How much did you spend on flowers for reception and ceremony?

I was extremely naive for flowers. I thought bridal party would be anywhere from 25-35$ and bride $50-75. I went Saturday for an estimate from a reputable florist who my MOH knows and used. They told me average wedding flowers cost 600-900. I almost died lol. Well today I got my estimate. 736$ for flowers and after tax $50 for delivery. That includes my flowers which consist of Free spirit roses in white and peach and lilies and stems wrapped in my colors coral and peach. Maid of honor with 5 free spirit roses and gerber daisies and 3 bridesmaids with 5 free spirit roses and wrapped stems in our colors. Best man and 4 groomsmen with boutiners and a ring bearer. 3 sets of parent corsage and boutiners. I don't think that's too bad of a price.

Believe it or not we got our flowers from Costco floral for $450 total. It was only wedding party flowers though and not centerpieces (although they do, do centerpieces). This was my bouquet:

Check out costofwedding.com for the average cost of flowers in your area. We got an estimate for about $1500 for all of our wedding party flowers and fairly minimal centerpieces. We anticipate around 20 tables, and plan to reuse the bouquets as centerpieces on the head table. Based on what I've heard, I think we are getting a bargain.

$800 for 4 bouquets, 8 boutonnieres, 3 wrist corsages, flower petals for the aisle, 8 shepherds hooks with mason jars filled, 2 giant arrangements to go at the entrance, and something else I'm forgetting... Oh! Cake flowers! Our venue offers free centerpieces to choose from, so we opted out of that, but if we had our florist add them it would have been $1300. She works at AJ's in their floral department during the week and does weddings in weekends.

If you feel comfortable sharing how many bouquets, bouts, corsages, pieces/descriptions of ceremony decor, sweetheart table piece, centerpieces, and possible centerpieces, I could help you out. Just let me know what kinds of flowers you're using, any inspiration pics you forwarded, what vases or other decorative elements you're looking at, and if there is a delivery/set-up/breakdown fee in your contract. Sure...let me know what they're offering (without mentioning the business names) and I'll tell you if I believe the price is customary. Remember, the cheaper florist may be working out of her home, doing an all cash business that isn't reporting the income, and has nowhere near the training/experience of the first vendor (that's why I don't want you to post their company names).

We spent $2,000 (including delivery). BUT we had a very large bridal party- 8 BM and 8 GM! Cost depends greatly on where you are located and what kind of flowers you want. My flowers were hydrangeas, with roses in my bouquet and the centerpieces, and baby's breath. My bouquet- $70, BM bouquets- $45/ea, Bouts- $12/ea, corsages- $24/ea, 12ft. garland for ceremony arch- $140, and tall centerpieces (including pilsner vase)- $140/ea. We also spent $80 on flower petals to line the aisle, but we bought them from BJs online, not from our florist.

I love the look of tall centerpieces but of course they were more expensive! Our BM bouquets were slightly larger than BM bouquets usually are because we repurposed them as our low centerpieces. Even with paying slightly more for them, we still saved $400 over all tall centerpieces. We had 7 tall centerpieces and 8 BM bouquets/short centerpieces. Try to think outside the box for your centerpieces, maybe do 2 or even 3 different but coordinating kinds (it will create visual interest as well!) if it will save you money to do that!

Don't forget to ask what the delivery charge is, and what the charge is if you need them delivered 2 different places (for example, bouquets and bouts to your hotel and the centerpieces to your venue). Our delivery cost was $170. Also, factor in tax- tax was over $100.

The bulk of the cost is centerpieces. We discussed with both places that we like varied arrangements - like, a single arrangement, a small group of small arrangements, scattered petals, candle votive holders. We have a lot more corsages and boutonnieres than bouquets - just me and my MOH.

@minnemiska - thanks for the link! I'll check it out.

For ceremony, reception, cocktail hour and bouquets, I'm budgeting $8,000

Believe it or not, varied centerpieces are very time consuming to cost out, and time consuming to create. It's much less labor to assembly line centerpieces.

