Why are wedding flowers so expensive?

A question that, before I became a florist, I had also asked. I’ve heard a lot of hypotheses in response to this question, but the one that has struck me the most, and many other florists can agree, is that florists are up-charging simply because you included the word “wedding” in the inquiry form and we know we can charge more and get away with it.

While I don’t doubt that there may be someone out there who has taken this approach, this simple fact is that it’s just not true. Let me explain why.

At Dimples Flowers, we offer every-day flowers to our customers in addition to full-service and a-la-cart wedding packages. From our build-a-bouquet bar that you’ll find at our flower trucks to our pre-made bouquets that you can purchase online, you can buy a bundle of blooms for any occasion. But the steps that it takes to make a small bouquet wrapped in brown paper to a full-scale, customized wedding are very different, and I want to give you all the details.

Wedding Flowers VS Every-Day Flowers

The Ordering Process

Let’s start by comparing the ordering process for wedding flowers and every-day flowers. For our flower truck and for online orders, we have to make sure we have a variety of blooms on-hand at all times, and these flowers are typically the same week-to-week. Daisies, carnations, caspia, solidago, roses, sunflowers, and stock are just some of the items we have every day, year-round because we know them and we trust them. And because we have these items every week, the ordering process is simplified for the most part because not much changes from one week to the other.

In comparison, ordering for a wedding is completely different. First of all, each wedding that a florist designs has a completely different color palette, different blooms, different flower requests - and it takes hours of brainstorming and researching to find out what’s in season, what does or doesn’t do well out of water for hours at a time, or how well a specific bloom stands up against 90 degree heat or near-freezing temps. For every wedding, the ordering process starts from scratch because every wedding is unique. And florists begin thinking of this and building the recipes for their designs months before your wedding day. Part of what you’re paying for with wedding florals is the unseen brain power that your florist is using 3-4 months before the design work even starts. Not to mention any mood boards, mock-ups, or detailed invoices that the florist might provide in the months leading up to your wedding day as well.

The Processing… Process?

“Processing” refers to the steps we take to unwrap, hydrate, and prepare the blooms once they arrive at our studio. For every-day florals, the process is relatively the same: strip leaves, give the stems a fresh cut, and place them in the flower cooler to keep them fresh as long as possible. (I’ll go into flower care in greater detail in a separate post).

For weddings, our mindset is not, “How can we make these flowers last for 2+ weeks?” like with every-day florals, but rather, “How can we get these flowers to their peak and looking stunning for the big day?” Sometimes that means wiring every single stem of 20+ ranunculus because they are prone to breakage, or spraying and re-spraying hydrangeas to prevent them from wilting (though no amount of water or will-power can prevent this altogether - they are pesky little blooms sometimes!). Sometimes it means separating all the roses and putting them in the shade outside to loosen up so they’ll open more fully when it’s time to design. Each bloom requires something different to get them or keep them looking their best right in time for the event, and depending on the size of the event it may take 2-5 people for processing alone.

The Design Process

I absolutely love when I’m working at the flower truck and someone approaches with $25 and says, “My daughter is in a play this evening. Can you make her a little bouquet?” The design process for something like this is pretty straightforward - a sprig of caspia, a gerber daisy, some cushions daisies, and a piece of stock or two from what we have available and you have a sweet little bundle for your daughter’s opening night! But not something suited for a bride.

Like I mentioned earlier in this post, the design process for weddings actually begins months in advance in a florist’s brain. I’m already ironing out the details of what flowers, shades, greenery, and textures I’m going to use for your bridal bouquet. What color will the ribbon be? And is it the exact same shade of pink as the bridesmaid dresses? Have I triple and quadruple-checked that shade of pink before I order these pink roses? (There are about two-thousand different shades of pink, and I learned that the hard way).

Once the flowers actually get here the week of your wedding, we have about three days to process, design, and pack everything up before the wedding day. Day 1 is usually spent processing and getting organized. Day 2 is for designing things in water like centerpieces, bridesmaid bouquets, large arrangements, etc. Day 3 is for designing the bridal bouquet, boutonnières, corsages, and anything in floral foam. And finally, on your wedding day, we’ll design anything on-site like arbors, fireplace installations, or anything really large that we couldn’t do before-hand.

It’s a more in-depth design process than what you would find at the flower truck on a Thursday morning. As it should be! It’s your wedding day! And we are putting in as much possible effort, with unique and romantic blooms, to make sure it’s something you cherish for the rest of your life.

Conclusion

Here’s the fact - wedding flowers are so expensive because they are more involved, more strenuous, and require more thought, effort, and labor than day-to-day design work does. They require more knowledge, expertise, and experience. The ingredients are harder to find, sometimes harder to work with, or harder to ship. You are paying for the flowers, yes, but you are also investing and trusting your florist to bring your floral vision to life. You’re trusting them to take that stress off your plate so you can enjoy your wedding day the way you should - stress-free, relaxed, and solely focused on marrying your amazing partner and starting your lives together.

I hope this was helpful in understanding why wedding flowers cost what they do! If you have any questions at all, send me an email at info@dimplesflowers.com and we can continue the conversation!