How Much Do Wedding Flowers Really Cost? An Honest Breakdown
· By Val
If you've started pricing out wedding flowers, you already know the sticker shock is real. Bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, ceremony pieces — it adds up fast, and most couples have no idea what
If you've started pricing out wedding flowers, you already know the sticker shock is real. Bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, ceremony pieces — it adds up fast, and most couples have no idea what "normal" even looks like until they're staring at a quote.
So let's talk real numbers, honestly. Because I built this whole business out of one wedding flower quote that made my jaw drop.
The quote that started it all
When I was planning my own wedding, I did what every bride does — I went to a local florist for a quote. Just a few centerpieces, a couple of bouquets, and some boutonnieres. Nothing extravagant.
The quote came back in the thousands.
I had always worked with faux flowers and crafting, so I thought, you know what? I'll just make my own. Faux flowers had come a long way, and I'd fallen in love with calla lilies — the latex real-touch kind that look and feel like the real thing. I put a set together, loved it, and had a dozen more ideas. So I listed that first set on eBay. It sold.
That's how Forever Flowers by Val was born. Out of one overpriced quote and a stubborn belief that a bride shouldn't have to spend a fortune — or lose her flowers two days later — to have the wedding she pictured.
What wedding flowers actually cost with me
Here's the honest answer: it depends, because every order is custom. I don't work off a rigid price list — I work off your budget.
I've sent out bouquets for under
The reason I can do that is that faux flowers give me room to work. Tell me what you're dreaming of and what you have to spend, and I'll find the flowers and the design that fit inside it. That's the whole point — you shouldn't have to choose between the wedding you want and the budget you have.
Where fresh flowers get expensive (and it's not just the flowers)
With fresh flowers, you can easily be looking at a couple hundred dollars just for a single bouquet and a simple boutonniere. But the flower cost is only part of the story. Here's what catches couples off guard:
Delivery minimums. Many fresh florists won't take an order under a certain dollar amount.
Day-of delivery and setup fees. Someone has to bring the flowers and arrange them on the wedding day — and that's billed on top of the flowers themselves.
Waste. Fresh flowers are alive on a clock. You pay full price for something designed to be thrown away within days.
With faux flowers, your cost is the design and the shipping. You can plan everything months in advance, and you can handle a lot of the setup yourself — no rushed morning-of delivery, no setup fee, no surprises.
The budget "mistake" brides mention most
It's not really a regret about the flowers themselves — fresh flowers are gorgeous. It's what happens after. A couple of days past the wedding, they're gone. And with them goes a little piece of the day.
The brides who choose silk tell me the opposite. They still have their bouquet. They kept their centerpieces, or repurposed the silk flowers from the ceremony and reception into something new. The flowers didn't end at the wedding — they became part of the memory they get to keep.
What to splurge on vs. save on
My honest opinion? Faux flowers are worth the splurge — because they're the one part of your wedding décor that lasts a lifetime.
Your photos will show those flowers forever, so it's worth loving them. And the flowers themselves don't disappear. Brides repurpose them everywhere — into arrangements in their own flower beds (I use artificial flowers in mine all the time), into a baby shower, a friend's bridal shower, an anniversary display. When one set of flowers can carry you through several events, "splurging" starts to look a lot like saving.
So if beautiful florals are your thing, spend where it counts — on the pieces you'll actually keep.
Let's build something that fits your budget
Every bride's number is different, and that's exactly how I like it. Tell me your vision and your budget, and I'll make it happen — beautiful, custom, and yours to keep long after the last dance.
Message us to start your custom bouquet, and let's design your flowers around your budget — not the other way around.
