Flowers

I got dried flowers. Much cheaper and last longer! Spent £46.95.

WOW! £2500! I’m not surprised you’re so shocked! What part of the country is that for, and what’s the breakdown of charges? Better buy some Lottery tickets!

Lush (the toiletries and cosmetics place) is doing me 3 bouquets, 5 corsages, 4 boutonnières and 50 buttonholes for around £400. My local run of the mill high st florist wanted over double that.

The cost is mostly labour, in any general quote. Lush was so much cheaper because the staff are already in the shop, paid for by Lush.

Are there any local floristry training courses or colleges who do discounted options, a bit like if you go to a trainee hairdresser?

Could you do your own?

I looked at paper flowers, but to be honest, it was still cheaper to go with Lush.

I have made the rest of my floral decorations using faux flowers and eucalyptus garlands from Home Bargains and The Range. I posted some pics in the DIY brides thread.

Shop around, there are plenty small businesses who would love your custom for much less, I am sure!

Love, Ali xx

View quoted message To be fair my flower chandelier is like £400 but the centrepieces are the issue. I like tall centrepiece and each of those was quoted at £130 x 8 and all the rest of it.
I can’t DIY because I don’t have time to set up on the day as we only have the venue from 10am. I will look around and see if I can find any colleges. The other florist came in at £4000.

I was just as surprised as you as to how expensive they are. My wedding is in Central London, meaning EVERYTHING is ludicrously priced, but the flowers really shocked me. I tried looking out in the suburbs to get a better price but a whole load of florists just said that they have a £3k minimum spend if the wedding is in Central London.

I wanted tall centerpieces too, but they are much more expensive, so in the end we are now having alternate centerpieces on our tables (half tall, half short, but all in the same style). It's also well worth thinking about whether there are any arrangements which you can use twice/move - I have saved a lot by picking arrangements that can be moved from my ceremony/breakfast/evening rooms.

View quoted message I’m an hour outside London and I thought everything would be cheaper when I moved here. It might be about £50 cheaper. I’m hopeful weather permitting having an outdoor ceremony. Only a small amount flowers which will be moved inside it does help cutting down the cost. But I do like the idea of alternate centrepieces. I need to win the lotto at this rate.

A good friend of mine is a florist and a decent budget for a bouquet + three maids, 6 table decorations is £1400-£1600 and some couples spend 25k on flowers.

Then some people spend £200 on everything. Depends on the florist, depends on the flowers used, depends on the amount of them. But generally, they get their stock from the same or similar wholesalers. Gyp is wayyyy cheaper than a Dahlia. London wholesalers are more expensive than ones in Maidstone and so on.

Like most things wedding, you can go cheap or you can go insane.

View quoted message I’m coming to realise that I grossly under estimated the cost of the flowers. Tesco £3 roses has a lot to answer for. This conversation is gonna be awesome with my fiancé ??.

I really can't see the point of spending so much money on something that will last 2 or 3 days max.

My late parents were given a pale pink fragrant climbing rose bush as a wedding present in 1970. I am taking cuttings off that to make small, potted roses as favours, (so they will double up as table decs), and have bigger ones in pots to decorate our ceremony venue. Totally sustainable, and (I think) a lovely way of including my much missed parents. Only having to pay about £10 for a huge bag of potting compost and about £35 for 72 small, real terracotta pots.

The rest of my table and reception decor is just candles in charity shop crystal vases, and bunting I made from lace and crochet doilies. We wanted to be both thrifty and sustainable, and hopefully we have acheived that!

Have you looked at having non-floral decorations? There are so many wonderful ideas out there!

View quoted message I want flowers, it’s a thing in my family and was for my late mum. I won’t regret paying for it but it was definitely a shock seeing how much it costs. I was looking at dried flowers but it doesn’t go with what I’ve planned and the look I want. I still have to mix a few none floral items on the table or else the bill will be higher. But it is what it is

I think i'm just going to get a nice bunch of supermarket flowers! I just cant face spending that much on something that will die a few days later!

