Magazine-Worthy Wedding Flowers: The Pricing you should Expect

Magazine-Worthy Wedding Flowers: The Pricing You Should Expect                 www.weddingaces.com

By Holly ~ February 27th, 2013 ~ Flowers	12 Comments

This post was created to help brides everywhere get a realistic expectation of what magazine/blog worthy wedding flowers cost. Brides spend countless hours studying wedding flowers online or in magazines. Those images are pinned and pulled from magazines and brought to wedding florists. When this happens the floral designer is often in the uncomfortable position of letting a bride know that the designs she is dreaming of don’t match her flower budget. Brides, who pull their inspiration from magazines and the internet, should know that studying pictures in magazines can be helpful and also disheartening. Studying is helpful because you can begin to determine the types of flowers you like, it’s harmful because most of the designs you will see don’t have a price tag by them. Brides should remember that only the best of the best in design is published, and it probably had a nice price tag to match it.


To help brides with the planning of their floral budget I am offering a list of what I believe is realistic pricing for magazine-worthy wedding flowers. The prices were also checked and discussed by a group of wedding and event designers called the Chapel Designers. This group is a network of wedding and event floral designers from all across the country. Realize that the flowers you choose and the skill level of your designer will affect the final costs of your flowers. New designers typically charge less for their services because they are trying to build a portfolio, this can be good for a bride, but it is also a bit risky. Seasoned designers know how to design, secure product, detect quality issues, care for the flowers, trouble shoot and how to fully service an event. The region you live in will also effect the below listed pricing.
Once again the below prices are based on nice-sized, lush full designs–the kind you see in magazines.  The prices are also entirely below industry standards if you are pricing luxury designs. Those kind of designs are dripping with orchids or feature tables full of flowers. Are there cheaper options then the below listed prices? Yes, there are cheaper options and many of those are wonderful options. However the goal of this post is to help brides price middle of the road full rich elegant designs.

*Bridal Bouquets should range from $250-400. Yes, they really cost this much. Certainly if you were to choose all carnations, babies breath, or mums the design would be considerably less. However most brides are choosing lush bouquets full of hydrangea, Cabbage roses (also known as garden roses), orchids, regular roses, callas, ranunculus, stock, tulips, and many others. Note that Cabbage roses are really expensive – about three to five times the price of a regular rose. You will see cabbage roses in everything as you look for inspiration in magazines and blogs. Cabbage roses are more costly then peonies and many types of hydrangea. If you choose the cabbage roses or orchids, or callas, you can expect to be on the higher end of this range or higher. Lily of the valley and gardenias would also increase the price of the bridal bouquet. Cascading bouquets are also on the higher end of this range.

*Maids Bouquets typically range from $95-165, the higher price point will come into effect if you want peony, cabbage roses, and other super costly flowers. Carnations, daises or mums can be used to create a cheaper design.

*Boutonnieres $13 -16, if you don’t want to see the floral tape on the stem and you like ribbon or twine the price will be on the higher end.

*Corsages These pieces are typically given to moms, grands, and other ladies participating in the wedding. They come in several different styles. Pin on range from $22-25, wrist style are $26-30 and mini bouquets are $30 and up.

* Flower Girls These young ladies can have mini baskets or bouquets for $45 and up. Kissing balls or pomanders start at $95 and up. Flower crowns or halos should also begin at the $90 and up price point.

* Altar Flowers These large pieces typically start at $250 and up. The scale of the design has to be large and anything smaller than this looks out of proportion. It’s easy to spend $400-500 for really big designs.

* Aisle FlowersThese designs are created to mark family reserved seating or to decorate the aisle. Plain bows should start around $15 for true satin ribbon and not acetate.  Bows and greens will be $20-25 and then bouquets of flowers will go up from there. Kissing balls or pomanders begin at $110 for this area.

* Place Card Designs are usually big entrance or arrival pieces. If budget allows set this piece at $400 and up.

* Centerpieces These designs come in many shapes and sizes. Weddings typically feature low designs and elevated designs. Designing a low piece that is full and similar to those famous designs you see in a magazine is hard to do for under $150.  It’s easy for a full design to be in the $250 and up range if you feature hydrangea, cabbage roses, peonies and such.  A huge misconception is that gatherings of little designs or water designs with submerged flowers is less expensive. This is simply not the case. Lugging water at a venue and filling multiple vases with submerged flowers and candles is costly and a very labor intensive task. The same holds true for bud vases, multiple bud vases requires lots of organization and planning. Simple bud vases should start at $25 each.

Elevated designs are awesome and bring lots of drama into the room, but they typically can’t be created for under $250. These big designs require hundreds of stems. The elevated designs you are seeing featured in magazines are probably $400 and up. If the designs feature cascading orchids they should be priced even higher. This price often includes the elevated stand but is many shops you will pay an additional rental fee on any of the hard goods.

Also be aware that if you choose to do farm tables or oblong tables, also known as king tables or feasting tables this style of seating requires even more flowers. Instead of one centerpiece in the middle of the round table you will now need to create multiple pieces to extend the length of the table.

* Cake flowers are typically sold at $75 and up.

* Throw bouquets are typically $45 and up. Some designers offer these at no charge but that is less and less common.

* Labor and delivery, brides should expect to pay around 20 percent of the subtotal before tax for the delivery of their flowers. This will ensure that a team is fully committed to your event with tools, supplies and emergency flowers.

* Breakdown is an additional fee that is charged to clean up after the event and to remove all rental items from the venue. This is often in the price range of 5% or a minimum fee of $250.00

Photos by Timmester Photography

Nothing is more painful for a floral designer than telling a bride her flower requests are out of her budget. We truly hope this post helps!

I think this information is really on target for Kansas City...the low centerpieces can be designed for $75 & $100 but can be on the smaller size.

Remember when a floral designer is selected for a photo shoot an overall "look "not "price" is your main focus, showcasing your design style and the beauty of flowers!

Christina Burton-Fox    AIFD