What Every Bride Should Know About Wedding Flower Pricing and Budgets

Photo by SambaJoy Photography

Ah, budget. The easiest conversation to have, right? Wrong. 

Typically, wedding budgets allot approximately 10% - 15% to florals (that number depends greatly on whether or not you’re requiring floral centrepieces and decor pieces). Now, this might work for you or it might not, but here’s my best tip for any bride looking for her florist: DON’T book a florist strictly because of budget. Book her because of her style, aesthetic, and her designs—which you need to love! Instead, after getting a feel for what she does and making sure that it fits with your vision, discuss your budget with the designer and ask her what she can do to make it work.

So, you’ve met with an awesome designer who really connected with and love her work. But, the quote is coming in higher than you can afford. What should you do? Take that quote to another florist and price-shop it? No (or at least, not yet). This just really isn’t going to give you the best result. 

The first thing you should do is tell that designer, “I really love your work and would absolutely love to hire you, but right now the budget is too high. I would like to stick around $xxxx; what would you suggest that we change up to be able to make it work?” Now, you have two options: 1) the florist could be less-than-awesome and tell you that there are no changes that can be made (giving you the perfect opportunity to connect with another designer), or 2) the florist will get down to work to find ways to make it work for you (and you may need to be flexible with your wish list in order to make that budget happen).

The reasons why it’s not best to bring that initial quote to another designer are many. Some of the best ones are: 
-You’re taking the creativity of one person, who likely spent a good amount of time creating that custom proposal for you, and just handing it over to another person. It makes it a lot easier for the second designer to just coast along, not bringing in any of their own creative ideas. She should be able to prove to you that she understands and appreciates your style, wants to work on your flowers, and has awesome ideas that you’ll love as much or more than the initial proposal you received.

-A second floral designer has a major advantage in looking over a quote that someone else has put together, and that is being able to analyze it from a different perspective: the budget perspective. Unless you specifically told the initial designer how important budget is to you, she will have put together a proposal for you based on your style, interests, and her ideas on how to pull together the most beautifully designed blooms for you. That second designer can then look at it all and cut out whatever will bring the budget down, which may very well change the style completely -- and, it's not going to be a fair comparison for you to make in your mind. It’s much better to fall in love with the creative ideas of a specific floral designer, and then bring that proposal back to her and ask how she can keep the style in a similar vein, but bring the cost down.

We know and understand that you have budgets. I was a budget bride, and as much as I would have liked to have flowers on all my tables, it just wasn’t a reality for me. But, shopping for wedding flowers isn’t like shopping for furniture—you can’t walk in and announce to your salesperson what you’re willing to pay, and expect the florist to be able to drop her bottom line to make it happen. We have real, hard costs that are very tangible to us—there is no sales manager to to go back to who can tell us exactly how much we can mark things up or down. Flower prices are not dictated by us; they are dictated by the growers and the wholesalers.

Need some more help? I love this post from Snippet & Ink, breaking down the costs of different bridal bouquets and why you can expect to spend different amounts on different styles.  

I've talked to a lot of brides, who bring in different pictures they've seen online but have no idea what to expect for costs (especially large centrepieces or decor images). This post from BRIDES does an excellent job of breaking down the costs from a real wedding.

Sara and Jay's Tuscan-Themed Wedding at Terrace in the Park

Chatting with Sara about her wedding flowers was wonderful. Why? Because we were best friends when we were little girls. Sara and I grew up just down the road from each other and after our brothers stopped playing hockey together, we just didn't see each other much anymore. So, when she came to talk with me about her flowers, it was an absolute treat to find out where life has taken her these last 15 years. And where life has taken her is right to Jay, her new husband. 

With a honeymoon planned for Italy and a bride with great taste, their planning took a decidedly Tuscan turn. Inspired by beautiful vineyards, old-world charm, and their excitement for their honeymoon trip, we infused a bit of Tuscany into the wedding flowers. A neutral palette full of foliage and white blooms was chosen, which looked lovely against the bridesmaids' ombre purple dresses.

