How to Quickly Figure out a Floral Budget

This is a friendly PSA that Mother’s Day is this Sunday. What does this have to do with the floral budget for your wedding? Well, Mother’s Day is one of the busiest days for florists around the county, coming in a close second to Valentine’s Day. This gives you a great opportunity to see what a florist can do for certain price points and apply that knowledge when deciding on a floral budget for your wedding. Even though you’ve probably never had to purchase floral decor for a dinner party of 100 people before, you might have ordered flowers for your mom.

While your browsing those online floral shops or stopping into your local florist, take mental notes of the size, shape, and types of flowers that are used in what you are buying. Say you paid $80 for an arrangement with a $20 delivery fee. That’s $100 for the floral arrangement you sent to your mom. Would you use that same exact floral arrangement for your centerpieces? Is it big enough? Does it look sparse? Do you like the flowers used? Or is it really small, with flowers you aren’t into, in a cheap vase?

The quickest way to figure out a rough budget for your florals is to use the knowledge about flower arrangements that you already have from sending flowers to loved ones. Remember what those arrangements looked like upon delivery and how much they cost. You can use those numbers as a rough starting point as you create the budget for your wedding.

Using the $100 example from above, assuming that you thought the arrangement delivered was adequate for your wedding centerpieces. For this example, we’ll also assume an average wedding size of 150 guests for a sit down dinner, 3 people in each wedding party, personal flowers for parents, and some ceremony florals:

$80 per centerpiece x 15 centerpieces = $1,200

Bridal bouquet = $150

$75 x 3 bridesmaids = $225

$20 x 4 boutonnieres = $60

Personal flowers for two sets of parents = $150

$200 x 2 ceremony urns (twice the size of the centerpieces) = $400

Estimated total: $2,185 before tax, delivery, and set-up fees.

Remember, we are putting that same exact arrangement your mother received for Mother’s Day in the center of your reception tables here. For anything bigger, more complex, using nicer high-end flowers, in a different vase, or with the addition of candles will be an increase in cost. I’m sure what you sent your mom was lovely, but does it look anything like the inspiration you pinned on your wedding pinterest board? Probably not.

When you sit down to make your wedding floral budget, think about the money you spent for the product that was sent to your mom on Mother’s Day. Use that one arrangement as a rough guide to deciding on the floral budget you are comfortable presenting to prospective florists.

ps…need help shopping for a florist? I wrote two posts that are super helpful in making that decision: Choosing a Florist Style over Price (my recommendation) or Choosing a Florist Price over Style.

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