Originally for our wedding in America we were hiring silk ones which I felt happier about and they weren't so expensive either! x

View quoted message That will definitely be cheaper especially if you have like access to the venue from the day before or depending on how early in the morning.

How about using artificial flower, they are not expensive and still gives a real feel. Try it.

View quoted message I’ve looked into that as well and the really nice silk flowers are just as stupidly expensive. Americans have so much more options because you can rent them but places I found mainly do corporate rentals are was expensive because they the whole event planning but I don’t need that.

As a wedding planner it's the topic that I think I now spend the most time on with brides. Expectations are so high thanks to incredible images that you can see on social media and as some else mentioned the £3 rose from Tesco gives a false idea of what the cost might be. Lets remember as an organic element to be sure of good quality on the day you have to be prepared to pay and some single flowers can often cost €5 (I'm in Italy) for just 1. By the time you add variety and man hours it's easier to understand how the cost goes up. What I suggest my couples do is go to the florist with a wish list & budget and ask what they can do for that - but I do always forewarn them it will be more than they are expecting. With the exception of my amazing Egyptian wedding a few years ago - they spend a lot on flowers !

Luckily being based on Lake Garda the venues I use are so beautiful that you can get away with adding very little/nothing to them if the budget dictates that.

Central london bride - £1000 on flowers which includes button holes / bridal party hoops / wrist corsages / bridal bouquet.

All other flowers on the day I'm using silk and hiring them from a company supplying all of our decor etc. Worked out a little cheaper but not much to be fair

My grandma and Aunt used to run a florists so are helping me with the flowers. A good tip for flower arrangements if you want to bring down cost is to have it be largely greenery and just a couple stems of flowers. I'm having roses and peonies which are expensive but have large blooms so also take a lot of space so you don't need loads of them in one arrangement.

View quoted message Funnily my quote includes lots of foliage but I think it has to do with the style of arrangement and Instagram giving me ideas.

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Hi Ali - I'm curious about Lush doing your flowers! I didn't even know they did this. Is this just your local branch doing it as a side venture or something they all do? How did you come across it all?

Thanks

C x

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Hi Corinne

It's only the branches with a florist in them. Currently, I think only Liverpool has a florist but there are plans to roll out more. The floristry counter and staff are all Lush, its part of the main shop, so you are only paying for the actual flowers as the staff would be in and making items to sell anyway.

The only downside to Lush doing the flowers is that you have to collect them yourself, so I will be sending my MOH and her partner to collect them from Liverpool city centre the day before the wedding, as we are getting married at 11am! (I know, crazy early, but the venue only does 11am or 5pm ceremonies as its a National Trust property).

I think it is a small price to pay considering that I am saving at least £500 from the next nearerst quote from a small high st florist. Goodness only knows what one of the more up market florists would have cost!

Depending on where you live, you could always come to Liverpool and have a chat with Lush, you may be able to send someone to collect the flowers for you.

We did look into doing the flowers ourselves as Liverpool has a daily wholesale flower market, but to be honest the cost of the flowers would have been about the same and then we would have had all the stress the day before of trying to make everything.

Have you also considered any local colleges who might have talented students on their floristry courses? A lot of almost-qualified florists would be a great resource!

All the books, magazines and other people I have consulted with have recommended that you DON'T do your flowers yourself due to the time it takes and the stress it causes. I think that is probably wise as its the last thing you need the day before or even the day of!

Hope this helps,

Ali xx

I'm not that fussed by flowers, but my mum is! Not sure what she's planning, but I'm happy to leave it to her. If you want tall centrepieces, could you get something like tall box ball type trees? You'd be able to stud them with individual cut flowers in test tubes to add a bit of colour. Plus, the trees would last longer than a few days.

