Wedding Flower Basics

7 Things You Should Know Before Picking Out Your Flowers

Set a budget. On average flowers can take up to 10-15% of your entire wedding budget. That's a big chunk of your money, just for flowers. This can vary greatly depending on where you live. Flowers in a big city like Los Angeles or New York are going to cost more than in any small town USA. While you want someone experienced and good at what they do, you don't always need the biggest, flashiest place in town. Small shops can have as much talent as large places, just ask to see a portfolio of their work. Be prepared ahead of time and shop wisely to keep your costs down.

1. Have ideas before you go into the floral shops. Get an idea of what you may want so you don't get talked into something you don't need. Browse books, magazines, even bridal shows and floral shops to get ideas for your wedding flowers.
    

2. Think seasonal. By following the season you can keep costs down by choosing only flowers that are in season. You can also use the season to help you determine color schemes and types of flowers. If you are having a spring wedding you may choose soft pastel colors and flowers like lilacs, tulips, and Easter lilies. For summer you may choose bolder, brighter colors and flowers like Asian lilies, roses, calla lilies or any of the wide assortment of summer blooming flowers. Fall would have deeper colors- rust, burnt orange, gold, burgundy and flowers like mums and sunflowers. While winter would be shades of blue, silver and white or reds and greens using evergreens in your bouquets and floral arrangements.
    

3. Choose a color scheme for your wedding and your flowers. The best place to start is with the season you are getting married in or the bridesmaids' dresses you have chosen. You will want to choose flower colors that coordinate not clash with your wedding party's attire. Also make sure you don't have white flowers if your dress is ivory or vice versa unless you are going monochromatic with shades of white and ivory mixed. Take color swatches of the bridal gown and the bridesmaids' dresses with you when choosing your flowers (and when choosing any decorations, cakes colors, etc).
    

4. Make a list of all the flowers you may want - bouquets, throw bouquet, corsages, boutonnieres, garlands, pew bows, centerpieces, unity candle arrangement, etc. Put a star by the ones that are most important. This can help if your price quote is more than you expected. You can start cutting out the things that aren't as important to you or necessary like individual flowers on the silverware wrappings. Little things often add up. Keep to the basics and it will keep you well within your budget.
    

5. Shop around before settling on a florist. Even if you love the first one you interview, keep shopping until you have a few price quotes. Someone may offer a better deal or have better ideas than the first. Weddings are a competitive business and vendors will often price match or give you a better deal if they know you are comparing prices and shopping around.
    

6. When you set your wedding date, hopefully it is not near a major holiday. Holidays that are really busy in the floral world are Mothers' Day and Valentine's Day. You might want to avoid setting your wedding date between early to mid May through mid June because those are busy times in the floral shops due to prom season, Mothers' Day and graduation season. At those times of year floral shops are in high demand, florists are extremely busy and flower prices go up. For example a dozen roses that may normally cost $20 suddenly cost over $60. Imagine what that would do to your wedding budget.

~ Wenona Napolitano

Wenona Napolitano, married mother of three, is a freelance writer, poet, editor and small business owner. She is also a certified floral designer and trained bridal consultant.