What is a reasonable amount to spend on wedding flowers?
Posted by Michelle Hughes on
According to a survey of 10,000 brides by theknot.com in 2023 the average price for wedding flowers was $2800.00 This number is very deceiving however, as averages often are. When you factor in luxury weddings that cost over $50,000 and micro weddings that can cost less than $500, the average really doesn't have much bearing on what wedding flowers actually cost, or what a reasonable amount to spend on them is.
We always suggest that couples consider the importance of all items that make up a wedding. If food is your thing maybe you spend more money on catering. If you want your location to be memorable you spring for the better venue, and if you love flowers and want them to be a focal point you spend your money there.
The better number to look at from theknot.com article is the average percentage that couples spend on flowers out of their total wedding budget. For years the industry standard has been 10%. With the recent increase in flower cost post pandemic, that number may be light. We often suggest at least 15% and if you want your wedding to be flower heavy, up to 25%. 10% is a good starting point for personal flowers for the bride, bridesmaids and groomsmen. If you are wanting to include aisle flowers, reception flowers, arches, crosses, etc. that percentage will need to be increased.
At the end of the day, you can spend as little or as much as you want on your wedding florals. A "reasonable" amount is what is reasonable to you, not anyone else. If you are eloping at the courthouse, you can get away with a a 'la carte bouquet from a local florist for under $400.00 If you want folks to remember the flowers at your wedding on your twentieth anniversary, however, get ready to spend at least $5000.00.
Where you are located plays a factor in how much your local florist charges for their services. California and New York are going to be more expensive than Nashville. Keep in mind that wedding floral design is often full service, the wedding florist not only consults, designs, procures flowers and creates floral designs, they also deliver, set up, and in many cases remove flowers after your big day. The bid any local florist gives you isn't just for flowers; full service requires more expense on their part so the price will be higher than just the cost of flowers plus their markup.
If you find yourself on pinterest researching wedding flower styles, you'll quickly find image after image of luxury weddings with unlimited budgets. It's easy to get caught up in the idea of having a wedding with flowers at every turn, just keep in mind that the more flowers the more cost and time it will take to install. None of the luxury wedding flowers you are seeing in styled shoots on Pinterest or Instagram cost under $5000.00 to create and in many cases, they cost tens of thousands of dollars more.
The better question may be, "What's a reasonable ask of a local wedding florist based on what I can afford to spend on wedding flowers?" It's a waste of time to ask for the moon for a song, it will save all parties involved a lot of trouble if you do some research on your own to get an idea of what each flower element in a wedding costs, from bouquets to church alter flowers, there are a lot of florals to be considered and the more you add, the more expensive it will be.
When you are researching florists and flowers for your wedding, we suggest keeping that "10% of your overall wedding budget" number in your head and forgetting the average cost of wedding flowers in the USA, the numbers are just too broad for that $2800 number to mean anything other than what it is, an overall average of wedding flowers costs across 10,000 weddings.
As listed on our wedding quote form our minimum for on-site wedding flower design in Columbia, Tennessee and surrounding areas is $5000.00 This can include personal flowers, church flowers, reception flowers, arches, etc. when we write a wedding flower proposal, we break down the cost of each item to make it easy to decide which ones are the most important to you.
If you're not looking to spent $5k for wedding flowers, we also have a 'la carte options for brides in middle Tennessee.
