Flowers have a major impact on the overall atmosphere and style of your wedding, from your ceremony right through to your reception. In fact, if you’re currently wedding planning, we’re guessing you already have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to beautiful blooms!
But when it comes to budgeting for your wedding flowers – where should you begin?
Creating your wedding budget can be tricky if you have no idea how much things actually cost, which is why we wanted to break it down for you below.
From bouquets to centrepieces, keep reading for a complete run-down on the average cost of wedding flowers, along with some pro tips to make the most out of your floral budget.
The Average Cost of Wedding Flowers: A Breakdown
So how much of your overall wedding budget should you realistically be putting aside for floral design? Based on our research, here are the average costs per item to expect for wedding flowers:
- Bridal bouquet: $160 – $300
- Bridesmaid bouquet: $120 – $180
- Buttonhole: $10 – $20
- Corsage: $45 – $65
- Centrepiece (small): $45 – $80
- Centrepiece (medium): $120 – $180
- Centrepiece (large): $200 – $250
- Cake topper: $25 – $45
- Feature pieces (eg: ceremony arbour, floral chandeliers, hanging installations): Anywhere from $250 – $500+ depending on your requirements, usually priced on application
It’s important to remember that these are simply ballpark costs, and will vary between vendors depending on experience, location and your specific floral requests. For example: a small round posy bouquet would be priced differently to an oversized trailing bouquet, due to the difference in both the quantity of flowers required and the hours involved.
With these prices in mind, the average couple will spend anywhere between $1200 – $4000+ on their wedding flowers. Don’t forget that delivery, setup and pack down will usually be an additional fee, priced according to your venue location and the scale of your order.
Ultimately, your flower costs will all come down to your wedding vision and priorities. If beautiful, impactful wedding flowers are a key priority for you, it would make sense to splurge in this area and cut back somewhere else, and vice versa.
Why Do Wedding Flowers Cost So Much?
As well as providing ballpark costs for wedding flowers, we think it’s really important to explain where these costs come from. You might not realise just how much work is involved behind-the-scenes in order to bring your flower order to fruition on your wedding day.
Remember, you’re not just paying for the flowers themselves – you’re also paying for the time and skill required to plan, design, source, collect, arrange and install your order. For each client, a florist will generally:
- Meet with you for an initial consultation
- Prepare a mood board and floral concept to fit your brief
- Plan, source and order the required flowers
- Collect your flowers from the markets (usually, before sunrise!)
- Clean and prepare each individual stem
- Arrange your wedding flowers with great care and attention to detail
- Deliver your bouquets and install your ceremony and reception flowers
- Pack down after the wedding if needed
- Countless hours of admin and emails in order to execute all of the above!
Realistically, your florist could be spending anywhere between 30 – 50+ hours bringing your floral order to life. Not to mention their business overheads like staff, warehouse rent and electricity to power the cool rooms that keep your blooms in perfect condition. These are all important factors to keep in mind as you begin researching and comparing your wedding flower quotes.
How to Save Money on Your Wedding Flowers
With all of this being said, there are some key ways you can save money on your wedding flowers and really maximise your floral budget. Here are some of our top tips to consider:
- Go seasonal: Just like the fresh produce you find at the supermarket, flowers are strictly seasonal. When a flower variety is blossoming at a certain time of the year, it becomes much cheaper for florists to source. You can find our guide for choosing your wedding flowers by season here!
- Scale it down: If you’re working on a tighter budget, be picky with your flower order. Think about the floral details you really want to include and invest in those areas, while scrapping the details you could do without.
- Ask your florist: At the end of the day, the best person to help you save on your flower order is your florist! Be upfront about your budget and ask your florist for their advice. A great florist will be able to suggest the best ways to invest your budget in order to provide the biggest impact. This could mean scrapping the table centrepieces in lieu of one feature ceiling installation, or including more foliage and greenery to bulk up your blooms.
Now that you’ve wrapped your head around wedding flower costs, it’s time to find the perfect florist! Check out these 5 tips for researching and choosing your wedding vendors to get started.