Florist

Hey Amanda! It’s great that your florist is the last vendor you have to hire, you seem to be really on top of your planning! There is a great tool in the Planning Tools called the Cost Guide that might be an interesting read for you. It will explain the average cost or different vendors in your state, here is the Wedding Flowers Cost Guide for Virginia. It says that the average flower cost for Virginia is $1,400. This is all dependant on how many flowers you want and what flowers you choose but it’s a good place to start.

I then looked in the vendor directory for florists so that could browse them before you send out any inquiries. Here is our list of Virginia Wedding Florists.

What color flowers are you going for?

Hi Amanda, I am feeling the same way as you. I visited a florist wedding designer (in Cleveland, OH) and was quoted $4600+...excuse me????? However, that was for my bouquet, 8 bridesmaids, 1 junior bm and gm, 8 groomsmen, 3 mothers corsage, 2 fathers, 3 flower girl baskets, tables at venue with eucalyptus greenery and candles, and 4 main tables with larger centerpieces made of a mixture of greenery and flowers. It sounds like a lot a things but the price was/is still very shocking to me, I had no clue. Is this the norm if you aren't doing it yourself??? I can't fathom having to be in charge of all of that the week of my wedding. But honestly is this what I should be expecting for someone else to do this for me???

We are in WI, so this might not help. Our floral situation is a little odd, we won a thousand dollar floral package from our florist. For that we are getting:

1 bridal bouquet (plus one toss bouquet)

4 bridesmaid bouquets

1 groom boutonniere

3 groomsman boutonnieres

1 groomswoman corsage

about 18 small floral arrangement centerpieces (we are providing the vases)

Candles for the tables

2 pedestals with floral arrangements for the altar

I think she may have thrown in a couple things because she likes us. I do know before we won the package that the bouquets and boutonnieres alone were around $500.

Have you looked into any florists that do faux flowers? I know their rates can be up to 40% less.

I'm from PA so it might not help too much but my florist was $1,081.

For that I got: 1x bride bouquet (cascade), 1x MOH bouquet, 4x BM bouquet, 11x boutonnieres, 2x women wrist corsage, 1x woman pin corsage, & 2x flower girl flower wands. Price includes delivery & tax.

I chose pretty cheap flowers (monte casino, mini sunflowers, some kind of purple flowers (I kept saying wild flowers - so they wouldn't try lilies or roses) and a lot of greenery, for my bouquet I did add some roses), plus we added burlap on all the stems to stay with a rustic feel.

I looked up the vendors in wedding wire under florist & tried to find the ones with $$.

I'd highly recommend DIY bulk flowers from Sam's Club Check them out!

we're doing white hydrangeas and seeded eucalyptus, maybe some white roses. SUPER DUPER cost effective

Flowers were the least of my worries, but in UT I found a lovely florist who quoted me $600 including delivery and set up (which was only over my meager $550 budget by $50!)

For that it includes :

3 bouquets (bridal, MOH, bridesmaid), 3 cocktail table centerpieces, 3 centerpiece arrangements for (3) long farmhouse tables, 1 sweetheart table arrangement, 1 floating chuppah (we're using flowers and cloth in a tree), flowers for the isle.

She's a floral designer and the flowers are bought in bulk, which is what makes it cheaper. I don't know anything about flowers so I don't know the types other than babys breath, dusty miller, dahlias, anemones and proteas (but there's a few more).

I don't think you're being cheap at all! $3,000 for flowers at will die in a few days is insane. The first thing that came to my mind is if you or someone you know happen to be crafty, go to Walmart or wherever, buy your flowers out of the cooler case and make your own bouquets.

I went through Bloominous who is providing the florals and they have private florists all over the country they contract out if you want to upgrade to full service florals. They’ll send the flowers from their farm to the florist in the area (we’re in Norfolk and they had someone) and the florist puts them together for you and sets them up.
2 large ceremony arrangements
4 bridesmaids bouquets
1 bride bouquet
7 boutonnières
12 centerpieces
6 small centerpieces
2 garlands with florals
25 extra roses
total was about $2200 I think it about cut the cost in half for us judging by what everyone else has paid.

Hi Amanda, check out Something Borrowed Blooms. This is the company I plan to use for our big day! It's actually where you can rent flowers! You can check out their website and all of their social media accounts. They do an AMAZING job.

View Quoted Comment

Hi Nicole! Another WI bride here, may I ask what area you are from or the name of the florist? I am around Milwaukee and a florist is next on my list. I am scared to hear quotes- but yours didn't seem too bad.

I will be using Norfolk Wholesale Florist, as they were able to quote me at $1,000 for all bouquets, aisle greenery and centerpieces for my large wedding. Are there any wholesale flower shops near you that would be willing to do this? What they are doing for me is quoting me for the wholesale of all the flowers and greenery I will be using, then only charging me $200 to put them all together.

View Quoted Comment Hey Elisabeth! We are in Milwaukee.
I got quotes from 3 different florists originally, and they all came in around $500 for 1 bridal bouquet, 4 bridesmaid bouquets, 4 boutonnieres and 1 corsage. Those were Jess Fleur Fun in Brookfield and Bel Aire Florals in West Allis for real flowers and I got a quote from Tully Florals for faux flowers that came in closer to $400.
We ended up going with Jess Fleur Fun since we won a package with them and ended up doubling our floral budget. I would recommend any of the florists that I've mentioned, they were all wonderful in my consultations.

View Quoted Comment

Even better they are close by! Thank you so much for your help

It definitely depends on the flowers you are choosing and what the market is where you are from! I'm getting married in New York and just for 1 oversized bridal bouquet, 2 bridesmaids, 1 groom boutineer, 2 groomsmen boutineers, 2 dad boutineers, and 2 corsages, I am paying around $500. I saw some comments saying they paid close to that and got a ton of table decor included! I am no help but figured I would at least share!