Why Are Wedding Flowers Expensive?
Floristry is a skill, a qualification and you do not just learn it over night from a book. A career as a commercial florist may begin with commercial professional training, but then you will need onsite training in a flower shop or similar.
When asked about the price of wedding flowers and why do they cost so much? We are told sure I can go to my local supermarket and buy a bunch of flowers for X amount of money.
I decided to write this article to explain a little more about behing the scenes as a wedding florist.
First Point of Contact with the Florist
A Florist first point of contact with her Bride is normally an email or a phone call to set up a consultation. Some florists will actually send you a pre consultaion questioner to give them an idea of your theme and budget and also the date and time of your wedding. The florist needs to know the date of your wedding to ensure they are available and also what flowers will be in season for your wedding. It is also important for a florist to have an idea of budget as this will allow them use their skills and knowledge to plan the best value package they can give you.
The Flower Consultation
The Florist will normally meet a bride for the first time to discuss their requirements and go through the pre- consultation booking form. It is during this consultation that the Bride will discuss their own Bouquet and their Bridesmaids, they can discuss any arrangements they would like for their reception and ceremony, thank you bouquets and lots more.
You qualified florist will then go away with all your information and they will work out exactly how many of each flower they will need to buy and from what wholesaler or grower they need to order from. They will work out at what stage before your wedding each different flower needs to be bought in to ensure it is at its prime on the day of your wedding.
(Lilies bought in the day before your wedding could look like bananas in your ceremony arrangements but look stunning for the bride getting married the following week)
Your florist will need to source sundries and colours to match your theme you have discussed at your consultation.
Your florist will then sit down and write up a quotation for your Bridal Flowers based on the consultation and agreement of designs, flowers, colours etc.
If you the bride decide at this stage to change any aspect of your wedding flowers this could mean a complete new quotation needing to be done.
As a Bride you should be aware, Fresh Flowers can only be bought in in certain quantities, an example being Roses, these are mostly sold to a florist in 20s, if you decide you want one rose in a certain colour to be placed in the middle of your bouquet, chances are your florist will need to buy in 20 of this rose, and she will need to charge you for the 20.
But a qualified florist will be able to guide you as how you can use these extras up in other ways to help keep your costs down.
When using a Professional Florist you do not have any of these concerns about your wedding flowers; your florist does, but because she is a professional and buys from numerous floral wholesalers and growers she knows best how to cope if:
The flowers don’t come in
The Supplier raises the prices from when I first quoted for this wedding?
The flowers get damaged / broken in transit?
If our cooler fails or for those with no cooler what if the weather changes?
If the colour ordered is not the colour that comes in?
If they have to make substitutions will the bride be happy?
If something goes wrong have they have time to remake the bouquet?
If they don’t order in enough flowers?
If they don’t charge enough for the wedding flowers?
If the flowers don’t open in time?
If the flowers open to fast?
If there is not enough flower heads on the lilies or orchids?
What if what if what if…this is a stress as a bride you can do without on the week running up to your wedding?
Assembling The Wedding Ceremony Flowers
Before your florist can begin creating your reception and Ceremony floral designs, they must first prepare all their containers and stands that they may be using for your wedding.
Floral Foam needs to be prepared and soaked
Some floral displays may be assembled a few days prior to your wedding depending of the flowers that are being used.
These displays need to be stored and and where they will not be damaged or subject to extreme temperatures.
Some designs may not be assembled until the day before or the day of your actual wedding
Your Wedding Bouquets
Flowers to be included in your bouquet will need to prepared by your florist for assembling in your bouquets , thorns and leaves removed, removal of damaged petals, wiring and taping of particular flowers so they can be included in your bouquets, greenery and gyp cut and cleaned down to the specified lengths. Ribbon, tie strings and bows prepared for the completion of the bouquets.
It is only now that the Florist can go about designing and assembling your Bridal Wedding Bouquets.
This will then be repeated for your Bridesmaids and Flower girls Wedding Bouquets and Accessories.
On completion of your bouquets your florist will spray the flowers with a hydrator and preservative to prolong the life of your Wedding Bouquet on the day of your wedding.
The Flower Delivery
Some of your Floral Designs may be delivered the day before your wedding to your Wedding Venue, however many hotels will not allow set up until a few hours before the actual ceremony.
This may involve the Florist arranging extra staff to facilitate the smoothness of set up and delivery of your wedding bouquets and button holes to both houses all at the same time.
The Brides Wedding Bouquet will usually be left until the last minute to delivery to maintain the freshness of the flowers.
Bridal bouquets are normally transported in a special Portable Floral Box so it will not be damaged during transit but also that you can continue to store it during the wedding when not in use.
Your Wedding Florist Now Has The Stress Of Worrying Will You LOVE The Bouquet She Has Created For You.
IF you were to take into consideration all of the above, the time Your Florist spend with you for your consultations, the time your florist spends working on the Flower order, the time the Florist spends answering emails from Brides, their Brides Maids, the Mother of the Brides and sometimes friends and family too, the time the florist spends typing up your quotes, the time the florist spends treating and condition your flowers when they arrive, the time the florist spends assembling and creating your bouquets and Floral displays, the time the florist spends delivering your flowers. Add on Stress, Cost of the flowers and Materials, overheads of the shop & Staff, Insurance, tax and some profit for the florist you can see how wedding flowers can be expensive.