Before you begin reading this blog post, please remember that these are only my opinions! Your wedding day is YOUR special day, and you should put your money towards whatever your heart desires.

The whole point of this blog post is to share my thoughts as a wedding florist, so that it may serve as a potential resource for brides interested in hearing which floral pieces this Iowa wedding florist would personally invest in for her own wedding day and which pieces she could go without 😊

Floral Pieces Worth the Investment

Big Ceremony Piece

Guests may not remember or even notice small floral details. But I bet you they will remember a large, eye-catching ceremony piece. Anything along the lines of arch arrangements, pedestal arrangements, floral pillars – Something with height and abundance placed near the bride and groom will be way more noticeable and memorable. Not to mention, they photograph beautifully. Any of the previously listed create a gorgeous background for ceremony photos, bride and groom photos, etc. If you can re-purpose the ceremony piece, even better :)


Repurposable Floral Pieces

Briefly mentioned this in the previous point, but I cannot emphasize this enough! I absolutely love repurposable floral pieces. Examples include ground arrangements, arch arrangements, pedestal arrangements, the list goes on! Most of these are easy to relocate. The more you can repurpose, the more floral moments you can have throughout your wedding day without dropping huge sums of money.


Personal Flowers for Everyone (Including the Bouts)

Yep.. Get the groomsmen bouts! I understand that by cutting them out, you can save anywhere from $45-$100 depending on how many groomsmen you have. But, the groom and groomsmen will be in so many of the photos! I may be biased, but I think the whole bridal party should have a little sprinkle of floral. If not for all the groomsmen, it would be nice for the groom at least!

Of course, you may just not like the look of them. If this is the case, I’d suggest you look up a relatively new design for the boutonniere called the ‘pocket boutonniere’ - perhaps you may like this look more.


Not Worth the Investment

Large Table Arrangements

Before I get into this point, let me just clarify that I LOVE big, bloom-filled table arrangements. Photos of these types of receptions are typically the ones that stop me from scrolling by on Instagram. They are absolutely gorgeous. If you can afford this type of reception table design, go for it!

However, if you find that table arrangements don’t matter THAT much to you, or your venue doesn’t need that many florals, or whatever your reasoning may be - table arrangements can add SUCH a big chunk to your floral cost. Most of the time, reception table arrangements will only be on display for an hour or two. Once speeches and dinner is over with, sadly, they’re going to be pushed to the side.

If you’re on a tighter budget, go with a simpler design for your reception tables. By simple, I don’t mean boring or cheap-looking! If going this route, I would suggest having a few small sized table arrangements or budvases per table. This design will most likely allow premium blooms at each reception table without adding hundreds to thousands of dollars. Plus, you could then put more of your budget towards floral pieces you may be more excited about.


Extra Florals for Miscellaneous Areas

I see couples spending anywhere from $20-$60+ for extra florals for miscellaneous areas such as the dessert table or welcome table. If it’s between a $60 arrangement for the desert table or $60 worth of boutonnieres, I’d pick spending that $60 on the bouts! Cutting out bouts have become more of a trend, but truthfully, the groomsmen and (of course) the groom will be in more of the wedding photos than, for example, a dessert table arrangement. Are you more likely to print out a photo of your whole bridal party, or the desert table to put on display in your home? From a florist’s POV – Florals can beautify any space and I’d love to create floral moments all throughout your wedding day. But, if I had to make this decision in the POV of a bride weighing the different options, I’d go with putting more money towards personal flowers!

So, there you have it! Thinking through how you want to allocate your wedding floral budget can be a difficult task. The opinions above are what I would personally do and would make me happy. Stick to what feels true to you - it tends to simplify this process 😊 I hope that this blog post helps at least one bride out there facing this tough decision!

Thank you for reading, until next time!

Love,

Elizabeth