If you decide flowers will be a part of your wedding decor, it is important to approach hiring your floral designer with a complete understanding of your floral budget and what you hope the floral decor style will be for your wedding.

Here are some tips to help you be fully prepared when you are working with your florist.

Be Clear on Your Budget and Style

Be up front with your florist about your floral design budget. Come prepared with pictures of floral bouquets and centerpieces you like, that exemplify your wedding style decor and ask your floral designer if he/she can create a similar look that is within your budget.

Pinterest is your best friend for this. If you’re still new to Pinterest, check out this guide to help you design the perfect mood board for your wedding.

Set Your Budget

Flowers in weddings are just like the catering element of your wedding – you can go as BIG or small as you like. Therefore, I usually push determining your floral budget into the later stages of planning your wedding so you have a better understanding of how most of your wedding budget may be already allocated to “must have” expenses. 

You don’t have to go crazy with your floral and decor for your wedding. Some of my favorite weddings employed the art of simple elegance for their wedding decor – and they were just as lovely as some of my more extravagant weddings. 

Therefor, keeping that in mind, determine how much you’re willing to spend on the floral aspect of your wedding. Consider the scope of your needs, from bouquets and boutonnieres (personal flowers) to ceremony and reception decor (the larger the guest count the higher the number of required table centerpieces). Having this budget in mind will guide your discussions with potential designers and help streamline selections.

Quick Reference Price Estimates

For quick reference, these are the amounts I typically budget for the different aspects of your wedding florals.

• Bridal Bouquet – $175-$500
• Bridesmaid Bouquets – $75-$150 each
• Boutonniere – $25-$50 each
• Corsage – $25-$50 each
• Ceremony Arch Rental – $100-$500
• Ceremony Pillar Rentals – $100-$200 each
• Ceremony Floral (Sprays, Arrangements, Aisle Decor Arrangements) $150-$500 each
• Ceremony Lush Floral Installs on (Arches, Columns, Ground Circles) $500-$2000
• Cocktail Table Decor – $25-$50 per table
• Centerpieces – $100-$500 per table
• Additional Floral Decor Arrangements (Welcome Table, Bar, Dessert Table) $100-$350 each
• Welcome Sign & Seating Chart Greenery or Floral – $20-$50 each sign

Quick Disclaimer: Keep in mind there are many factors that influence floral pricing: style, product required (type of floral you want), current floral market costs and your wedding market. It is my hope these estimates give you an idea of what to expect pricing wise. This will obviously not be your floral decor bottomline. Also remember your florist will add labor, delivery, strike & tax charges to your estimates as well.

Know What You Need

Be sure to do your homework before meeting with your florist. Have an idea of if you will have round or long rectangular tables for your reception. Know how many bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, centerpieces, etc. you will need to order for your wedding.

Click below to download a checklist of typical wedding floral needs to help you get started.

Personal Flowers (Wedding Party & Immediate Family)

• Bridal Bouquet
• Bridesmaids bouquets #____
• Flower girl bouquet or rose petals & basket
• Toss bouquet (Do NOT throw your actual bridal bouquet 🙂
• Bride and Bridal Party Hairpieces
• Groom Boutonniere
• Groomsmen boutonnieres #____
• Ring Bearer boutonniere
• Mother of the Bride Corsage
• Father of the Bride Boutonniere
• Mother of the Groom Corsage
• Father of the Groom Boutonniere

Additional VIP Personal Florals to Consider

• Grandparents
• Officiant
• Ceremony Readers, Soloists
• Ushers

Event Decor

• Welcome Table Floral Arrangement (optional)
• Welcome Sign Greenery/Floral (optional)
• Ceremony Decor
• Ceremony/Altar display/Flower Arch/Huppah
• Ceremony aisle decor (Petals or arrangements)
• Ceremony Chair back Decor
• Rose petals for the aisle
• Cocktail Hour & Reception Decor
• High Cocktail Tables #____
• Dinner Reception table centerpieces #____
• Head Table/Sweetheart Table floral display (Can you repurpose your ceremony floral for this?)
• Escort card table display or Seating Chart Signage Floral/Greenery
• Bar & cocktail hour arrangements
• Cake table flowers &/or Cake Design Flowers
• Bathroom arrangements (optional)
• Door and doorway decorations (optional)

Research & Compile Your Shortlist

Seek recommendations from friends, family, or your wedding planner, and explore wedding blogs, directories, or social media for reputable floral designers. Review portfolios and client testimonials to evaluate their style and creativity. Stalking your favorites on Instagram is also a fun pastime as well. From this investigation, create a shortlist of candidates who align with your vision and budget.

Don’t Date Too Many Florists at One Time

Just a quick suggestion: 

It has been my experience that most florists have the ability to make you fall in love with them after you meet with them. The floral consultation process is a deep dive into your wedding aesthetic. Your potential florists will spend a significant amount of time crafting and pricing out costs in your floral proposal for your review. Try not to interview too many florists at once. You might find more than one you want to work with – and then you have to break up with one (or more) of them. Which is the worst.

My advice is to pick the one who you think will be your favorite to interview first. Request a proposal from that florist. Then, if that person didn’t “wow” you – consider looking at another florist.

