Grey, like blue, is another one of those challenging colors to find naturally in flowers. It is such a great color though-one of my favorite. Luckily, the grey flower options that are out there are really cool. I have listed a healthy selection below.

Just a couple weeks ago, I got to travel to Heber City, Utah to see one of my best childhood friends get married. Naturally, I had to do the flowers! Here is a sneak peak of what's to come!

Once couples get engaged and have enjoyed the blissful high for about a month, comes the realization of starting to plan the festivities. If it is the first marriage for both people, the learning curve for appropriate vendor budgets is steep and uncharted territory. Understandably, it is hard for people to set a budget for something they know nothing about (flowers, music, catering) or on the other hand, they set a budget which is completely unrealistic for what they want to achieve. 

A great florist will provide you with a custom quote for your wedding flowers.
Flower shops that propose wedding package A for $250, B for $1000 and C for $2000 or what have you, should be avoided, in my opinion. There are just too many amazingly different people with amazingly different tastes out there to file them into fixed choices. It leaves no room for imagination. 

Personally speaking, I do not ask people what their budget is during a first meeting. If they offer it up, then fine, but otherwise it makes me feel icky asking.  For me, understanding the couples story, personalities and vision is the focus for when we first meet.  Basically, are we a good match.  It is obvious that we are entering a business transaction.....couple wants flowers and I in-turn listen to them and provide killer designs with exceptional customer service for their wedding day. For this, I will receive a profit for my time and talent. Win-Win:) I feel like it would start things off on the wrong foot, if the first thing out of my mouth was, "So guys, what's your budget"? Terrible. It zaps the love and creativity right out of the air. Some of my most favorite projects have been small in scale, but super detailed and special. Big budget or small budget, at the end of the day, it just has to be pretty.

I always suggest to couples to approach the wedding flowers by telling me everything that they would like to have on their wedding day. All the bells and whistles. Then I can quote it as such.  I also like to quote each item separately with an in depth description. Does this take more time? Of course. But it gives the couple a detailed look of what each item is costing. That way, in the event that we need to scale back, they can select which items are not as necessary and delete them from the quote or I can rework the design to get the price down. 

Below, I have provided an average pricing guide for the most commonly requested wedding flowers (including labor). Of course, there are circumstances that would cause these prices to fluctuate: availability, flower choice, design complexity, seasons, holidays, and weather, but generally this is what you can expect.

Personal Flowers:
   Bridal Bouquet: $150-$275
   Toss Bouquet: $30-$50
   Bridesmaids Bouquets: $65-$85 each
   Boutonnieres: $12-$15 each
   Corsages: $20-$25 each
   Flower Girl Basket with Petals: $25-$30
   Hair Flowers: $2-$5 per wired bloom
   Head Wreaths: $65-$125 each
Ceremony Decor:
   Arch Rental $200-$300
   Fresh Floral Swag for Arch Center: $250-$350
   Fresh Greenery Garland: $10-$15 per foot.
   Arrangement Pillar Rental: $40-$60 each
   Large Ceremony Arrangements: $200-$350 each
   Chair Nosegays: $40-$65 each
   Aisle Petals: $200-$450
   Flowers Throughout Entire Structure (Pergola/Gazebo) $2,500-$5,000
   Floral Curtain $100-$150 per strand
Reception Decor: 
   Guest Centerpieces $95-$150 each
   Card, Gift and Guest Seating Table Arrangements: $100-$200 each
   Cake Topper and Layers $65-$100
   Door Wreaths: $150-$300 each
   Cocktail Tables: $15-$30 each
   Bar Arrangements: $75-$150

Also, a great florist will also set-up and breakdown all the flowers/decor for you as well. Some price it by a percentage of the total being spent on the flowers. It can be anywhere from 15%-20%. Other florists figure it by an hourly rate/per person. That is usually anywhere from $30-$50 per person/per hour. Plus $1 per mile roundtrip for each event site. So naturally, it is less expensive if you are having the ceremony and reception and the same venue.

I hope this sheds a little light into wedding flower pricing. Hopefully, it was a pleasant surprise and not a shock!  Remember these are just average price ranges. For example, a bridal bouquet of all white hydrangea would be less expensive and a bridal bouquet of lily of the valley and hellebore would be more expensive than what I mentioned above.  


   

Joe and Casey are such a lovely couple and it was a pleasure to design their wedding flowers. I have designed flowers for same-sex couples in the past, but this was extra special since their ceremony was an official wedding ceremony!! Yay! The State of Oregon just recently made same-sex marriage legal this past May. 

If you would like to see more images from their wedding you may view them in the featured weddings tab within the Lookbook page of the website.