explore

Establishing your floral budget will be an important step during wedding planning. Here at Roots Floral, we’ve created a guide to help you navigate your floral budget planning.

Establish Your Entire Wedding Budget First

We strongly recommend hiring a wedding planner (see our preferred vendors here) to assist with this. There are so many details, logistics, and important questions that will need to be answered during your wedding planning. A planner may seem like an extra expense at first, but you will save hundred of hours of time and resources. Your planner will help you navigate your budget allotments based on your individual wants and needs.

Organize and List Your Priorities

Once you have an overall view of your budget; sit down with your fiance’ and list out your priorities from most to least important. This list may differ between the two of you and a wedding planner can help navigate towards middle ground. When your list is finalized, where do flowers fall? How will you know just how important flowers are to you? During our client experience we ask our inquiring couples to select a statement that best fits their flower needs.

“Flowers are one of the most important elements for my wedding day. Flowers will be the main decor for both our ceremony and reception.”

“I love flowers, but there are other elements that are more important to me.”

“Flowers are not a large priority for my wedding day.”

Let’s dive in deeper with each of these statements to evaluate each type of couple.

–Flowers are one of the most important elements for my wedding day

The couple that selects this statement typically has minimal to no other decor for their wedding day. They will need an arch to say their vows under. The tables will be bare without centerpieces. Regardless if you actually like flowers or not, sometimes flowers are simply there to fill empty spaces. For most of our couples, flowers are much more than filling in an empty spot on a table. The flowers for our bride and groom will help achieve an overall look and aesthetic. Our couples have a vision for their wedding day and know that flowers will be a large part in making that vision come to life. They care about the shape, size, and style of the arrangements. The floral ingredients are important to them in making sure that each flower variety is cohesive with the rest of the wedding day details. About 98% of Roots Floral couples select this option when filling out our questionnaire.

–I love flowers, but there are other elements that are more important to me

Typically with this statement we see couples who love and need flowers for their wedding day, but have a very strict budget they need to stay within. They have chosen to spend the majority of their budget on other elements for their wedding. With some couples flowers are not a large priority, and that is totally okay! Beautiful flowers can still be had, but this is where individual floral design prioritization plays an important role. We discuss how to prioritize your flower designs in the next section.

–Flowers are not a large priority for my wedding day

Couples who select this option typically view flowers as more of a “traditional” checklist item they need to purchase. Again, this options is totally fine but we usually will refer these couples to other floral companies who specialized in traditional, budget friendly designs.

Prioritize Your Flower Designs

Even if you are a bride who loves flowers and consider them to be really important, you still probably have a budget that you need to stay within. How do you know where you should spend the bulk of your floral budget? We’ve broken up each section of your wedding day flower needs to help you decide.

–Wedding Party

With wedding trends shifting towards a more modern approach, we are seeing less and less interest with wedding party flowers. As floral designers we actually love this trend. Before 2019, most of our couples were spending between $800-$1,500 on wedding party flowers. For couples who were on a budget, this would add up fast. Wedding party flowers are worn mainly for the ceremony and about 30 minutes during pictures. Without a water source; boutonnieres, corsages, and crowns can wilt. For the amount of time they are used, we suggest our couples find more long lasting options to gift to their wedding party. Jewelry, pocket squares, ties, etc. are some great alternatives. We recommend to all of our couples to completely eliminate all wedding party flowers except for bridesmaid bouquets.

–Ceremony

Although your ceremony will be the most important part of your wedding day, it will also be the shortest. Finding that balance will be key in ensuring money is well spent on your ceremony flowers. For ceremony flowers there are usually three design options: entrance urns, aisle decor, and a ceremony arch installation. Entrance urns are a great way to make an impact. They provide a warm welcome to guests and can easily be reused for the reception. We highly recommend having entrance urns. For aisle decor we typically tell our brides to go without unless it can be reused later on at the reception. Ceremony arches are a common “must have” from our couples. Although these installations are stunning, they come at a price. To learn more about ceremony arch prices, click here. Are there some situations when an arch isn’t worth the investment? Absolutely. A floral expert will be able to go into more detail on whether the investment is worth it or not.

–Reception

From a florist’s point of view, the reception is where a couple should spend the majority of their flower budget. The higher number of tables you have, the more your floral costs will be. Although our couples don’t always agree that reception flowers should be high on the priority list, we encourage that their table designs be thoughtful and impactful. Consider the big picture, as well as making sure your guests have a beautiful centerpiece to look at.

–Accent Decor

Accent floral decor items are our favorite arrangements to design but it is usually the first to go when it comes to smaller budgets. These arrangements are unique and allow the wedding to be one-of-a-kind and special. Not every wedding needs a lot of accent floral decor pieces, sometimes even finding the budget for one or two can make all the different. To see some fun examples of accent floral decor arrangements, click here.

Okay, This Was Helpful But I Still Don’t Know How Much I Should Set Aside For Wedding Flowers

It’s okay, we get it. Sometimes it’s easier to just have a number. We recommend our clients to dedicate at least 20% of their overall wedding budget to flowers. Another way we break down a budget is by guest count. The more guests you have, the higher your floral budget needs to be.

For a 100 guest wedding and under we recommend setting aside around $5,000 – $6,000.

For a 200 guest wedding and under we recommend setting aside around $6,000 – $10,000.

For a 300+ guest wedding and under we recommend setting aside $15,000+

Of course, the numbers above will fluctuate and change depending on your wedding party amount and desired table designs. We find that our average couple has a guest count of around 200 and spend on average between $9,000 – $15,000.

Photo by Kathryn Fruge Photography

GETTING MARRIED IN KENTUCKY OR OHIO? CONTACT WEDDING FLORIST ROOTS FLORAL DESIGN!

Getting married in Lexington or Louisville Kentucky? Tying the knot in Ohio? Reach out to Roots Floral Design!

Florals and greenery can make your special day stand out in a unique way that you’ll remember for years to come. Whether you already have floral ideas in mind for your wedding or you are hoping to achieve a specific look and feel, reach out to Roots Floral Design for elegant bouquets, ceremony backdrops and more for a truly romantic wedding!