I have found that so many brides have no idea what wedding flowers should cost or how to appropriately budget for them. I think a lot of that can be attributed to the rise of Pinterest. Girls spend their days oohing and ahhing over wedding details, kitchen remodels and clothes. But unlike kitchen appliances or sweaters, when you click on a link from Pinterest about wedding flowers, you just see more pictures. You don't see a shopping cart to purchase those flowers from a local florist or have any idea of what they could possibly cost. You just see they are fabulous and you just HAVE to have them. Flowers all have different costs, in different seasons and sometimes in different colors. For example, a pink and white peony can be different prices for the same weekend. To get from a local grower, peony season is only a few weeks long (late May/early June). If you want out of season peonies, they are significantly more expensive. Other things can factor in to your floral costs as well, such as major holidays. The flower farms greatly increase costs around Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. You can expect to pay 25-50% more for weddings around those weekends.

Pinterest has some incredible ideas, but also some incredible costs. The average wedding isn't what typically makes it to Pinterest. It's usually very high end weddings, celebrity weddings and styled shoots. Styled shoots are a newer trend in the wedding industry where several vendors get together to put together a photoshoot that looks like a wedding. I participated in one as both a florist and a "bride." It's great for portfolio building and networking. Unfortunately, it's not always the greatest for wedding planning. There's often times bouquets that would never live through an entire wedding without water, but would live through a photoshoot. There's a lot of centerpieces or table runners that replicating around an entire wedding would be an astronomical price.

I started this project as a great way to educate those that are planning a wedding. Every florist will price things differently as they all have their own cost of doing business. A florist on the East Coast and the West Coast could charge drastically different prices for the same item. Someone who owns a flower shop with a full staff may price things differently than someone like myself that works from home. This is by no means an industry standard, merely how I would price things.

I sent a Pinterest board with 31 items to family, friends, past brides, and even strangers in the wedding industry. There were people from all over the country involved in this survey. Most of the people were in their 20s (prime marriage age) and from all different financial backgrounds and relationship statuses. I even asked a few parents what their thoughts were, because often times parents are helping to pay the bill for a wedding. I expected that few people would have any idea on what wedding flowers would cost, but I was shocked with just how far off so many people were. That must be similar to how many brides feel when they get an estimate for their flowers so much higher than what they were expecting to spend.

Below I am listing the photos that were sent to my focus group, along with the range that they guessed in, the average of their guesses and the actual costs. You can see how many people would be incredibly shocked by the price tag based on their guesses. Hopefully by publishing this, it will help brides set a more realistic budget for their wedding. Feel free to guess along! If you're on your computer, hover over the photo for the answers! If you're on your phone, you can tap on the photo for the answers.

1. Bouquet of approximately 4 dozen cream roses

2. Bouquet of garden roses and ranunculus

3. Cascading bouquet of stargazer lilies and white and tie dye dendrobium orchids

Guesses - $40 - $600Average - $198Actual Cost  - $175The cost on this bouquet is less about the cost of flowers and more about the labor required to assemble it. — **Guesses - $40 - $600**
**Average - $198**
**Actual Cost - $175**
**The cost on this bouquet is less about the cost of flowers and more about the labor required to assemble it.**

4. Bouquet of gerbera daisies and roses. This is pictured in a vase but it would just require some tape to make it an actual bouquet

Guesses - $45 = $195

Average - $110

Actual cost - $150

Fun fact - This bouquet was on my brand board that helped my logo designer create my new logo!

5. Bouquet of approximately 4 dozen mini calla lilies

6. Bouquet of ranunculus

Guesses - $50 - $550 Average - $120 Actual cost - $225This cost definitely depends on the season. Out of season, ranunculus can almost double in price — **Guesses - $50 - $550**
**Average - $120**
**Actual cost - $225**
**This cost definitely depends on the season. Out of season, ranunculus can almost double in price**

7. Bouquet of dahlias

Guesses - $45 - $350Average = $100Actual cost - $200Dahlias are a highly seasonal flower so their price can greatly fluctuate — **Guesses - $45 - $350**
**Average = $100**
**Actual cost - $200**
**Dahlias are a highly seasonal flower so their price can greatly fluctuate**

8. Bouquet of approximately 4 dozen roses and stephanotis

Guesses - $50 - $375Average - $150Actual Cost - $300For being a very small flower, stephanotis is very pricey, but their smell is fantastic! — **Guesses - $50 - $375**
**Average - $150**
**Actual Cost - $300**
**For being a very small flower, stephanotis is very pricey, but their smell is fantastic!**

