Focus on Flowers – How Do I Plan My Wedding Flower Budget?
January 22nd, 2010Focus on Flowers is a weekly educational series were I take questions from brides and share my insight as a floral designer.
Today’s question is from Amanda who wants to know –  ”How do I plan my wedding flower budget?”
There are two key drivers for cost: Venue and Guest Count.
The VENUE is ALL ABOUT PROPORTION! Small arrangements are appropriate in a casual backyard wedding whereas tall glass vases with large arrangements on top with orchids cascading down suit a 5-star hotel ballroom (and not vice-versa). Remember the size and shape of the table dictates how much volume and substance will be needed to make an impact on your tabletop. A budvase on a 72″ round will drown and a 3′ diameter arrangement won’t allow enough room for place settings, stemware, and the bread and butter. A great guideline for the cost of your centerpiece should be equivalent to the per person cost for your reception food and beverage (e.g. $50/person = $50/centerpiece).
The GUEST COUNT plays a large role in your flower budget. Its all a numbers game – THE SPIRALED STEM LAW OF MULTIPLIERS! (yeah I wrote the law). The more people the more tables, and the smaller the table the more of them. The larger the wedding party the more bouquets and boutonnieres. Some people like to give corsages and boutonnieres to extended family, such as aunts and uncles, which will add cost to your flower budget. Your ceremony site will be a place where a lot of photos will be taken. Decorating the site with flowers will add a beautiful frame to all your photographs, but how many rows are in the aisle? The longer the aisle the more clusters on the ends, square footage to cover with rose petals on the ground, you get the picture.
I hope that my insight on venues and guest count helps you plan the budget for your wedding flowers. E-mail me or post a question in the comments section and maybe we can address it in an upcoming episode!
As an added bonus, leave me a comment and I will send you the budget calculator that I give my brides before our consultation so they have a realistic idea of what to expect their quote to be.