The cost difference could also be difference in the flowers each designer is using (peonies and hydrangea vs carnations and daisies) and the size of the centerpiece - for example, a 4" glass cube uses much less flowers than a 5" glass cube.

Corsages end up pricey if you have a lot of them, and prices could be $25-50 each, depending on how much work they are.

For centerpieces, of course it depends where you are, how popular your designer is, their cost of flowers, etc, but here's some of the prices I charge:

$35 - simple mason jar of flowers, no premium flowers

$75 - very nice cube vase of hydrangea and roses

$125 - faux mercury silver compote (rental) with garden style flowers including some premiums

$250+ - tall arrangements

Even at my prices, the minimum you'd spend for a "rustic" type centerpiece is $735; for the faux mercury would be $2625 - all just for centerpieces.

I've done eclectic tables before, and after doing it realized I didn't charge enough for my time...they really are time consuming. And keep in mind, if you tell them you want varied centerpieces, it really is up to their imaginations as to what they are quoting you on!

You might want to ask a little more like what kind of flowers do they envision, what vases do they envision, etc. That might help you decide. Best wishes!

Like @kitandkaboodle FH and I are spending $7500 for the ceremony, reception and bouquets. It's too broad to ask how much you should spend. I would make a budget if I were you and stay within those perimeters by choosing flower types that are within your budget. A bouquet made of calla lilies and orchids will cost more than a bouquet filled with hydrangeas and roses... also pay attention to what is in season when you're getting married. If the flowers have to be imported, a higher cost will be reflective of that.

@Monique W - Wow, thank you! Your input is extremely helpful! I never really thought about how much time and effort goes into the varied arrangements. Makes so much sense! (head slap!) Your estimates are right in line with what we were quoted, too.

@annakay511 - Beautiful flowers and arrangements! FH and I didn't even venture into tall arrangements. We knew that just the number of centerpieces needed, we couldn't splurge on tall, lol!

We're spending around $3000, but I wanted peonies which are pricey and not quite in season for my April wedding.

FH and I are spending approximately $150, but does it could if it's not real flowers and paper flowers?

Ninjaaa those are beautiful! What a bargain.

Ours were about $250. But that included only two bridal bouquets, one MOH bouquet, a bout, and some freeze-dried rose petals to put on tables at the reception. All other decorations were nonfloral.

I spent 500 on bridal & bridal party bouquet plus corsages for mother/grandmother. I was going to do half my tables with floral centerpieces (would have been 10 tables) and the quote was 800 which was way more than I wanted to spend so I found alternative centerpieces. My SIL did flowers on her tables by getting flowers from costco and arranging them herself it saved her a boat load of money and looked great.

About $1200 total for:

Bridal bouquet

6 BM bouquets

7 GM bouts

2 corsages for MOB and MOG

2 bouts for FOB and FOG

12 Centerpieces

FG basket

PA sales tax (6%)

Delivery/set up

Mine's about $1,500 for centerpieces (14 tables), 5 BM bouquets, 2 corsages, 8 bouts, 2 halos, sweetheart table, and bridal bouquet.

My bouquet with hydrangea, garden roses, "regular" roses and lisianthus

2 BM bouquets, smaller with similar flowers

3 boutonnieres

5 centerpieces

flowers for cake

$760 including delivery

Bouquets consisting of garden roses,roses, mini roses, ranunculus (my FAVORITE flower), dusty miller, wheat and queen anne's lace - Mine: $250; Bridesmaids - $95 each (x6). The bridesmaids bouquets will double for our tall centerpieces on six tables. 3 Corsages - $16/each and 12 bouts - $14 each. We have about 20 tables, and on the other 14 we are going to have low centerpieces w/ minimal flowers, and we will do that ourselves, cost unknown at this point. Travel fee is $135, since our florist is about an hour away from the ceremony. Total including tax is $1248.44