This is a frequent question of florists who create wedding bouquets and floral arrangements. Petals is proud to offer transparent pricing and hopefully this information will help shed some light on the cost behind wedding florals.
There are two main components that impact the cost of wedding flowers: the cost of the flowers themselves whether farm grown or sourced and the labour needed to design, transport, deliver and possibly install the flowers.
Materials
Pinterest is a wonderful, visual medium and can really help someone decide on what aesthetic they are hoping to achieve for their wedding. What many people don’t know is that many of the flowers featured in Pinterest-worthy snaps are extremely delicate, high-end, expensive flowers. Think peonies, ranunculus, sweet peas; these are not the same blooms that you find in the grocery store! In addition, many of the pictured flowers are not standard varieties, but are “king” varieties which can exceed $5/stem at wholesale pricing. If you then take those numbers and add them up in terms of retail pricing, and if a couple is wanting large arrangements that feature 20-30 stems per centrepiece for 12 tables, you can see how quickly the raw materials alone add up. This is without consideration of the skills and expertise of the designer or the costs of labour, delivery or installation.
Labour
The other factor that impacts the price of wedding flowers is invisible to most, and that is the labour that takes place behind the scenes to provide couples with beautiful blooms on their special day. Preparing land, planting, tending, growing and cutting flowers from our fields all takes time and significant cost. If we are bringing in specific flowers that aren’t being grown on our farm, then we also need to consider the time spent sourcing and purchasing flowers, cleaning them and delivery costs. We also participate in continuing education to bring our brides the latest design trends from the world of florals. We spend time creating specific flower formulas based on the wants of the couple and then the time to design each wedding piece. There is a lot more manual labour than most people realize! This is often hidden in the flower industry as the end goal is to create a look that is effortless and therefore most of the labour happens before the wedding and behind the scenes.
We never want to take away the romanticism of beautiful wedding flowers, but it’s important to balance that with an honest look into the considerable material costs and labour involved in creating an effortless wedding look.
Petals is pleased to offer all couples an itemized proposal instead of an “all in” price structure. This allows you and your partner to sit down and talk about your flower priorities and have the comfort in knowing exactly what you’re paying for.
Smiles,
Amber
Photo credit: Hipnotik Photography by Holly Bodkin