Photos by Cynthia Bettencourt Photography ~ Linens from Dream Day Decor ~ Venue: The Pavillion in the Park/Terrace 55

How to Choose Your Wedding Colour Palette

Long gone are the days when brides would choose one colour for their wedding, pair it with white, and leave it at that. Taking their cues from home decor and fashion trends, today’s brides are leaning towards a more expanded colour palette with multiple hues and shades. A larger, while still cohesive, colour palette creates a richness, a sense of depth, and a more stylish look overall. It will evolve your wedding design from basic and ordinary to a well pulled-together aesthetic. 

But, just because a bride knows she wants a larger colour palette doesn’t always mean that she knows HOW to create it. Which primary hues to choose? What shades of those hues? Do you stick with one colour for the bridesmaids’ dresses and invitations, and another colour for the bouquets? 

To start with, pull out a colour wheel—most of your answers will come to you here. Consider the following colour palette options, and then see what you lean towards naturally!

Neutral: white, grey, brown, black
Monochromatic: one colour, with different tones or shades to bring depth to it
Complementary: opposites on the colour wheel
Split Complementary: one base colour, plus the 2 hues on either side of the base colour's complement
Analogous: 3 hues beside each other on the colour wheel

If you are nervous about how to incorporate colour, start with an analogous colour palette and you can’t go wrong! For example, mauves transition naturally into violets and pale pinks so you can easily combine these hues into a well-designed palette.

For myself, I know that I’m always drawn to analogous and split-complementary palettes, and many of my brides are drawn towards monochromatic palettes (often with blush pink). After you are better able to verbalize what types of palettes you’re drawn to, look outside of weddings to find inspiration on what tones and shades you like. Look to fashion, home decor, and art for ideas—I love looking at beautiful fabrics or wallpapers to see how different hues play together. I’m sure that you’ll discover some beautiful inspiration, and then you can bring that all back to more wedding-specific tasks and use it as a guide for choosing your linens, working on your stationery, and of course, planning your flowers! Still not sure? Here are some examples of each palette--give yourself a moment to glance over them and see what pops out at you!

Example of a neutral colour palette by Stone House Creative. Photo by Victoria Anne Photography.

Example of a monochromatic colour palette by Stone House Creative. Photo by Brittany Mahood Photography.

Example of a complementary colour palette by Stone House Creative. Photo by Stephanie Godfrey Photography.

Example of a split-complementary colour palette by Stone House Creative. Photo by Jeremy Hiebert Photography.

Example of an analogous colour palette by Stone House Creative. Photo by Brittany Mahood Photography.

NEED MORE HELP? Here are some helpful articles I've found: 

Designing Your Wedding Colour Palette
Top 13 Color and Style Mistakes to Avoid
Once Wed's Tips for Creating a Wedding Colour Scheme
Spring 2016 Wedding Colour Trends

Brianna and John's Summer Wedding at Pineridge Hollow

On a lovely day in August, Brianna and John got married at Pineridge Hollow. I love working on weddings out there, because the light airy feel of the reception tent is so easy to bring flowers into! It works great with lots of different colour palettes, and the tent is really adaptable to several different aesthetic styles. I also happen to love a good soft blush and cream palette in this all-white setting. Brianna was actually the first bride to meet with me after launching Stone House Creative, and also the first bride to book with me! Thank you so much for trusting me with your blooms! 

And another huge thank you to Hailey Funk Photography, who always takes such beautiful pictures of my blooms.

Peony Bridal Bouquet - Karen and Chris' Engagement

Karen and Chris just got married at the beginning of October, but they chose to have their engagement session in early summer. And you know what that means...peony season! Karen asked me to create a simple floral crown for her, and when a good friend told me I could help myself to all the peonies in her garden, I knew I had to design a bouquet for her, too. And really, is there anything lovelier than a garden-grown peony?

Thank you to Rachwal Photography for these gorgeous photos!