How to Develop A Sensible Wedding Flower Budget

Last Updated on June 30, 2022

Developing a sensible budget is the key to getting maximum value when shopping for your wedding flowers. Here are some tips to get you started.

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Here’s How to Sensibly Develop A Wedding Flower Budget You Can Stick To

Every bride understands the important role that flowers play in their wedding. So no matter how large or small her wedding flower budget is, every bride wants to get the most for the money she has to spend on flowers.

wedding flower budget

The secret to getting the best wedding flower value is to avoid a common mistake that many brides make.

“Not knowing how much money you actually have to spend”

It doesn’t matter if you are working with a florist, doing your own flowers, or both. Before you can decide what you want, you need to know how much money you really will be able to spend.

For me, it’s much easier to work with a bride who is upfront about her wedding flower budget. It doesn’t need to be an exact amount – a ballpark figure will do. But at least we’ll have a starting point and can move forward from there.

In fact, I make it easy to get a feel for the typical cost of most of the weddings we do by posting them on our wedding flower site.

Here’s the advice I give to brides who contact me about doing their wedding flowers.

Set Your Priorities

Start by splitting your wedding flower budget into these three areas. In my opinion, the order of importance should be:

  1. Personal flowers
  2. bridal party flowers

    Your bridal bouquet and the attendant’s bouquets should be your top priority. They are the most important element of the wedding. They have the greatest visual impact and are also the most photographed.

    I strongly recommend most of your wedding flower budget be allocated in this area, perhaps all of it, especially if your total flower budget is minimal.

  3. Reception flowers
  4. reception flowers

    The most significant expense of your wedding day is your reception. In my experience, it’s also an expense that can impact your wedding flower budget in a big way.

    Reception flowers can range from very simple to very elaborate. You also have many options to consider, including personal tastes and style, room size and configuration, floor plan, and seating arrangements.

    You might be thinking, “Do I really need flowers at the reception?” The simple answer is “No, probably not.” But consider this.

    First impressions count. All the guests who RSVP’d plan to attend the reception, but not all will attend the ceremony. And the reception is where everyone will spend the majority of the time that day.

    Flowers, no matter how simple or elaborate, provide the finishing touch and leave a lasting impression.

    Seeking the advice of a professional florist can really pay off here, even if you do plan to do the reception flowers yourself.

  5. Ceremony flowers
  6. ceremony flowers

    Since most wedding ceremonies are held in churches or a larger space, you need to think about size, not quantity, for your ceremony flowers. It’s usually better to have a couple of larger, more impressive arrangements than several smaller ones.

    It’s also important to know how the ceremony will be photographed to maximize the placement of floral arrangements.

    Remember that every floral arrangement used at the ceremony, including altar arrangements, pew decorations, candelabra flowers, and unity candle arrangements, can also be re-purposed to use the reception.

    There are a lot of variables to consider when sharing arrangements between venues. Following the advice of a professional florist can really pay off here.

For most brides, breaking down your wedding flower budget into these 3 areas is a proven, cost-effective way to shop for wedding flowers.

Keep in mind, these are merely guidelines I recommend based on my experience with weddings we’ve done in southeastern Wisconsin. Your geographic area and priorities may be different, however. After all, that’s what makes you, and your wedding, unique.

If you want to get an idea of what other couples have spent in your area, check the figures using our wedding cost estimator.

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wedding flower budget
Greg Johnson
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