Inspiration v Budget, what to expect from a wedding florist.
We do a lot of weddings here at R&M, and get enquiries for wedding flowers in all kinds of budgets.
Some brides nip to the registry office and have a few jam jars on the table at the pub afterwards, some brides want flowers absolutely everywhere. We always place the wishes of the bride first and both can look fantastic, as long as the level of expectation can be met.
The one thing a lot of brides-to-be don’t have is a realistic idea of the costing of flowers. Fair enough I hear you say, it’s not like you shop for wedding flowers everyday and it should be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get it just how you want it, or even better.
With the overkill of beautiful imagery on Pinterest, Instagram and those celebrity weddings it is really hard to set a realistic idea about the cost of wedding flowers and hopefully this bit of writing will help you get to grips with it all.
Above here on the left is a picture of a gorgeous table plan (picture from Pinterest) This fits clearly in the luxury wedding bracket.
How much does it cost?
Well, just imagine that Rose&Mary is an ice cream shop and each flower is a scoop of ice cream. How many scoops of ice cream is in this arrangement? I would say about 100. We at Rose&Mary would charge around £2.50-£4 per scoop of ice cream depending on flavour. Can you see where I’m going here?
Also look at the recepticle the flowers are in. That’s not a standard ice cream cone, that’s a fancy cone so it will be more expensive. Sprinkles and sauce are extra too (as is the cherry on the top).
Now if you have a budget of under £50 per table that doesn’t mean that you can’t get some nice flowers on there and by all means do show me these pictures to get the flower choice, colour scheme and texture right but it’s not going to look like that. There are just too many scoops and fancy cones to fit into your budget.
The next thing I would like you to consider is how much space needs to be filled with flowers.
The picture above is crammed with flowers and it looks absolutely beautiful but if you had half or even a quarter the amount of flowers on the table it can still look good and cost less money.
A standard round guest table that sits 8 to 10 people would need to have an arrangement in the centre of the table thats big enough to fill the table with lovelyness but not too big so that it takes away the room needed for the plates, glasses and favours.
There is a basic formula and that is that you would need a minimum of about 1-1.5ft in diameter worth of flowers. This can be the base of a tall candelabra with a beautiful large arrangement of flowers for that luxury wedding or a selection of a few budvases/ jam jars for the budget-friendly bride.
Any centrepiece that is smaller in diameter is not going to look good.
Now imagine the space these tables are in. A country barn with low ceilings and beams will make the candelabras look crammed in but on the other hand a few jam jars on the table with huge high ceilings will look lost in their surroundings. The same goes for the ceremony flowers.
A church is a really big space to fill and done well would require a huge amount of flowers. A small registry office might not need any flowers at all as you will have to put your wedding bouquet down somewhere anyway. It is also really not a bad idea to reuse the flowers from the ceremony table on the cake or top table afterwards to save on budget.
I have had lots of enquiries about wedding flowers where there was a breakdown in communication because the bride did not have a realistic sense of what is needed to make the wedding flowers look good.
The visuals of a wedding are so important and that’s what people remember most about a wedding. You only get to do it once and you have to do it right. “You get what you pay for” is something I say all the time during consultations and if they can find another florist richmond who can make a tall candalabra arrangement for £20 then I would highly recommend a sample before the big day as the scoops/stemcount in flower arrangements is so important and needs to make sense.
If you have booked the standard 8-10 seater guest table you and you have set yourself a budget of £25 per table you will not be able to fill that minimum 1-1.5ft in diameter with a single vase of flowers, any florist that promises a good looking arrangement is having you on.
How many scoops of icecream do you think it takes to fill that space without huge gaps or lots of cheap filler flowers?
And if the bride-to-be can think that as its her special day so surely I can just charge a little less on the labour cost and more on the flowers then think again. I am not trying to rip you off, I don’t charge a premium for weddings. I buy the best quality flowers at the best wholesaler in town and charge a certain amount of labour. This earns me a modest income that allows me to feed my children and allows us a roof over our head.
There is a lot of bad press lately about rip off wedding suppliers. The hardest thing in our proffession is to be able to match the level of expectation to that of the brides while working within a given budget.
Competition among wedding suppliers is fierce and will drive down the price of wedding supplies but please please please do your homework and use common sense. Always check out previous wedding work of all your suppliers Don’t be afraid to ask for samples, check out reviews or ask to be put in to contact with previous customers.
If you are providing images of flowers from pinterest do a quick stem count,how many flowers can you see?
What You Can Expect from the Whiskey & Wildflowers Workshop at Springfield Distillery
Next up in my fall floral workshop schedule is my Whiskey & Wildflowers workshop at Springfield Distillery! This will be my fourth workshop hosted at Springfield, and it's such a perfect place for them. If you haven't had the chance to attend one of the Springfield workshops, I highly recommend it! Kelly does such a great job of making special cocktails for these workshops, and there is almost always a food truck on site for some snacks while you are creating.
Whiskey & Wildflowers is on October 28th at 3:00pm at Springfield Distillery.
