Flowers are a significant part of a wedding. They add décor, create atmosphere and set the tone for the day. From the ceremony to the reception, flowers add elegance, romance and natural beauty.
But, wedding flowers can be expensive so it is important that the cost is factored into your wedding budget. The good news is that there are many ways to keep the cost down but still have wonderful flowers at your wedding.
To help you with this, we have put together a list of 13 great ways you can save money on your wedding flowers.
- Do Your Research
- Set A Realistic Budget (And Stick To It)
- Prioritise
- Keep It Simple
- Be Flexible (And Open To New Ideas)
- Avoid Peak Times
- Shop Local
- Buy Wholesale Or In Bulk
- DIY
- Set The Wedding Venue Up Yourself
- Check What Flowers Your Venue May Have
- Use The Same Flowers For Ceremony And Reception
- Rent Them
Let's get started!
1. Do Your Research
We suggest that you do lots of research before deciding what flowers to choose for your wedding. Speak to industry professionals, flower providers and ask friends or family who have had weddings about their experience. Read online customer reviews about the quality and cost of flower providers.
There is a lot of helpful information available for you to draw on but most importantly, make sure that you research in the context of your wedding – your location, your climate and your venue. Speak to people who know what is going on locally as they can provide you with the most relevant information to make money saving decisions.
2. Set A Realistic Budget (And Stick To It)
If you want to keep your costs down, it is important to set a realistic budget and try to stick to it - a budget is only helpful if you do both. There is no point in setting a budget that is just not achievable – all this will do is cause stress. But with some research, you should be able to match your flower choices with your budget.
The cost of flowers can vary significantly. Factors that impact the cost of flowers include the type of flower, the colour and whether it is in season and can be sourced locally. If your flowers need to be sourced from interstate or overseas, this will increase the cost.
3. Prioritise
A good idea is to do your research and decide which flowers you really want to have and prioritise them. You might then consider choosing cheaper flowers for less important bouquets or arrangements or prioritise the more expensive ‘must have’ flowers for the star bouquets or arrangements. Consider using cheaper flowers as the ‘filler flowers’.
A good options is to choose the more expensive flowers for the bouquets and then cheaper options for other arrangements such as table arrangements at the reception.
Finally, you may be able to directly substitute a more costly type of flower for a cheaper similar or comparable flower and still end up with the same look. You can also chose flowers that are striking but large and incorporate extra greenery as filler.
There are many ways to approach this but the main thing is to identify the flowers you want the most and then work your budget around them.
4. Keep It Simple
A more minimalistic approach can keep your wedding flower costs down. You might consider keeping reception or table arrangements to a minimum or omitting extras such as boutonneires or corsages.
Reducing the number of types of flowers so your flower provider can buy in bulk rather than having many different varieties can also help and combining flowers with other décor options such as candles on tables can cut flower costs.
Visit your venue and decide what will give you the best value for money in terms of what arrangements to use and where to position them for maximum impact – so you get the most ‘bang for your buck’ with your flower choices.
5. Be Flexible (And Open To New Ideas)
Wedding trends are constantly changing – new ideas and ways of doing things come up all of the time. So start thinking about your wedding flowers early.
Get lots of ideas, talk to many people in the industry and keep an open mind about how to do things. Be prepared to adjust your thinking - you never know what you might learn that will be just right for you and your wedding flower choices.
6. Avoid Peak Times
Choosing a wedding date that avoids peak wedding dates and other very busy flower provider times will help to keep your costs down. Dates such as Valentine’s Day, Mothers Day and Christmas week are very busy times and this is often reflected in the cost (and sometimes the quality) of flowers.
7. Shop Local
Choosing a local wedding flower supplier/florist has several advantages including local knowledge, easy accessibility and your flowers can be picked up the day before or on your wedding day rather than incurring extra cost for posting/freight etc.
The local knowledge your wedding supplier has may mean you can buy locally sourced and in season flowers which will also be cheaper than flowers sourced from interstate or overseas.
8. Buy Wholesale Or In Bulk
Consider buying your flowers in bulk as a way to keep your costs down. This might mean you have ‘more’ of less flower types overall but it might be an option that works for you.
This is particularly relevant if you are hoping to have a large wedding or a large venue where lots of bouquets or flower arrangements are needed. It may also work well if you are hoping to do DIY bouquets or flower arrangements.
9. DIY
If you can source and arrange your wedding flowers yourself, this will reduce costs. Family or friends may have gardens with suitable flowers and greenery and/or have some skill in making bouquets/arrangements.
This is particularly relevant if you are choosing to use artificial or dried/preserved flowers as they can be made into bouquets and arrangements well ahead of the wedding date.
The disadvantage of DIY flowers is that fresh flower have a short life so they will need to be made close to the wedding when you are very busy with many other preparations – but DIY is definitely worth considering to help with costs.
10. Set The Wedding Venue Up Yourself
Setting the up the wedding venue and adding the flower décor yourself or asking a trusted friend or relative to do this rather than paying someone to do this can help keep the costs down. The wedding venue may also be able to help with this as part of their service.
11. Check What Flowers Your Venue May Have
It is worth checking to see if your chosen venue has flowers in place already as part of their décor. If so, you may be able to move them to different positions to suit your requirements or add a few of your own to what is already there. This is a great money saving option as it means you will be able to buy less flowers and therefore save money.
12. Use The Same Flowers For Ceremony And Reception
It may be possible to relocate the flower arrangements from where the ceremony took place to the post ceremony reception area.
For example, the flowers that formed part of the aisle or arch décor, the signing of the register table or the bridesmaids’ bouquets could be placed on tables and used as centrepieces or on other tables such as the cake or present table in the reception area.
It’s a great way to save money on extra flower decor as they are already arranged and will be in keeping with the colours/style of the wedding.
13. Rent Them
Buying wedding flowers outright is the most common flower option and is the traditional way of doing things. More recently however, some suppliers have started to offer a rent and return option.
This is only possible for artificial and dried/preserved flowers as fresh flowers have a short life so are not returnable after the wedding day. The flowers are returned to the supplier after the wedding providing they are in good condition and some of the money paid is then returned.
The overall cost is much less than buying and keeping them so it’s a great way to keep wedding costs down but still having the flowers you want for your special day.
Final Thoughts
Flowers are a very important part of a wedding but can be expensive - the good news is there are many things you can do to keep the cost down but still have beautiful flowers on your special day.
We wish you all the best with your wedding planning! We hope that this post has given you some helpful ideas on how to save money on your wedding flowers.
If you would like more information about wedding flowers, please see our other articles/blogs below:
What To Do With Your Flowers After Your Wedding | Top 10 Ideas
When To Order Flowers For Your Wedding
How Much Do Wedding Flowers Cost?
Want To Know More?
If you are looking for long-lasting wedding flowers that you can keep for years after your wedding day, feel free to enquire about our wedding flower packages. Here at Milla Rose, our expertise is in dried and preserved wedding flowers and we offer a range of options to suit your needs. Click here to enquire now.