Budget Weddings Part 2 (Flowers)

Flowers are a hugely important aspect of most weddings but they can also be hugely expensive. Nothing makes a wedding look more timeless or elegant than beautiful flowers so it is important to budget adequately for your floral needs. That being said, there are a ton of ways to have gorgeous flowers on your wedding day  even when you have a tight budget.

1) Be FLEXIBLE. I cannot stress this enough.  You may have visions of massive rose and calla lily bouquets  interspersed with dainty greenery (or whatever your fantasy floral arrangement might be) but chances are you will have to have them special ordered or they will be hard to get, and consequently you will pay more for them.  Keep a general color scheme and design in mind and go from there to decide on specifics by what fits best in your budget.  For instance, I knew that I wanted autumn-y flowers and that were maybe yellow and orange. One of the prettiest bouquets I found was at my local Kroger store. I didn't end up using it but all it needed was a few supplemental carnations and a silk ribbon to hold it together and it would have been perfect!

$9.99 Kroger bouquet

Have fun and explore different flower options. Roses are pretty, but they aren't the only flower in the world! Hydrangeas and carnations make a big impact and cost so much less than long-stemmed roses.  

2) DIY is your friend, especially if you plan on using bulk quantities of flowers.  Just make sure you give whoever is arranging them, be it you or any of your artistically inclined friends and family, enough time to make all the arrangements and be sure to have enough refrigerated space to store the flowers/finished arrangements! I found this out the hard way when I got my shipment of bulk sunflowers and greenery two days before my wedding and had to frantically remove EVERYTHING in my refrigerator in order to store them. Also worth noting is that many wholesalers offer wedding packages and bridal bouquets for much cheaper than a local florist could.

Top: Gerbera daisy corsage from 50flowers.com

Lower: DIY sunflower bouquets

(Photos ©Polyrhythm Photography)

Some great websites to order wholesale flowers from are
Bunches Direct
Global Rose
Whole Blossoms
50Flowers

Note: I went with 50Flowers for my bouquets. They turned out absolutely lovely, but a few of the gerbera daisies were already wilting when I got them, and the company didn't include care or storage instructions in the package; I had to look that information up online.

Classic Red Rose Bouquet $64.95 from BunchesDirect

Bridal Bouquet-White Carnations

3) Silk flowers- my least favorite recommendation of the bunch.  Realistic silk flowers can be hard to find and oftentimes a bouquet made entirely out of silk flowers looks tacky and cheap.  However, if artfully arranged, silk flowers can be a valid alternative to a cut flower bouquet.  You can also supplement a cut flower bouquet with some silk flowers to "fluff" it up.  I should also say here that I have absolutely no problem with silk flowers being used as decorations. You decorations probably won't be photographed as closely as your bouquets so silk flowers are great to use for altar or reception decor.  Silk flowers are  usually also much easier to work with when decorating because they don't wilt and can be glued and bent in just the right way.  

Part 3 coming soon! More on saving money for your ceremony, music, dress, and more! 

Sponsored Links:

2400 Rose Petals White
from: Global Rose
200 Red Madame Delbard Rose - $165.00
from: Global Rose