5 Things to Know Before You Book Your Wedding Flowers

These are our 5 top things we ask about when we are pricing your wedding flowers. Having a think about these before you talk wedding flowers can both help you think about what you really need, and also help your floral designer create the perfect package for you.

1.  Your Budget

Have a guide price in mind that you don’t want to spend more than on your wedding flowers and don’t be afraid to share this with your florist or floral designer. Floral designers are creative people and are generally able to create a similar look for different budgets – once they know how much you are prepared to pay. And let your budget be dictated by your finances and not what someone online says you “should” pay or the so called “average spend” on wedding flowers as these figures are so variable.

2.  When you are getting married

This will impact both the availability and the price of your wedding flowers. Certain flowers are seasonal. If you are looking for peonies know that the peony season is roughly from April to the end of May and if you are lucky some years into June. In Ireland our best range of home grown flowers are most available from the end of July through to mid-September.

There are a couple of key dates that push up flower prices in the flower markets – Valentines Day, so any weddings during the week before Valentines Day will get less flowers for their money that the week after. And for Winter weddings, that time between Christmas and New Year can be tricky to get flowers imported because the markets close and also there can be storm delays in December and January.

If you have your heart set on an inspirational look from Pinterest then always ask your floral designer if the flowers are available at the time of year of your wedding.

3.  The Size of Your Wedding

More guests can mean a bigger spend on wedding flowers. Certain elements of wedding flowers increase with guest numbers including pew ends or aisle flowers, table centrepieces, and even the numbers in the bridal party of bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers, page boys and flower girls. If you have larger guest numbers than expected think about having two or three different table centrepieces of different sizes on different guest tables, that way you spread your budget across the room.

4.  Your Venue

Does your venue look amazing as it is and can you get away with no flowers in your wedding reception or minimal flowers? Does your venue include floral arrangements as part of their banqueting package? Or do you have a blank canvas venue such as a marquee or a hotel ballroom that needs to be personalised and made special for you? Remember that sometimes having a larger feature floral can create that vibe for you in a more memorable way than several smaller arrangements. If you can’t visualise your venue and what it needs never be afraid to share a photo with your floral designer or ask them if they will take a venue visit with you where they can come up with ideas for you.

5.  Your Priorities

If flowers are not your thing, then don’t overspend on them! Go with the basic must haves and put the rest of your budget into something that has more meaning for you. We often get asked to create low cost but classic looks to just add a touch of colour to a venue for couples that need something, but flowers are not their thing.

But if you love your flowers and want to go big – then get as many inspiration images together as you can before you even talk to a floral designer and know how much you are prepared to spend or stretch to with your budget. It is perfectly acceptable when talking to a floral designer to say “I’d love it if I could get all of this for x amount, but I can go a little more if it means I can get everything I want”. It is part of our job to give options and ideas based on all price points!

_{Welcome to The Floral Design Hub! We’re a creative flower studio and micro flower farm in rural County Galway, run by Dee—designer, grower, and flower lover. With over a decade of experience you’re in safe (and very enthusiastic!) hands. We believe your wedding flowers should feel like you, so every couple joins us on a relaxed, creative design journey, turning personal stories and unique style into wedding flowers that feel personal, purposeful, and totally you.}