This pre-Halloween workshop is going to be filled with unique florals you almost never get the opportunity to play with, making it extra special! I'll provide flowers in shades of black, burgundy, dark purple, dark red, and of course plenty of greenery (my favorite!). I'll demo how to create a hand-tied arrangement that easily transition to a fun vessel like a pumpkin (and clear glass vases will be provided for you to take your creation home with you!). I'll show you how to make your garden-style arrangement look large and lush, and how you can transition it it to a different vessel after Halloween has passed! After the demo, you'll have the opportunity to spend the rest of our time together playing with #alltheflowers, and I'll spend one-on-one time with each and every attendee, answering any questions you have and making suggestions about your arrangement. At the end of our workshop, I'll share tips with you on how to keep your arrangement looking fresh as long as possible, so you can enjoy them long after Halloween. Contact florist in richmond
All materials for each attendee are provided, including floral shears, vases, flowers, towels, and fasteners! And you get to take your beautiful creation home with you!
I hope you'll join us on October 28th at Springfield Distillery for a fun afternoon of craft cocktails and spooky blooms! You can get your tickets right here (tickets are limited, so make sure to snag yours and share with a friend!)
Local Florist Richmond VA Vogue Flower Market
As more and more flower shops begin operating again, the business community has been crying out to consumers to “Support local.” While that’s certainly a wonderful way to help them back on their feet and boost the local economy, as a consumer you may be asking “What’s in it for me?”. Plenty, actually, and here are a few reasons why:
1. You can save more money.
Some large national floral shop chains will usually just redirect your orders to a small local florist somewhere in the same state or region. This florist will make up your order but you get to pay an additional fee to the big name flower site to be the middleman. In case they do not redirect your order but will make up your order themselves, you will then have to pay more for shipping, handling, and any other extras.
2. You can get better service.
Many floral shop chains utilize call center employees to handle calls for them. Any inquiry or complaint you might have will go through these employees who might not personally know a thing about your order. If you order directly from Vogue Flowers and Vogue Flower Market, any concern you have about your order will be immediately addressed by our employees who are flower experts. We are a family business operating in Richmond Va. so we always have an owner on site.
3. Your flowers will arrive fresher.
Purchasing floral arrangements from a Vogue Flowers and Vogue Flower Market means you get the freshest blooms in the entire RVA region. We even grow some of our seasonal cut flowers on our own Hanover County Farm, including sunflowers, peonies, & zinnias.
4. Your arrangements are unique.
Our design team at florist richmond is unsurpassed in skill and experience. When you call us you can expect excellent recommendations that are customized to your style, needs, and budget.
5. Vogue Flowers delivers 7 Days a week with same day delivery available until cut off time
Staying with a local florist means that you will get your orders much more quickly than if you order from a giant floral supply chain. Plus because they will get to you sooner, you’ll be able to enjoy their blooms for longer.
Once you’ve established a relationship with your local florist, you can be sure you’ll have someone who knows precisely what you need when you need it.
Supporting small businesses
Thinking local not only helps you cut on costs, but it can also help you and the community in the long run. Every dime you spend on a local enterprise is money it will spend on helping boost other local businesses. For example, your local flower shop is most likely to use a local bank to store its earnings, use a local farm to source flowers, use local crafters for ribbons, and so on. When your community thrives, everyone benefits.
Wedding Florist Richmond VA Vogue Flower Market
Planning a wedding can be stressful enough but when a supplier cancels or a wedding venue closes, it can be nothing short of disastrous. Before you panic, below are some ideas you can consider to make sure that all-important ceremony pushes through. We are working with brides in the Richmond Va. region all through these challenging times.
Alternative Wedding Venues
Finding a new venue so close to the wedding date can be hair-raising but if you’re willing to explore other options, there are several unique wedding venues that may work out perfectly for you.
1. An outdoor park - The Richmond Region has a wealth of outdoor parks & venues for intimate weddings.
Outdoor wedding venues are fun and relaxed events that offer more opportunities for scenic wedding photoshoots. And because of the pandemic threat, outdoor wedding venues are even more ideal because they offer everyone more space to move around in and plenty of fresh air.
2. A boat
If you live near a lake, river, or the ocean, you may be able to charter a boat easily. Since large gatherings are still not recommended, a wedding and reception inside a boat with several of your loved ones may be a more intimate and fitting way to hold your nuptials.
3. A retreat - Virginia Wineries are fantastic venues! We serve the area all the way to Charlottesville
Many retreats are set in scenic locations in secluded areas. Not only do you get the perfect backdrop for your wedding shoots, you also get to enjoy your wedding day in a quiet location that’s far from the crowd. And since retreats either have cabins or rooms, it can also double as a place to lodge your guests who come from distant locations.
4. A home
If you have a big enough space at your residence, or if you know someone with a beautiful property who will graciously lend it to you (or charge you a reasonable sum for it), go ahead and hold your ceremony there. The money you save on rental can then be spent on transforming it into a magnificent place fit for a wedding.
Speaking with Vendors
A wedding planner, if you have one, can take care of all the details for you when changing wedding venues. For example, he or she will be the one to reach out to all the vendors (from the caterers and cake designer to the florist richmond ) to inform them of the change.
Don’t worry! Most are flexible enough to accommodate a location change provided that the location isn’t too drastically far from the previously agreed upon one (and the date of the wedding hasn’t been moved). If anything, they might simply charge you an additional fee to cover transport and other miscellaneous details.
Rest assured, your wedding will be a memorable and love-filled affair wherever you hold it.
