I knew from the beginning that I wouldn’t be spending a lot of time or money on flowers. Most wedding planners recommend spending between 10-15% of your budget on flowers, but my fiancé and I had rationalized the price of our location by including our flower budget in it! It was, after all, a giant garden so we knew we wouldn’t need much. Still, just flowers for bridesmaids, groomsmen, moms, dads, grandmas, centerpieces etc. adds up.
In addition to the sheer number of bouquets we realized we needed, another problem I soon realized was as soon as you mention the word “wedding” to a florist your estimate doubles. Flowers for an anniversary $30, the same bouquet for a wedding $60! It was ridiculous. Especially since I live near an amazing and incredibly cheap flower market, I found this very frustrating. I didn’t need more than those simply beautiful farmers’ bouquets for the tables and couldn’t the bridesmaids carry small posies of whatever flower is in season? I didn’t need roses flown in from Ecuador, stephanotis from Hawaii, or baby’s breath filler. I called florist after florist in vain asking for bids for what I needed. Unfortunately, I found most florists weren’t willing to give me what I needed, they would only estimate for what they generally created – large, extravagant centerpieces $100 or more and exquisitely detailed bridal bouquets around $150-$200 (and this was from so called “budget florists”).
At this point I could have revisited my budget, perhaps moved some things around and created a more realistic flower budget. However, I decided to stick to finding what I wanted, not only in price but in simplicity. It was then that I read an article about how beautiful the flowers are in an average Southern Californian supermarket. Of course, Southern California ships out cut flowers to the rest of the United States, it makes sense that their supermarkets would also be stocked with better than average flowers. And it just so happened I was having a wedding in LA, although planning from Seattle. I soon wrote a list of exactly what I needed; 15 centerpieces, bagful of loose petals for cake and aisle, 6 posies, 8 boutonnieres, 1 bridal bouquet, 2 flower girl baskets, 3 corsages for the moms and grandma, and 6 bud vases for the cocktail tables. On a planning trip down to LA I scoped out Ralph’s, Whole Foods and Von’s.
The report card for the three stores was scored by my fiancé . A+ for Whole Foods, B for Ralph’s and D for Von’s. Von’s flowers were exactly what I had previously stereotyped supermarket flowers as – boring, cheap looking and half dead. Ralph’s fared a little better, fresher flowers with more creativity but still a little “supermarket”. Whole Foods had beautiful arrangements and healthy looking flowers. They also had a knowledgeable staff that had put together wedding flowers before. I later placed the order from Seattle generally describing what I wanted, adjusting as I got feedback on what was possible and in season. It was a positive experience and in the end added up to the exact budget we had set aside for flowers. I received a call two weeks before the wedding as the florist was putting in our order with the wholesaler and confirmed the order again with me. Then they were ready to go on time the day of the wedding. I was satisfied. It’s definitely a great route to go if you’re not picky about the exact flowers and look that you want. In the end, I did end up squeezing a little stephanotis into my bouquet as well!
I would like to explain why florists are forced to charge higher rates for weddings. The $30 bouquet for a normal occasion may require 5 minutes for a phone call or a instore visit. The bouquet is delivered or taken and that is the end of the transaction. Every bride we have ever had starts out way too early on flowers, takes up 5 to 8 hours of time with phone calls and visits and changes her mind at least 2 or 3 times. Getting that bouquet for $60 is a bargain…..believe me!! We love weddings that walk in, phone in or whatever, 30 to 60 days ahead, place the order in an hour or less, pay for it and then do not maje major changes. They do get a better price and more flowers. But most brides are just picking our brains and take up hours of our time…….they think it is mandatory cutesy part of planning the wedding I guess.
Ken
Do you have recommendations for local Seattle vendors? Initially, I thought of taking advantage of our market but on second thought I decided that it would be too large of a project for me to tackle the week of the wedding, and I don’t want to put a friend in the same position.
I’ve tried contacting QFC – but their customer service is lacking. Do you recommend the Whole Foods here? Or are there other options in this city?
Here is another more difficult question:
Would you buy a corsage for the significant other of a recently divorced parent? To have or not to have, which is the faux pas?
Thank you!
Yes, the Pike’s Place Market is a great place to find beautiful flowers. But, you don’t want to be making corsages and bouquets yourself the day before your wedding, especially with friends and family in town. I haven’t used the Whole Foods in Seattle for flowers. I’d suggest calling and finding out which, between the Roosevelt and Westlake locations, has a larger floral department, then visit yourself to see the quality of the flowers and try to make a connection with the florist there. There are a lot of great florists in Seattle depending on what you’re looking for and your budget.
As for the corsage, it’s a difficult question! I tend to be overly inclusive rather than make someone feel left out(in this case left out of the family). On the other hand you wouldn’t want your mom to feel snubbed or angry. It’s definitely a sensitive issue you’d have to decide on your own. One solution might be to give the significant other something pretty, but different than the mom. Perhaps she’d get a posy to carry instead of a corsage. My suggestion is based in large part on your use of the word “recently”, as I’d imagine after a couple years it might not be as much of an issue. Good luck however you decide!
Hi there! Since you mentioned you got your flowers at Whole Foods market, do you mind mentioning how much of a wedding budget you ended up having?
) I’m checking out Whole Foods tomorrow but am anxious to know what the pricing would be like.
Under $1,000 for table centerpieces, flower girl baskets and crowns, bridesmaids’ and groomsmen’s flowers, grandparents, parents, cocktail hour etc.
[...] and comments regarding two blogs that I’ve written about on Whole Foods wedding flowers. (Los Angeles and Seattle) You’d think Whole Foods was paying me to promote them! They’re not, I [...]