is notoriously difficult to process, it’s incredibly sticky/sappy!)
Overdone or overused (baby’s breath and silver dollar had their time, we think it’s time for some other flowers to get the spotlight)
Can cause itchiness (amaranthus belongs to the pigweed family, and can cause some allergic reactions to their pollen)
Not sturdy, need water constantly (hydrangeas are gorgeous in centerpieces or bud vases where they can get constant water, but not so much in bouquets or installations)
We hope these tips help you make your floral budget! Budgeting for a wedding can be really stressful but hopefully these tips will help ease some of that stress in your shoulders (yes, we see you carrying that stress in your shoulders. Take a deep breath and let them relax!) You don’t have to break the bank for a beautiful flower-filled day.
Be sure to stop and smell the roses as you plan your wedding - really take in the excitement of getting the marry the person you love.