Wedding Flowers Budget Tips

The best wedding planning advice I received was to contract your most important wedding feature first and then continue in descending importance. For me, that was the band, dress, decor, food, and invitations last. Dishing out the money in the order of importance will keep you smiling when you end up with less-than-ideal choices for the end of the list (because what really mattered to you has already been purchased!).

There are so many ways to cut your flower budget, but some worked wonders for me.

I wanted my arrangements to be unorthodox, with random flower assortments rather than two or three distinct flowers in only one or two colors. Taking this route saved me thousands of dollars. Yes, thousands. By the time you order enough flower arrangements to cover your venue, plus the bouquets and boutonnieres for the wedding party, you will be looking at a heavy bill unless you can give a little and go with a less strict flower pallet.

Flowers go on sale at different seasons, on different weeks, and typically at the end of the week --- your florist is in the loop and can buy bundled flowers for big discounts. So be honest with your florist and have her update you on what can be bought around the time of your wedding for the best prices. Because I already wanted a ‘wild flower’ look this worked perfect for me, but even if you want a more structured look this can work for you as well. I had several colors that I did not wish to! And I simply had those flowers removed from the bundle when they arrived so they wouldn't make it into the venue.

I also picked two flowers in the color scheme I wanted that came in large bundles, one yellow and one purple, to add to the hodgepodge bundles. 

Having the color and not a specific flower in mind will do wonders for your budget since there will always be a flower in season for your chosen color. Picking a pricey, one-season flower, on the other hand, is the surest way to intensify the bill.

A smart saver is using bridesmaids’ bouquets as centerpieces. This is common but rarely gets implemented the "day of." While we were getting ready at the barn, I had every bridesmaid find an empty jar (that had been set aside for their bouquets) and make them responsible for getting their bouquets in the first thing after arriving at the reception. This way, you get to spend the most money on their (and your) bouquets, and then they also get to shine at the reception. 

One last thought about bouquets: My florist told me that brides with overbearingly large bouquets are disadvantageous in their wedding pictures. Simply, when holding an enormous bouquet, your waist disappears! So go for a slightly smaller bouquet and give your waist (which you have been working so hard to shrink) a chance to shine.

 

If you are bold, take the next step in making your flower budget shrink by providing the containers. I used all sizes of old jars and loved how it turned out. This, of course, takes planning and work, but it will be worth it in the end when you get to spend extra on your band!

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DIYS wedding: It’s all in the details

My mom, sister, and I had fun wrapping presents in brown sack paper and stamping sweet verses, sayings, and names on the packages this Christmas. When we were done opening on Christmas, I cut the bags up into little strips. I had no idea what I would do with them, but I started stamping love sayings, such as “past, present, future,” “always and forever,” “forever mine,” “one sweet love,” etc on the strips. I scrolled these around the tables to add a fun spirit and make each unique.

To cover the electrical boxes, my mom and sister picked up drop cloths (the kind you get from the hardware store to keep paint off the floor or cover furniture), and my sister freehanded a verse and a saying on them. These were incredible for breaking up the bare walls and also a fun touch that was meaningful and added to our “homemade” flare.

On a rainy day, when outside work was tough, my dad and George got to work on the “sign” I wanted.  As a geographer, I wanted to have a sign pointing to the places that were most important to George and me. This included where we met, at TCU, where we both grew up, our honeymoon destination, and a few others, plus the general direction for the ceremony and reception.  We sawed a couple of boards in half and then “arrowed” the tips. With a thick black sharpie, once again, Constance free-handed the names.  The wood came from the salvage yard, so it was repurposed, like the barn, and then white-washed with leftover paint and a buck of water. 

My sweet mother bought tall candles in glass from the dollar store and then made each one a statement piece we scattered around the barn and tables. She cut old music paper and words from magazines and used Mod Podge gloss luster to seal them around the candle. She then added different details for each candle. Some were the simple music paper, a little glitter sprinkled on, others had small pieces of twine tied around in a bow and an antique earring tied on. We had fun making these at home; they were a romantic touch. 

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