9. Bouquet of roses, cymbidium orchids, and hypericum berry

Guesses - $55 - $350Average - $150Actual cost - $325Most of the cost from this bouquet comes from the orchids — **Guesses - $55 - $350**
**Average - $150**
**Actual cost - $325**
**Most of the cost from this bouquet comes from the orchids**

10. Bouquet of garden roses, peonies, standard roses, anemone and hydrangea.

11. Bouquet of garden roses, peonies, ranunculus and succulents

12. Garden style bouquet of delphinium, lisianthus, stock, and more

13. Bouquet of roses, spray roses, delphinium, stock, lisianthus and baby's breath

14. Bouquet of massed baby's breath with silk ribbon

15. Cascading bouquet of roses, orchids and freesia

16. Baby's breath flower crown

17. Flower crown of baby's breath and spray roses

18. Large arrangement of baby's breath

19. Mason jar with hydrangea, peony, rose, spray rose, delphinium, iris and hypericum berry

20. Table runner of greens (mostly eucalyptus), roses, Queen Anne's lace and candles

Guesses - $30 - $300Average - $75Actual cost - $175Having greens placed on a table like this is definitely more cost effective than have a garland created — **Guesses - $30 - $300**
**Average - $75**
**Actual cost - $175**
**Having greens placed on a table like this is definitely more cost effective than have a garland created**

21. Tall cylinder vase with calla lilies

Guesses - $8 - $75Average - $27.50Actual cost - $35These are standard calla lilies, which are much larger but more expensive than mini callas pictured in the beginning bouquet photos. This is a very popular design that I have done many times. — **Guesses - $8 - $75**
**Average - $27.50**
**Actual cost - $35**
**These are standard calla lilies, which are much larger but more expensive than mini callas pictured in the beginning bouquet photos. This is a very popular design that I have done many times.**

22. Chair ends of garden roses and eucalyptus

Guesses - $10 - $65Average - $25Actual cost - $25 per chair — **Guesses - $10 - $65**
**Average - $25**
**Actual cost - $25 per chair**

23. Arch with eucalyptus topper and garden rose tie-backs

Guesses - $30 - $700Average - $150Actual cost - $300 not including archFun fact - I posted this survey on a nationwide group of small business owners and the designer of this wedding actually took the survey! She charged $400 but it included the arc… — **Guesses - $30 - $700**
**Average - $150**
**Actual cost - $300 not including arch**
**Fun fact - I posted this survey on a nationwide group of small business owners and the designer of this wedding actually took the survey! She charged $400 but it included the arch as well.**

24. Arrangement of hydrangea, orchids, and roses with dangling crystals

25. Arrangement of hydrangea, roses and mini calla lilies

26. vases with stock, lisianthus, spray roses and hydrangea

27. Curtain of carnations

28. Lantern with a wreath of greens, lisianthus and carnations

29. Lantern with accent vases of stock, golden aster, and mini sunflowers

30. Baby's breath and spray roses on a wood slice

31. Bottles with mini sunflowers, larkspur and golden aster

Many resources suggest about 10% of your wedding budget for flowers and decorations. This means, if your total budget is $20,000, you should plan on about $2,000 for flowers. Everyone has different priorities when it comes to what to spend the bulk of their wedding budget on, but hopefully this will give many people a good starting point when trying to determine what to spend on their flowers. Remember, your flowers are in almost all of your wedding pictures that you will cherish for the rest of your life, so you want to make sure that you love them!

Before flowers can be perfectly prepared for your wedding, they have to be grown on a farm (often in California, Florida or South America), shipped to a wholesaler, then shipped to the florist. A florist will spend multiple hours cutting and conditioning those flowers to make sure they are all perfect for your special day. As a part time florist, I spend the few days before your wedding staying up until the wee hours of the morning to get everything assembled. It's all worth it to see the look on a bride's face when she sees her bouquet for the first time!

As stated in the beginning of this post, flowers all have different prices in different seasons, so the flowers you choose will have a large impact on how much your floral bill will run. If you were guessing prices on these, how did you do? Were you too high or low or pretty spot on? Thanks so much to everyone who helped me by taking this survey so I could create this post!

Pinterest Project

Michelle Mampre