trying to....

Well to make place cards and table numbers yourself wont be expensive. We are having square vases with roses in for tables and are roughly about £20 per table.

It really depends on what they are offering for the cost and also if it is in line with what you are wanting. I would be tempted to ask for a breakdown of what each of the "extras" will cost so you get a rough idea what they are charging for the stationery, flowers etc.

If you can give us an idea of what you would be looking for in terms of flowers, size of arrangement etc, I can give you a ball park figure for what most florists would charge if that helps.

I have asked for an idea of how much allocated budget we get to spend with their nominated florists but the wedding co-ordinator at the venue has said that they dont work it like that. So what I think happens is that everyone has the tall vases which i like and then the flowers are whatever colours you want and if you have a specific flower in mind.

At this moment in time having not organised any other part of the wedding - themes, colours and flowers aren't already decided upon. I am leaning towards pink and purple at the moment and it will be an august wedding so i suppose I will try and stick with a seasonal flower.

HTH and thanks for your help...

Mmmm, unfortunately a lot of venues do it this way so be careful otherwise you could end up paying more than you would if you bought items yourself. A lot of florists do tall vase hire and can do a stunning display with very few stems. Venues are quite crafty at giving lump sum figures out and calling it a 'package'. It may look like you are getting a good deal but sometimes the bulk of the cost is added onto the hire of the venue and the "extras" are often limited in choice. Have a word with the florist who is doing your wedding flowers to see how much she would charge to do the tall vases herself.

The package would save you alot of effort from getting quotes, ringing around etc, however i would be very careful as you want to make sure the flowers and stationary they offer are what you want, and that the colour schemes match. When my sister got married they made all the invitations, order of services, table name places and favour boxes themselvers and colour co-ordinated it all in the same ribbon, and pink hearts as they wanted everythink matching. You have to make sure you ask them all the details, as you don't want the bits they do to end up not matching the rest of the stuff or you not liking them

That's very true Rachel, as I am having a church ceremony too so the order of service will look odd if they dont match. Thanks Rainbow Florist too... I think I will get in touch with a florist to work out some prices.

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Hi PS.

I worked in venues for a number of years so put together various packages for them.

They can be good value as the venues work with the florists so often, they are able to negotiate a good deal (i.e. the £30 or so pounds per centrepiece that they allocate to the florist will go further than if you walked into a florist and said 'I want to spend £30 on flowers'). What we tended to do was say, the allocation to flowers within the package is x amount and if you decide you want something more expensive (out of season or exotice flowers/bigger arrangements), or if you wanted pedestals/church flowers etc etc, the florist would invoice you separately for any costs above the set allocation.

HOWEVER, in reference to the stationery, this is usually done using the venue's own logo/colour themes which may not suit yours. I would also find out HOW the stationery is printed (I worked in one venue where the place cards were beautifully done by a professional callligrapher, but also worked in one where the names were printed on labels and stuck on the place cards - looked awful!).

Generally, if it were me, I would go off package. If budget is the biggest factor (so the £700 you are saving is all you have to spend on stationery and flowers), then you will have to go to the extra effort of doing all your own stationery in order to get the best possible flowers, however at least you'll get EXACTLY the flowers you want and all the stationery will match.

If you just don't feel that you have the time to invest in doing your own stationery and researching florists, then go package - but make sure you see exactly how a place card/menu etc will look when the venue do them - you might like them so much you make the order of service to match them!

I hope that helps - message me if any of that is unclear or you want any extra help!

The venue flowers are set but the colours can be changed and obviously like you said if I want a partiular flower that will be seperately invoiced.

I have seen the stationery and its quite plain - either white or ivory and unoffensive.

Oh I dont know now... lol