2010-06-16 07:00:00 by SMARTBRIDE
Floral Expert Advice: Budget-friendly vs. Budget-Blowing Blooms. How to Save on Wedding Flowers!
I’ve become aware of a guilty pleasure of brides who’ve recent begun their wedding flower planning. What to know what it is? They enjoy using a search engine to learn about any and every flower in existence! Sure, they may narrow their search by color or even season, but the result is always a massive list of possible blooms that may or may not work for their event.
Talk to a qualified florist for accurate and up-to-date flower advice to ensure you know which flowers will suit your event and your budget.
Image Courtesy of FLUR.
Since you're going to be online anyway, here's a list of some great floral varieties that will help to keep your budget on track.
Top 10 Budget-friendly Blooms
- Large Oriental or Asiatic lilies. They fill space like nothing else and provide an ultra-feminine look with loads of drama!
- Hydrangeas. During the summer they're available inexpensively from BC and their large size means you can use less.
- Disbud Chrysanthemum. Also known as the spider, snowball or commercial mum. These are available in white, lime green, lavender and yellow, plus they’re inexpensive and will last all day!
- Mokara Orchid. By removing blooms from the stem, your florist can make sure a few stems fill an entire bouquet. Bigger and fluffier than other orchids, they’re great in centerpieces and look incredible submerged in water!
- Dianthus (a.k.a. carnation). There are many amazing varieties of dianthus on the market today. Simply put, there is no other flower that has such intense and saturated colour. They come in eggplant, hot pink, neon orange and even lime green! Use them deep inside a bouquet or in a centerpiece for added colour and texture. No one will even notice that it’s a carnation.
- Stock. Widely available throughout spring, summer and autumn, Stock is fluffy, delicate and inexpensive. Have your florist pinch out the tips for a frillier texture. The best part is the amazing fragrance of spices and honey.
- Ti leaves. These come on a large stock which can be cut apart and used as accent foliage. Its bright and varied colors help to enhance other elements of the bouquet or arrangements. Try tearing it into stripes and looping for a great boutonniere accent.
- Spray Roses. If your heart is set on roses, but your stomach can’t handle the price point, these blooms will solve your problem. They easily clump together in a bouquet creating ruffles of roses throughout. You’ll be happy to know that they are roughly one-third the cost of a standard rose!
- Seasonal Fillers. Adding a textural component, fillers can transform a bland ball of roses into a unique and interesting bouquet. Fillers include: leptospermum (spring availability), heather, pieris japonica (feminine and available in the fall), eringium (a great blue thistle), etc.
- Anything Big. Size matters. The larger the individual blooms, the less you’ll need and (generally) the easier the bouquet is to put together.
Budget Blowers
- Calla Lilies. At between $9 - $15 per stem, your florist will need several dozen to make an average size bouquet with this petite flower.
- Roses. At $5 or $6 each, they’ll quickly add up!
- Stephanotis. Most florists will insist that you purchase a full box of 25 blooms. At $5 each you'll need a large budget.
- Freesia. This is one of the most requested add-on flowers. Brides often want to add scent to a bouquet and don't realize they could be adding an additional $50 to the price of their bouquet for this little bloom!
- Small flowers. Use very small flowers like anemone, lily of the valley, ranunculus, or cornflower sparingly as an accent to save some cash.
- Out-of-season Flowers . Tulips in November or peonies in January are going to cost you. Buy seasonal and you'll be rewarded with fresher flowers and a lower price.
The most important budget-friendly tip I can offer is flexibility. Be flexible and open to advice from your florist, that way they can meet your budget and still exceed your expectations.
Alex
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About our Guest Florist Blogger Alex:
Alex Bazos is a floral designer with 7 years of industry experience focusing on wedding and event florals. As the owner and principal designer of FLUR Designs Inc. in Edmonton, she has become one of the chief proponents of modern floral design in western Canada. Alex believes strongly in educating and inspiring brides and young designers about the new floral design.
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