Why ‘wedding’ flowers cost more than ‘ordinary’ flowers

Florists often hear, or overhear, people complaining that you’ve only got to say ‘wedding’ when getting a quote from suppliers, and a premium is immediately added. If you are a supplier, you’ll probably have an explanation for this. As florists — and slightly unusual ones at that — we can only speak for ourselves. But it’s something we’d love to explain.

The extra work involved, when it comes to wedding flowers

There was a brilliant reel on Instagram a while back, where a florist showed a hyacinth flower head. If you know what a hyacinth looks like, you’ll know that it’s made up of lots of flowerlets. She then pointed out that a single hyacinth stem costs £3. She then showed a clip of her individually wiring and taping each flowerlet, and making it into a floral crown / garland. This ring of flowers was priced at £30… or similar. The point being, that when you buy a floral creation, it’s not just about the cost of the materials. There are the work hours to take into account too — which, unless you are a florist — you may not realise.

The point being, that when you buy a floral creation, it’s not just about the cost of the materials.

Growing flowers organically and picking by hand

In our case, at Blooming Green, we follow organic principles, so everything has to be weeded by hand. There’s no quick fix with herbicide. Likewise, with pesticides — because we don’t use them we have to accept a certain amount of wastage. We may carefully plant 100 plug plants, and lose 10% for example, which adds to our costs. Then there’s the picking and conditioning. Picking perfect flowers, at the optimum stage, then preparing the stems takes time.

Picking perfect flowers, at the optimum stage, then preparing the stems takes time.

Materials: seeds, compost and eco-packaging

All of our input costs, from compost, seeds, electricity, to rent and staffing costs have gone up in recent years. In line with our ethos, we will always source the most eco-friendly products and materials we can, which mean they often cost a touch more. But we know that our customers come to us, for this very ethos, so we hope they’ll understand that ‘green’ options often cost a little more.

That covers our basic costs. Next comes the admin…

We want all of our customers to feel as if theirs is the only wedding we are working on. For couples, their wedding is a really big deal and a lot of the fun is in the planning. So, understandably, they are excited about their Pinterest board. They have all the time in the world to discuss options… and they want our guidance too. They may want to discuss their wedding one evening, or at the weekend. It’s quite likely they will change their minds and want to discuss their new ideas too. That’s all fine — but the admin time mounts up. You might be shocked at the length of some of our email chains. And, though we love what we do, and love our jobs, it is still a job.

You might be shocked at the length of some of our email chains. And, though we love what we do, and love our jobs, it is still a job.

Comparing florists to other professions… How do they work out their fees?

My mum was once billed by a solicitor, for a fellow solicitor answering the phone to say that their colleague was on holiday. Then there are the companies who charge you an additional admin fee for sending you an invoice. But, slightly shameless billing aside, what would you expect to pay, per hour or day rate for a plumber, electrician or decorator? And would they be happy to come out at the weekend, perhaps working Saturday and Sunday? Certainly not for their standard charge. So, why would a florist be happy to work all weekend and not charge a weekend rate? It’s not an unreasonable a thing to ask.

“Not that you can call it a job…” — said to one of our horticultural team

Floristry is a wonderful, creative and, in part, a relaxing job. To such an extent that sometimes people think that you do your job purely for pleasure — not to make a living. If you’re a skilled wedding florist, you will manage to hide any stress, nervousness or frustration from the client — so that their wedding flower experience is blissful. And this is how it should be. But, I always think that it’s a bit like dining in a top-notch restaurant — the more amazing the service and the food, the harder the waiting staff and chef are working behind the scenes.

If you’re a skilled wedding florist, you will manage to hide any stress, nervousness or frustration from the client — so that their wedding flower experience is blissful.

Stand and deliver

So, we’ve picked, designed and arranged the wedding flowers of your dreams… Now it’s time to deliver. Quite literally. One of the main things that we have learnt over the years is that, when it comes to delivering wedding flowers, assume that delivery will never go quite to plan. Or, at least, be prepared for it not to go to plan… Even when you know the venue, the venue owner and / or manager, never presume anything.

Common issues we face — and less ordinary!

We always allow extra time for traffic jams and closed roads… On one occasion, I had to get permission from a farmer to drive across his fields — in Sussex — to bypass an enormous, slow moving flock of sheep on a single file country lane. Once we have found the, often remote, country venue we sometimes have to get in via electric gates. Not so easy if no one knows the code or you can’t contact anyone inside the venue.  In London, parking is very rarely easy or straightforward.

On one occasion, I had to get permission from a farmer to drive across his fields — in Sussex — to bypass an enormous, slow moving flock of sheep

Once you have arrived at the venue

Once in, it’s often a long walk from where you have to park, to where the flowers need to go. And then, once we get to the marquee or country house, it’s quite common to find that the tables have not be dressed — so we have to wait for the table cloths to be put on before we can set out the table centres. Is there an outdoor tap we can use? “Of course, it’s a half-mile walk, behind the stable block.”

“If you’ve got any spare flowers, would you just mind filling a few extra vases?”

For those caught up in the excitement of the big day, it may seem like a small ask, to get the wedding florist to “just” fill a few extra vases, or lay out the table decs — when this hasn’t been requested in advance. In the early days of Blooming Green, Bek and I were setting up at a posh wedding in Blackheath. The cake-maker had left the 4-tier cake boxed up and asked casually if Bek and I could put the cake together (with batons) before adding the flowers. Even that early in our careers, we knew what the answer had to be! Er, no! That’s not to say we won’t leave a few extra flowers behind, for the wedding party to use, rather than throw them away… but, generally, by the time we deliver, we’re pretty darn exhausted.

The cake-maker had left the 4-tier cake boxed up and asked casually if Bek and I could put the cake together (with batons) before adding the flowers.

Time is of the essence

When delivering and setting up, time is of the essence. When we go to collect, it’s less of an issue — though some venues insist on floral items being collected on a Sunday. Presuming Monday is ok, you then have to transport the same heavy items back across bumpy lawns or fields. Vases and borrowed items need to be located and water disposed of… though generally clear-down is a more relaxed affair.

Once back at HQ

Once back at Blooming Green, vases need to be counted, washed, dried and put away; garlands are dismantled and foliage and flowers composted. Buckets then get scrubbed, dried and stored away for next time. And so it begins again — the next wedding which we will treat with as much care and consideration as if it was our only wedding of the year!