Your wedding is approaching, and planning is well underway. As your costs mount, you realize why a whole industry has sprung up around weddings. Everything is so expensive! But there are ways to enjoy a fantastic wedding for less than the companies that are feeding off your big day would like to charge.
Cheap wedding flowers will save you plenty of money, and they don’t have to be second-best choices either. Get these plus flower industry insider tips right here!
First up, remember that you’re probably going to need a LOT of flowers. It’s not just your bouquet that needs them. You’ll want flowers at the venue where you make your vows, and chances are, you’ll want flowers on every table at the reception venue too.
In this guide...
Cheap Wedding Flowers by Season
Buying out-of-season flowers will tend to be more expensive than buying flowers in season. Roses, for example, are summer flowers. In winter, roses will usually be imported or greenhouse grown, and that adds to their cost.
The state where you live will also influence the cost of your wedding flowers. If you live in Florida, for instance, the climate is rather too warm for growers to produce cut-flower quality roses without using specialized methods that add to the price – but Florida is a great place for low-cost orchids.
Because the plants that thrive in each season differ so widely from state to state, you might want a little advice from a flower grower. What’s likely to be cheap and plentiful in your wedding month? And if the grower is willing to sell flowers in bulk without going through a retailer, you can save big!
There’s just one caveat to buying seasonally for cheap wedding flowers. If there’s a special day like Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day on the calendar in your wedding month, cut flower prices will soar.
Look out for good deals on the following seasonal flowers:
Cheap Spring Wedding Flowers
Spring gives you a wide range of gorgeous seasonal blooms. The spring-flowering bulbs offer a particularly rich selection. Remember that tulips come in many forms. There are even tulips that look like roses!
Cheap Flowers in Spring:
- Daffodils
- Tulips
- Sweet peas
- Hyacinths
- Anemones
- Ranunculi, Iris (late spring)
- Apple blossom
- Calla lilies.
Cheap Summer Wedding Flowers
By the time summer comes rolling in, you’re really spoiled for choice. Almost everything is in flower!
Cheap Flowers in Summer:
- Agapanthus
- Alstroemeria (Inca Lily)
- Asters
- Carnations
- Dahlias (late summer)
- Gerbera daisies
- Hydrangeas
- Lilies, Roses
- Sunflowers
- Zinnia
Cheap Fall Wedding Flowers
Fall is the time for plants whose flowering time is triggered by shortening daylengths. The last of the summer flowers might also be cost-effective choices.
Cheap Flowers in Fall:
- Alstroemeria
- Amaryllis
- Anemone
- Camellias
- Chrysanthemum
- Cornflowers
- Dahlias
- Michaelmas Daisy
- Sunflowers (late crop)
Cheap Winter Wedding Flowers
Depending on where you live, winter could be a difficult time to find cheap wedding flowers. If your state has cold winters, the variety of locally-grown flowers available decreases after the first frosts. And anything that’s grown in a greenhouse will have a higher price tag than field grown blooms.
In warmer states, you should still be able to enjoy fabulous blooms like cool-season Cymbidium orchids at relatively low prices. And after Christmas, you might be able to snap up pink, red, or white poinsettias that didn’t sell in time for the festive season.
Year-Round Flowers for Less
A great many cut flowers are available all year, so if you’ve got your heart set on something special, go ahead. After all, it is your wedding!
Chrysanthemums, however, will be an economical choice all year. Growers produce them in all seasons, and even though they might use greenhouses for year-round production, chrysanthemums are never as costly as roses, orchids, or out-of-season gerberas.
Fillers for flower arrangements and bridal bouquets also vary in cost. Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila) is the most popular filler, but it’s not always as cheap as you might like it to be. Consider alternatives like Queen Anne’s Lace, or Statice (Limonium).
Cheap Wedding Flower Ideas You Can DIY
Getting a florist to turn cut flowers into bouquets, boutonnieres, table centerpieces, and focal point flower arrangements will add to your costs. But making your own wedding flower arrangements isn’t all that hard to do. If you’ve got too much on your plate in the lead-up to the wedding, drum up a few friends or family members to act as volunteers.
We found some great wedding flower ideas to get you inspired. Just take a look at these beautiful (and low-cost) concepts. Cheap bridal bouquets can still be stunning!
- DIY Wedding Flower Boutonniere via diynetwork.com
- DIY Wedding Flower Crown via refinery29.com
- DIY Wedding Flower Backdrop via apracticalwedding.com
- DIY Wedding Flower Pomander via bloomingmore.com
- DIY Wedding Flower Garland via diynetwork.com
- DIY Wedding Flower Corsage via bridalmusings.com
- DIY Wedding Bouquets via apracticalwedding.com
- DIY Wedding Flowers Arrangements via theknot.com
Other Ways to Get Cheap Wedding Flowers
There are tons of ways to go about getting inexpensive wedding flowers. If you’re hoping to get wedding flowers on a budget, you may even be able to slash that budget and save.
- Grow your own: Just have a backup plan in case nature turns fickle! You can also save on cut foliage if you or your friends have attractive foliage plants like ferns, small-leafed ivy or climbing asparagus fern growing in your gardens.
- Leave it till the last minute: This is a risky option, but it can save you a lot. Cut flowers are priced highest when they are likely to have a long vase-life. Often, growers and florists must discard blooms that didn’t sell before they are fully open. But you only need your flowers to last for a day. Chat with several growers and florists in advance to find out if there’s a chance of getting stock they’re about to discard for a lower price.
- Go minimalistic: There’s something amazing about that one, perfect bloom. A single flower can make a powerful statement. You get elegant, stylish minimalism while simultaneously cutting costs.
- Look at flower alternatives: Pine cones, ivy, wheat, even grapes, work wonderfully as table centerpieces if you get creative with them.
The Bottom Line
It’s actually quite easy to save money on flowers. But like all the other things you need for your wedding, planning is the key.
Once you know how to get flowers for less, how to make wedding bouquets, backdrops and more, you’re set to save a substantial sum. Now, it’s time to look for more things that will save you money without compromising your special day or settling for second best. There are even a few freebies out there!
Your wedding must be beautiful and special – but you and your new spouse don’t want a lot of wedding debt at the very start of your married life. Every cent you can save adds up, and with a few smart strategies (like finding ways to get cheap wedding flowers) you’ll be off to a good start.
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