Frugal Wedding Series: Saving Money on Wedding Flowers

I’ve finally put in the flower order for my bridal bouquet and my bridesmaids bouquets after what seems like a week of looking at flowers non-stop. I’ve tried to call local florists for advice and pricing but they all seem so busy this time of year.

Plus, I’m not trying to pay a florist to create my bouquets since I’m planning a budget wedding and would rather spend my extra money on other expenses. I’m also realizing that I’m not a big DIY fan when it comes to planning this wedding.

So what’s a frugal bride to do when you’re short on cash, don’t want to hire a florist and don’t want to make bouquets yourself?

Here are a few practical ways to save money on a common hidden wedding expense – flowers and floral arrangements.

Skip the Flowers

According to popular bridal publications and sources, brides spend anywhere from $200-$20,000 on wedding flowers. Yes, you read that right. If you think it’s ridiculous to spend that kind of money on something that will simple die in a day or so, feel free to skip flower altogether and go with a different alternative.

Sometimes affordability will preside over tradition and that’s okay. This article has some really cool examples of alternative wedding bouquets you can consider especially if you are having a themed wedding.

For our wedding, we are decided to have DIY-style bouquets for the girls but skip boutonnieres for the guys. We’re easily saving $100-200 by doing this.

Have a Friend or Family Member Create your Bouquets

If you don’t want to spend top dollar on a florist but don’t want to make the bouquets yourself you’ll have to get creative. My best advice would be to reach out to a close friend or family member to see if they can try their hand and putting together the bouquets or flower arrangements for the wedding.

Most friends and relatives are happy to help with responsibilities for your wedding and if you pay them for their contribution you’ll still spend less than you would by having a professional florist do the job.

At first, creating the bouquets for my wedding sounded fun but then I realized how busy my schedule was going to be. With working a full-time job, trying to build a freelance business, manage a blog, and take care of my family life, I knew I needed to outsource as many wedding-related tasks as I could.

Luckily, I tapped into my network and reached out to an old friend who was a licensed florist some time ago. I asked my friend if she could help create the bouquets for my wedding and she was more than happy to help. She works in a completely different field now, but still know a lot about the industry and even gave me a free phone consultation and introduced me to some wholesale websites I could use to shop for flowers.

I plan on giving her a gracious tip while buying all the flowers and material for the bouquets myself, but all in all I will still spend less than if I would have went to a florist that I didn’t know.

Order Seasonal Blooms

If you have a specific range of flowers that you insist on using, you may not be able to minimize the costs of your wedding flowers. It’s best to be open to using different types of flowers that are affordable and in-season. This will help you rack up some good sales and possible even save on shipping.

Here is a great guide on which flowers are in season at certain times throughout the season. When in doubt, carnations and roses are almost always on the affordable side.

Mix Real with Fake Flowers

Don’t get stuck on real flowers. From far away and in pictures, most people can’t even tell real from fake flowers.

This is why I’ve decided to make my bouquets a mix of fresh and silk flowers. Silk flowers are often cheaper, easy to work with, and have a guaranteed size.

With fresh flowers (I love wholesale flowers from Fifty Flowers because they are super affordable), you limit yourself to only the flowers that are available at the time. Sometimes they may not even be fully bloomed. To cut down on the costs of flowers when making your bouquet, choose one real flower, one order or silk flowers and a cheap filler flower to round everything out.

Try the Grocery Store

If you’re more spontaneous when it comes to your wedding flowers, consider placing an order at your local grocery store. Usually, the florist there will have a wholesaler who can provide discounted prices.

If you have a small wedding with not that many bridesmaids or groomsmen, you may even want to check out different stores a few days before your wedding and pick up some fresh flowers to use. Jewel Osco often have spring bouquets on sale for 3 for $12.If you only have 3 bridesmaids, you may be able to purchase your flowers fresh and on the spot.

Since I have 9 bridesmaids and 3 flower girls, I can’t just walk up to the floral department at my local grocery store and buy up all the flowers. In my case, it’s best to place a wholesale order. If you have a Sam’s Club or Costco membership they also offer pretty affordable prices on flower orders.

Borrow Floral Arrangements

This is an option I’ve really been considering for my wedding. Decorating the room or outdoor area for your wedding ceremony is a great way to set the tone and customize your special day. But who really wants to spend $50-250 on a pot of flowers or floral arrangements.

If you can rent or even borrow fake floral arrangements from a local church, your venue, or a friend who no longer needs them, that would be a great way to enhance the visual appeal of your wedding without spending a ton of money.
Be resourceful when it comes to gathering appealing flowers for your big day so you focus on ways to minimize your spending without taking away from the overall experience.

If you’d like more specific tips and strategies to help you save money on your big day without sacrificing your values, I recently released a 50-page digital guide called Save Thousands on Your Dream Wedding and you can learn more about it here. My guide includes real money-saving strategies, resources you can utilize when shopping for even the tiniest details, the strategy I used to go on a $400 week-long honeymoon and more!

What do you think about wedding flower prices? Have you don’t any of these things to save money on wedding flowers.