Why do we have a minimum spend on wedding flowers?
Photograph by Ellen Sear
Whats the cost of wedding flowers in the UK? This is a no size fits all answer, I will explain this further in detail later on. You may see some florists have minimum spend or also called minimum investments. Why do we have a minimum spend on wedding flowers?
This may seem confusing but i’m going to run through why flowers cost and why we have minimum spends.. It isn’t just down to making as much money as possible.
Florists have many factors to consider, especially if they only work with wedding and events.
What determines a minimum spend?
This includes a whole host of things, Generally the work i create and want to keep creating comes at a price. You are only as good as your last wedding so to keep my standards where i want them i have a clientele who i appeal to.
I’m not suited to everyone and i know this. Clients i attract love my style, ethos and standards, they value what i do. As much as i would love to help each and every couple this just isn’t viable.
Every Florist has different overheads so this is a factor involved in the minimum spend. A florist who has staff, studio, van upkeep, rates etc need to cover these costs. A florist who works from a shed in their garden doesn’t have a-lot of these costs. This doesn’t mean to say a florist who works from a shed is any less qualified or creative as someone who has a studio but the don’t have a-lot of fixed costs either.
I provide a service, one of upmost quality and curated to my clients. I take my clients on a journey and provide quotes, vision boards, site visits, mockups and lots of other added extras. No wedding day is just about the money, I want my clients to feel involved and important from initial email to the very last dance.
how do you decide your minimum spend?
Every year i average out my clients spend. Every year this increases so will my minimum spend. Currently we sit at £3000.00 for weekends in peak season but do have some flexibility on midweek and off season weddings.
For us to keep the quality of our work, cover overheads and provide stunning flowers this prices works for us. We do understand that some clients might not have this investment to work with us and thats okay. Like i said we aren’t suited to everyone and we want to keep producing the highest quality of work.
Flowers, rent, utility bills and pretty much everything else to do with our business has increased in cost over the last 12-18 months. unfortunately we have to pass this cost on although if we had any other choice we wouldn’t.
Will i Get my whole wish list for the minimum spend?
This all depends on amounts. As this is an average for us it normally covers the basics. If you want some big installations, show stopping table designs then you will need to spend a little more.
Usually i would say our minimum spend covers the following;
Bridal bouquets, bridesmaids bouquets, buttonholes, corsages, low simple table designs, simple aisle decor, top table florals and delivery, set up and collection fee.
Again the above is just a guide, if you only have a small guest number with a few guest tables then your budget will stretch further than someone who has 10 guest tables. Also some couples have minimal wedding party members, such as bridesmaids. The more bridesmaids you have the more you have to budget for the flowers in this area.
How much should i set aside for my flowers?
For me as a florist i would say as much as possible!! we understand that flowers are not a big deal for certain couples but for our brides they usually are, thats why they choose us. .
On average i would say between 10-15% of the whole wedding budget plus expenses.
If you have an overall budget of £30,000 for you wedding then that is between £3000-£4500 on flowers plus any labour, delivery and set up expenses.
On a whole we would say 20-25% of your overall budget should go on wedding decor and flowers. This includes, candles, chair dressing, charger plates etc. Don’t forget the decor and flowers have a massive impact on the overall space and can really elevate the venue.
We design for large scale and full impact designs, this means bigger budgets are needed for florals.
We suggest you decide how important flowers and decor are on your wedding day. This will help you work out what you are happy to budget and what wedding flowers cost you.
We always see contradicting advice on average costs?
Yes, this is because like i said no one size fits all when it comes to wedding flowers. You may see statements like £1000 is the UK average. This is based from couples who DIY’ed wedding flowers and couples who spent thousands on flowers. Some couples didn’t even have any fresh flowers so put £0 as a spend in the survey.
Just to say there are florist who will do you wedding flowers for £1000 but for us it’s just not viable. With our overheads and skill not to mention all the administration of phone calls, emails, flower ordering etc. we will be working for less than minimum wage!
For this reason a nation wide survey has so many factors that it can never really give a true reflexing on an average spend.
If you only have a small budget this is fine but you will be limited on what designs you can get. Most smaller budgets will only be able to get personal flowers. Or maybe even a florist to make but you have to collect and set up all items yourself.
This is why we can never give an average of what wedding flowers cost.
Photograph by
What does my budget get me? What do wedding flowers cost?
So what do wedding flowers cost? This is only a rough guide based on our business structure, Each and every florist vary slightly.
£1000 – Bridal bouquets, bridesmaids bouquets, buttonholes, corsages and some simple ceremony florals
£2000 – All of the above and more elaborate ceremony statement feature, Maybe some floral urns.
£3000 – As above, simple guest table and top table designs (This is our minimum spend – we have this so we can keep the whole look across the venue cohesive)
£4000 – As above but slightly larger scale guest table flowers, possibly small compote bowls
£5000 – As. above but grander ceremony florals, such as aisle meadows, simple signage flowers, cake flowers
£6000 – As above with some tall guest table centrepieces and more opulent top table designs. Some other venue decor, Fireplace or staircase flowers
£7000 – £10,000 – As above but could include welcome statement design, large scale designs, more scope in flowers used,
Again this is only a guide and we work in opulent flower heavy designs.
Flowers cost more when we have to pre order?
Flower costs have risen dramatically, As we only do weddings and events we don’t have a shop to off load any spare flowers. we work out a stem count and have to account that a percentage of these flowers will come in broken or damaged.
We have to order by certain stems, sometimes roses are in 10’s, 20’s or 25’s. If you only require to have one variety of rose in your bouquet and different in every other design we may have a big surplus that needs to be paid for.
What do wedding flowers cost? well obviously they cost more to the customer than what we buy them from wholesale. Rose varieties can be £3.50 per stem + VAT for us to buy.
We also have to place or order with the wholesalers in advance. As they know we need these flowers this pushes the price up. If you have the flexibility for us to choose the flowers then this make the whole process a-lot easier and the wholesalers can find better deals giving more quantity in stems.
We always try our best to buy local and British in the summer months, majority of the time we never guarantee a specific flower. This helps us to make out designs truly unique and we also never disappoint our clients promising something that may not be possible.
do you price match another florist?
Simply put, NO..
This is impossible for us to do, we work on flower heavy abundant designs, We do not know how many flowers the other florist has allocated or how much they have charged in labour. It isn’t easy to do because it isn’t a like for like product.
It would basically be compared to asking Gucci to sell you trousers for the same price as Primark. The product and quality is totally different, the service you get in each store is totally different, the overall experience is totally different.
We really want to work with you, how do we get the ball rolling?
It’s simple click here to get in touch
We would love to arrange a chat with you, remember to have a flower cost that you are happy to spend in mind. Don’t fixate too much on specific designs. thats our job. Just come to us with a general aesthetic you are desiring and we will do the rest.
Remember, what do wedding flowers cost? well that also depends on how flexible you are with us and how much you trust us to deliver. The more you value and trust us the better the designs will be. We can create floral magic with artistic license.