Schedule Your Floral Consultation(s)

When you are meeting with your potential florist consider the following elements:

• Experience: Ask about their experience with weddings similar to yours in size and style.
• Portfolio: Request to see examples of past work that match your theme.
• Availability: Confirm their availability on your wedding date and discuss any potential scheduling conflicts or additional weddings they may already be servicing that day.

Questions to Ask Your Floral Designer

Here are a list of questions to consider asking your potential floral designer:

• Can I see photographs of your past floral design work?
• Are you able to offer me less expensive floral arrangement alternatives that will fit my budget and still maintain the style I hope to have on my wedding day?
• What flowers are in season during my wedding?
• If for some reason, should my selected blooms not be available on my wedding day, what alternatives will you provide and who will they be chosen?
• Have you done weddings or ceremonies at my wedding venue site(s)? If so, can you provide pictures of your work and suggestions of what designs and colors work within that space?
• How many weddings will you be designing the weekend of my wedding?
• Will you simply drop the flowers off at the ceremony/reception site or will you stay to help setup and arrange the flowers on site. If you do help with setup, is there an additional fee associated with that service?
• How big is your floral design firm? Who will ultimately be creating the floral pieces for my wedding? (If it is someone different than the person with whom you discussed your initial floral decor vision, I suggest reaching out to the person actually building your bouquets and centerpieces to ensure you are on the same page.)
• Do you offer any rental items, (i.e. vases, arches, potted places, trellises, candles, candelabras, etc.) or will you need to work with a separate rental company?
• How are items returned to you following the wedding? Is it my responsibility to return the items to you?
• How do you expect payment?
• What are your cancellation policies?

 Evaluate Communication & Rapport

Your floral designer will be a vital part of your design process for your wedding. There is often a lot of back and back discussion as the details for the overall design are determined. Ensure you feel comfortable communicating openly and that they are receptive to your ideas.

Also, be sure you like the ideas (and style) the florist suggests you consider. If his/her style suggestions are not in alignment with your overall vision, their level of floral talent is a moot point. You and your florist must be in alignment with your wedding vision for the design of your wedding floral to come to life. Finding a strong rapport with your wedding florist will make the experience enjoyable and collaborative.

So choose with your heart!

Evaluate the Proposal

Okay, you had your awesome floral consultation with your potential florist and he/she just sent you the detailed floral proposal. Now what?

Does the Proposal Capture Your Wedding Floral/Decor Vision?

Are your colors, designs, preferred florals exemplified and described in the proposal. Fingers crossed your florist is able to include photos of the described designs in their proposal.

Review the Floral Cost Breakdown

What are the per item prices for the floral items? Are they in alignment with your budget? Are there any areas to ask to scale back (or remove) to save a little money?

Understand the Payment Terms & Additional Fees

What is the deposit and payment requirements? Review the cost breakdown including labor charges, fees, taxes. Be sure to understand what their cancellation and design change policy is with their company. Most florists can easily make design changes to your proposal until about 30 days before your wedding (when they have to order your floral product for your wedding.)

What do I do if the bottomline of the floral proposal is too high?

This is a common question I hear from many of my couples. They have an amazing floral consultation with a potential floral designer, and then are completely disheartened when the floral proposal cost comes back WAY higher than they had anticipated.

First of all – don’t worry! There are many ways to scale back a floral proposal. Here are a 3 ways to reduce your floral costs if you find yourself in this situation:

Reduce your Personal Flowers

The bare minimum (in my opinion) is your bridal bouquet. However, consider drastically scaling back or eliminating your bridesmaids bouquets, bouts and corsages.

Scale back your centerpiece design 

This is one of the most expensive components of your floral budget (because you have so many tables). Ask your florist if there is a way to scale back the centerpiece design to lower the cost. Maybe we use less floral product or make the overall design a little smaller? There is usually some wiggle room in this category.

Repurpose, repurpose! 

If you haven’t already, I highly encourage you to repurpose all the floral from your ceremony to your reception. Now, I am not a fan of repurposing the aisle arrangements of your ceremony to the centerpiece of your table (these florals usually get a little beat up during the ceremony and aren’t the best for the table centerpieces). However, these ceremony florals are great to flank/surround a sweetheart table, dessert table or sprinkle around your reception space. 

Don’t take your floral proposal bottomline as the end of the conversation. Definitely give your floral designer a chance to rework your floral proposal to perfectly fit your floral budget needs.

Final Thought

Hiring your florist should be super fun – even if wedding design isn’t your bag. Don’t let all the details related to this category overwhelm you. Have fun with the process of discovering your taste and working with your floral partner to make your dream come to life!

Follow these steps, and you’ll be well on your way to choosing a designer who can beautifully bring your floral vision to life (within your floral budget). Go get em!

Take action!

Download your floral decor and floral designer question checklists. Reference these checklists when hiring your floral designer and placing your floral orders for your wedding. Both of these resources will help ensure you are not missing any critical floral details.

 Did you find this post helpful? If so, subscribe to receive weekly wedding planning resources!

Casey Green Weddings, LLC

8700 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Suite 114

Scottdale, AZ 85255

602-448-8133

hello@caseygreenweddings.com