floral: budgets low to none
Beautiful events can be made from very little. Truly. Organization is the key, really. Do you have time? You can do a lot. Do you a little money? You can do more. Neither time nor money? This is where things get interesting.
Beautiful events can be made from very little. Truly. Organization is the key, really. Do you have time? You can do a lot. Do you have a little money? You can do more. Neither time nor money? This is where things get interesting.
Beg, borrow, by all means. Do NOT steal. (Okay. well. except for IDEAS. Steal ALL of those!) Start an assessment: What is the event and where? What do I have? Friends? Neighbors? Relatives? Recycle bin? Garden? Yard? Free Shed? Thrift Store?
All of these things can be called into use for low to no budget creations. Remember to plan for the time needed for amateurs to pick, process and create. It takes more time than you think to do flowers. And more room. And more space that is waterproof. Water, water, EVERYWHERE are the watchwords for floral creation. Buckets and buckets of water and stems cutting, so trash. Wet trash. Then more buckets of water and then spraying things with water. Then more buckets of heavy water…. cool rooms, water— this time for the group who is ostensibly doing arranging, but are actually chatting and looking for snacks. Coolers for finished flowers. These could be the empty coolers formerly housing wine, beer, and waters of the group you pulled together "to do flowers for free.”
Are you laughing? We are laughing. Honestly, if you plan well, hosting a floral arranging party is really super fun. But do your research about what is needed to make your sesh a success.
We do caution to think carefully about asking friends or family to do the flowers as the effort can be more trouble than it is worth. You, yourself, may not have the time to manage a group and it is usually best to leave the flowers, especially the most delicate jobs, to professionals!
If you have been in the floral biz for awhile, you probably have a collection of equipment and containers to draw upon to reuse for events. If you are just starting out, and have a place for storage, start accumulating usable items to reduce the time needed when prepping for events. Stacks of floral buckets in different sizes, sturdy plastic liners, editions of vase types (matching or similar), candle holders, risers… having a stable of these items to draw upon can cut your time and expenses considerably. For some ideas, check out our DIY on a Dollar board on Pinterest.
If you have time and very little to no money, the recycle bin is a great friend. Paper products, string, coffee cans, glass bottles, and glassware are all great candidates for decor for events and weddings. Have you SEEN what they are doing with paper flowers these days? AH MA ZING!
Obviously, thrifting is the way to go for lots of containers and/or vases— plus, also, it is the most sustainable way to go for these items. We encourage all budgeteers to go this direction. Reusing containers saves them from entering landfills and the resources needed to create these items have already been used, so better carbon footprint.
When flowers, destined to be discarded at the conclusion of an event, are flown in from all over the world, it comes at a great environmental cost. For a deeper dive into the impacts, check out this TED Talk: The Environmental Impact of Cut Flowers? Not so Rosy
Handmade tissue paper flowers.
everyone has a budget (even if it’s zero)
We ALMOST feel sorry for those who have a large or unlimited budget for events or flowers… They’ll never know the absolute thrill of having to pull things together in the most creative way: brains surging with boot-strap energy, having to make-do with whatever is available and pull together beautiful design from what looks like thin air!
We ALMOST feel sorry for those who have a large or unlimited budget for events or flowers… They’ll never know the absolute thrill of having to pull things together in the most creative way: brains surging with bootstrap energy, having to make-do with whatever is available and pull together beautiful design from what looks like thin air!
When developing your floral budget, there are numbers thrown around on the inter webs: 10% of your overall event or wedding budget, or so much per table. However, if you have the time, whatever planning you do should start with a visit to floral designer or florist shop. A floral designer is different from a florist— though they may also be in one in the same. A florist typically is someone who maintains a brick and mortar retail location and, for our purposes, creates arrangements, bouquets etc at their shop and delivers them to a location. A floral designer, on the other tired, scarred but mobile hand, usually works from a non-retail location and creates and installs at least some of the work onsite at the event. Florist shops often double as designers, of course. Check into the situation of your preferred stylist to see what they do. Whichever floral provider you choose, we guarantee, you are not paying them enough.
Example of a bouquet before, during and done:
Flowers are perishable, delicate materials. Like sheep, they have wayward minds of their own and a thousand ways to die. Often en masse. Dealing with them is a profession and the folks who work with them have experience and knowledge of specialized techniques and materials to create that winsome “just picked” look you have requested such that it doesn’t come with footballs attached and a wilty, sad look that “just picked” would actually entail. Trust your florist or designer. Ask lots of questions. Find someone whose look complements your vision— and get ready to wipe that vision away unless you are a Rockefeller. Did we mention? Flowers are hella ex. pen. sive. Prepare yourself.
When choosing a florist or floral designer to interview, go beyond their Instagram or other social media exemplars— these are curated looks, on small screens with uncertain color rendition. If possible, go to the shop or studio or meet for lattes or chai and peruse a portfolio with deeper looks available or search as we know you can on the socials for other pictures of that event to see non-staged images of the creations. And, dear loves? DO NOT take up too much of the time of these beautiful, busy creatives. Do some research. Have questions in order. Guides aplenty exist in the free publishing world, especially amongst the wedding-industrial complex.
Now you have decided on a possible look and color theme, answer the question: Can I/we afford it?
No. No you cannot. Almost everything you see in gorgeous photo shoots is to get you in to spend a bit more like casinos in Vegas. Not to mention it has been photographed or presented in video by talented professional who make us all drool for these looks that, in real world terms, are costly. Don’t feel badly, ol’ darling, we are all susceptible. Just put on your “I see what you are doing there” lenses and take a harder look. Concentrate on what you most want from your flowers and go from there!
Yikes! you say? Who knew?
We got you.
We are delighted when clients come in with a healthy budget to match their vision. They are the lucky ones!! However, mostly we see people come in with a photo shoot from a high-end book, magazine or website showing a mass of arranged, out of season blooms, and they have, like, $300. Time to get creative. If you want to tackle some things yourself, our DIY on a Dollar board may help. And don’t forget to look at Nope for what to avoid.