When it comes to flowers, everyone wants more for less. Doing your own wedding flowers will save you a ton of dough. But there are ways to save even more, whether you’re DIYing or not. Check out these ten tips to getting the most bang for your buck!
1. Make an impact by doing less large arrangements
If you love big tall centerpieces but are trying to keep costs down, try making using the tall large arrangements on only half the reception tables and using candles and lanterns on the rest. For instance if you have 16 tables and each arrangement cost you around $50, doing all the tables in your tall style would cost $800. If you only did 8 arrangements and used rented lanterns on the others, you would only pay $400. No one will think you ‘skimped’ on flowers, they will just be impressed by the 8 large and tall pieces.
2. Buy a only a few statement (aka expensive) blooms
Everyone wants their flowers to look like a million bucks, but cost far from it. You can impress and wow by carefully choosing several statement flowers to steal the show while setting the background with more affordable blooms.
For instance, peonies are beautiful! But if they were the only flower you used, you might end up paying quite a bit. Instead buy some peonies but let them be a beautiful accent to a backdrop of garden roses and hydrangea.
3. Choose in season blooms
Dahlias may be your favorite flower, but if you try to buy them for your spring wedding your wallet will not be happy. Just because a flower is available for purchase in your wedding month doesn’t mean it’s in season. Make sure and double check before purchasing to ensure you’re not paying an arm and a leg for normally reasonable flowers.
4. Use more affordable look-a-likes
Just because peonies are expensive and seasonal doesn’t mean you can get that look for your wedding! Garden roses are a great alternative at much lower prices. And most likely no one except your green-thumbed great aunt will even know the difference. Almost every expensive bloom has a cheaper look-a-like. Start by checking out the seasonal flowers and you may discover some you like even better!
5. Cut out the smaller arrangements
Does anyone really remember the aisle bows and flowers? If you’re trying to get the most bang for your buck, skip the pew decor and pool all your ceremony flowers into one big altar piece. What about those bathroom flowers, and in the men’s room… seriously? No one will ever be disappointed that there are no flowers in the bathroom. Use them where they count most on your head table or near the desserts!
6. Add more greens
Greenery is a lot cheaper that flowers and can add great visual impact to an arrangement. You might be able to use a third less flowers if you accent and fill in the negative spaces with greenery. Leaves tend to spread out and cover more visual space, whereas flowers need to tucked together to form an arrangement. Plus, I just love some good greens, they add sophistication to any floral piece!
7. Choose larger blooms
By choosing larger headed flowers you’re making a bigger impact for less dime. Hydrangeas for instance are huge and can come in up to 9″ diameters. Using flowers like these, or large-blooming garden roses will help fill out your arrangements. When these flowers are the ‘bulk’ of the arrangements, you can accent with the more expensive blooms and save money.
8. Pool your flowers into one statement piece
Want to wow your guests, but just don’t have the budget? Pool most of your flowers into one statement piece. This could be a floral garland on the cake table, a large altar piece or a luscious sweets table arrangement. By pulling all eyes to the one piece you will get the most bang for your buck.
9. Use your bouquets as reception decor
Once you and your bridal party arrive at the reception, you don’t need those bouquets anymore! Put them to good use by having vases to set them in and adorn the head table. This cuts down on flower costs for the reception and puts your hard work to good use. When it’s time to toss to your single ladies, just use one of the bridesmaids’ bouquets instead of having a separate one.
10. Use narrow mouthed vases
As a rule of thumb, the wider the mouth of a vase, the more flowers are needed to fill it out. Maximize your visual impact by choosing narrower vases with wider bases. This way less flowers are needed to look balanced, yet you still achieve the same visual weight.
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*This post first appeared on DIYBLOOMS.COM*