How to Make a Budget for Wedding Flowers
Your big day is set - congratulations! Now the work begins... because it takes planning and hard work to pull off a fabulous event and you want your wedding day to be amazing and memorable. Of course it's memorable to you and your sweetie, but you also want to give your friends and family a heck of party to attend and remember. Your wedding represents you as a new couple, if you're paying for everything. It's the biggest public event of your life! And if mom and dad are helping pay the bill, it represents them too. So it's important to plan well. So, how to begin with making a flower budget?
Some brides come with a budget already in mind and that's wonderful. To me, it means that they've checked around, made a list of what they'll need and then checked sources to find out how much things cost, in general. They're usually pleasantly surprised when I give them our quote because our prices are really, really reasonable. And then we adjust up or down based on our discussions before arriving at a final quote. We charge a $150 deposit to 'hold the date'. This amount is non-refundable because we've turned away other brides who wanted that same date. We can only handle so many weddings on any particular day, so it's important to 'hold the date' as soon as you can with your florist. Then the final bill is due 30 days prior to the wedding day and the order is non-refundable. Wedding flower orders are custom, with preparations made many weeks ahead. Flowers are ordered, sometimes from outside the country, delivered and prepped days before an event. A florist spends many, many hours leading up to the day of the wedding.
I recommend that you separate the ceremony flowers from the reception flowers when making your budget. Ask yourself these questions:
Ceremony
1. What type of bouquet do you want? (Some flowers cost more than other flowers and size matters)
2. How many attendants and what flowers should they have?
3. Do you want mom and dad to have a corsage/boutonniere? How about grandma/grandpa?
4. Do you want flowers near the altar or on either side of you and your husband-to-be?
5. How about flowers on the pews/chairs?
6. Any flowers for the door of the facility, outside stairs, entry way, table arrangements?
7. And don't forget -do you need flowers for your hair, or for your flower girl/ring bearer?
Now, let the party planning begin!
Reception
1. Look around the venue site and see if flowers could help it's appearance (we'll help you with this one if you need a vision of how it could look)
2. How many tables will need decor? An estimate in the beginning will work fine.
3. Any arrangements needed for the book/gift table?
4. How about flowers to adorn the cake or food tables?
5. Do you want extra decor at the head bride/groom table?
6. How about using flowers to give the room a more luxurious look? (we'll help with this one too)
And the final piece of advice regarding a flower budget is to not be afraid to discuss your budget with your florist. We're used to working with all kinds of budgets and making the most beautiful wedding possible within your budget.
I hope this helps. If you're planning a wedding in the N.E. Georgia/Atlanta area (we're located in Braselton, GA), give us a call at 770-557-9210 or email me at Cindy@ceflorals.com and I'll give you price ranges to help get you started. On our initial meeting with you, we like to meet at the venue site, because that's where the ideas begin. Then we set up a bride's board on our Pinterest page, Pinterest.com/ceflorals, so we can trade ideas and by the time your wedding day approaches, you'll have a good vision of what it'll look like. We handle all the details of the flower design, delivery, set up, rental of special equipment and then removing everything afterward. That's what C E Florals does! We love what we do and we'd be honored to be a part of your special day.
