Another helpful blog post this week! I am really enjoying having other wedding suppliers guest post for me to give you guys out there planning weddings some helpful tips.

This week the incredible talented Kate Kashiri who is Kate Wren Flowers has written some great advice on what to expect when budgeting for your wedding flowers.

A lot of couples are often shocked at how expensive this can be but Kate has broken it down beautifully.

(photography by Natalie Stevenson)

Over to you Kate…

Before you enquire for your wedding flowers write down a list of your non-negotiable essentials and wish list items . Your non-negotiable list may include your bridal bouquet, buttonholes, bridesmaids bouquets , ceremony flowers, table centres for the reception high centrepieces or low centrepieces .Your wish list items may be floral filled fireplace, flower columns , hanging floral hoops, floral arch etc .

As a general rule, the flower spend is usually around 10% of the final figure of the wedding.

Once you have your lists and you have had a chat with your partner about your expectations and wish list you can get in contact with the florist of your choice. Check their website, social media, testimonials to see if they can take your vision, run with it and that you will be happy with the flowers you are going to get for your wedding.

Contact a florist and have a consultation it may be a Zoom Call, FaceTime, or in person if possible ,they will help you bring your wedding flower vision to life. After the consultation with your florist they will provide a proposal based on the consultation. Bear in mind the proposal can be amended to reflect changes to the design. If your florist has send you a high proposal, speak to them and give them a chance to rework the proposal to omit some items .

If the quote is very low it does not always mean good value .Your proposal should list all items individually for clarity to the florist and the couple .

Your proposal will always have set up fees, next day or mid night breakdown/clear down fees, some venues insist on de flowering the venue at midnight after the wedding and some venues the morning after the wedding, labour, travel etc. All these costs add up to your proposal. Couples are always surprised and always wonder why wedding flowers costs much more than supermarket flowers. A lot goes into your wedding flowers than you think.

Some of the reasons that makes wedding flowers cost more, putting together proposals depending how elaborate the wedding design is. It can take days to complete the bespoke proposal, consultations floral design and labour. Your florist starts working from the proposal to the wedding day which has a lot of time in between. Wedding week it can take 7 days from flower preparation to the actual wedding day. All that time should be taken into consideration when you receive your proposal from your florist.

The actual cost of a Bridal wedding bouquet differs with areas in the UK. Trailing ones starting price is £130 and the hand tied starts at £80. Florists tend to use different flowers in the bride’s bouquet to make it more special. Each and every bridal bouquet is bespoke.

I hope this information will help you in your wedding flower planning and understanding wedding florists and value behind their skills.

Thank you so much Kate for your valuable insights and you can follow here in the places below…

How much do wedding flowers cost? An insight in how to budget your flowers with Florist Kate Wren.