Wedding Flowers on a Budget

Planning a wedding is stressful. Planning a wedding during unstable economic times is even more stressful. As the cost of everyday necessities rise and financial uncertainty looms, spending thousands of dollars on flowers that will be used for a 30-minute wedding ceremony is simply not an option for many Americans getting married. And to be frank, it never was.

The national average age in the US for first-time marriages is nearly 30-years-old. This can be a tricky age when it comes to societal pressures. It’s an age where you’re not a new college grad or brand new to the work force anymore, so you really start to feel the pressure to keep up with your peers. However, you’re also not sitting on years of savings and investments. No one expects the high school sweethearts getting married at 20 to host a black-tie affair. Add ten years to that and the expectation to host a wedding that is “adult” - aka fancy - becomes more of a reality.

So, you’re up against that financial limits of still being young and not having six figures to drop on a big party for one day, but you also want to host an event that still has all the major elements of a “nice wedding” - flowers, decor, DJ, dinner, alcohol, professional photographer, etc.

One of the easiest way to trim significant costs from your wedding budget is flowers. Don’t worry - by “trim”, we don’t mean eliminate flowers all together. Flowers are a luxury and they certainly aren’t required in order to host a wedding. However, they’re also a wedding staple and it’s completely reasonable to want them at your event. Here is how you realistically do wedding flowers on a budget.

Focus on the Statement Pieces

A lot of money gets wasted by purchasing things for a wedding that no one notices. A single large focal point floral setup at the altar will get better mileage than a bunch of small centerpieces and bud vases all over the place. Most guest tables get covered with personal items in a matter of minutes, and things like low table centerpieces get lost in the shuffle and not noticed once there are three purses, a baby bottle, and wine glasses surrounding it. Also avoid high traffic areas like the dance floor. These can’t be seen in photos very well and they just get squished and kicked by guests throughout the night. If your floral budget is limited, focus the dollars on where the couple will be - the ceremony altar and the sweetheart table.

Use Height

Pedestal stands can turn standard arrangements into statement installations. They’re also cheap. We rent these 3-foot-tall pedestals for only $25 each. Below is an example from a recent wedding that we did using four arrangements and two pedestals. These four arrangements on their own lining the aisle wouldn’t have made near the impact as compared to placing them on pedestals at the altar. When you add height, it creates an altar focal point framing the couple.

Wedding ceremony altar setup using four arrangements and two pedestal stands

Repurpose

When selecting which arrangements you’ll purchase for your wedding, choose pieces that can easily be used at both the ceremony and reception. Most florists charge a relocation fee if they have to remain on site to move large pieces, so opt for arrangements like the ones above that can be quickly and easily moved by someone like your coordinator, a bridesmaid, etc. Here’s the above ceremony florals repurposed as sweetheart table and guest seating chart decor.

Ceremony arrangements repurposed as sweetheart table flowers.

Ceremony arrangement repurposed as guest seating chart decor.

Avoid DIY

DIY is fine for small items like personals - bridal bouquets, bridesmaid flowers, boutonnieres, corsages, flower girl baskets, etc. Beyond this, the hidden costs can add up quickly for larger floral arrangements. Quality faux flowers aren’t cheap and purchasing real flowers for DIY can be a risk; think damaged blooms, refrigeration limits (do you have a walk-in fridge at home?), transportation challenges, venue setup windows (usually only a few hours before the ceremony), not knowing how to design with delicate stems, etc. On top of all these potential problems, all the additional supplies that need to be purchased like floral foam, wire, vases, tape, shears, and vases are expensive.

Professionals have access to wholesale prices and efficiencies. Hiring one ensures you aren’t sinking money into a project you aren’t prepared for.

Rent

We’re a faux floral rental company in Las Vegas. The reason we started this business was to provide beautiful flower decor for couples with smaller wedding budgets. When you rent flowers, you save money - a lot of money. For starters, you aren’t having to cover the entire bill for material costs because these items are rented out hundreds of times. Labor is significantly cheaper because you’re only paying for delivery, set up, and pickup. You aren’t paying a team of florists for hours of design labor required for traditional wedding floral services. Our overhead is much cheaper, too. We don’t have to rent workshops with walk-in refrigerators or go to the flower market at 4am every day. We don’t have to hire a team of 5 florists to execute a wedding due to all the design labor required. A standard wedding requires one person to handle the delivery and set up. We don’t have to worry about ordering extra blooms because some may arrive damaged or the wrong color. All of these savings and efficiencies equal significantly cheaper prices for our customers.

Visit our pricing page to see our collection of floral decor rentals available in the Las Vegas area.