Whilst they may be expensive, wedding flowers are labour-intensive and high-pressured... Imagine getting it wrong and facing an angry bride although I have heard on the grapevine that many florists inflate the prices dramatically if they can't be bothered or don't like the look of the job!

I'm also in Oxfordshire, so I'd be curious to know which florists you have quotes from?

I'm making cuttings of our existing garden roses to use as favours/place names and these can double as table decorations.

Our ceremony venue does not allow cut flowers due to the water involved, so I'll be using potted plants and roses which will be more sustainable anyway.

I'm also planning on making dried petal confetti too, again, due to the venue this is the only type allowed. I just had a look at dried petal confetti online. Even wholesale its about £50 for what we need, that's just too much money for something which is quite literally thrown away!

Anyone got any other ideas I can nick?

I am determined to stick to, or even come in under our budget!

Ali xx

If you're trying to stick to a budget, look at live plants for the table decor instead of cut flowers - cheaper and also more sustainable as you can give them away or plant them in your garden after.

Or get friends to create table decorations and just pay the professionals to do bridal party bouquets.

We paid £57 for my bouquet and his buttonhole - flowers to decorate the church were done free by a couple of keen gardeners with a large garden. We didn't have a reception due to Covid, but if we had, we would have used pot plants.

View quoted message I had basic quotes from SorchaHerbert Flowers and Flowers by Kirsty. I did choose a florist but I didn’t realise that the VAT wasn’t added to the quote so instead of £2500 it was going to be £3000 without any last minute additions. I had to revise my ideas but then it seem as if the florist wasn’t interested anymore since I said my budget was £2500. So I’m looking for a different florist. Jeez this is turning out to be the most difficult part of planning.

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Which area are you getting married in? Might be able to recommend...

View quoted message We’re getting married in Bicester

My florist is my biggest splurge: I’ve been sensible on everything else, but I fell in love with his work and I HAD to have him. At the moment it’s looking to be £2300ish, but that includes a big tree decorated with hanging candles and orchids, that is repurposed as our table plan after the ceremony.
Don’t ask me how much it could be if I forget my scruples and go with the moon arch...

View quoted message That makes me feel so better. If I had a bigger budget I don’t even want to know what my flowers would cost. I’ve chosen a different florist now and it’s around £2300 now.

View quoted message I think there is so much variety in what people envision and want, so there’s no “average” cost. If you love the work, and you think it’s worth it, and of course if you can afford it, then go for it!

View quoted message That’s it exactly and my designs were a little bit more work than average and I had my heart set on a floral chandelier but it’s still flipping expensive.

I’m in the process of making faux floral hanging hoops to go with the garlands and arches I’ve already completed.

Hopefully I will be able to sell them on afterwards and recoup some of my money. We’re trying to have a sustainable and budget friendly wedding, and whilst there is an environmental impact of artificial flowers, it is still less than fresh ones, grown abroad, using lots of water, the carbon footprint of their travels and their single use, even if you compost them later.

We are having fresh flowers only for bouquets and buttonholes.

Would be interested to hear other’s opinions on buying pre-loved wedding decorations - is it something you would consider?

View quoted message 90% of the time the decorations I’ve seen for resale on have dreadful. The problem is you need someone to match your colour scheme and usually they aren’t using the nicer silk flowers. There is someone I know of who does this as business and she does great work. But it would depend on the quality of the work. If yo


Also it’s a bit rich shaming anyone using real flowers for their wedding but asking if we’d be interested in buying your flowers. I assume no one will be travelling to your wedding other than walking. Because the carbon footprint of multiple people just for your one day when you’re trying to reduce emissions would be a bit hypocritical. Do you actually need to use those flowers at all? Plenty of other recycle items could have been bought and used here. I’ve seen books collected from a charity shop used as centrepieces and favours.

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Agreed. Plus, flowers don't need to be flown in from abroad anyway - ours were locally grown, including my professionally made bouquet!