“How much do wedding flowers cost?”
This is one of the most common questions I get asked by couples and, to be honest, it’s a difficult one to answer. When it comes to wedding flowers, there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach; and when it comes to pricing your wedding flowers, it’s easy to focus on the final result, without realising all the things that have had to fall into place to get your flowers ready for your wedding day.
Factor One: Where your Whistler Wedding Flowers Come From
One of the biggest factors that comes into play with pricing is where your wedding flowers come from. The flowers for your wedding won’t all come from a single flower grower because growers specialize in specific flower types. Your arrangements will include flowers that have been procured from a variety of different sources, which means that Ninebark needs to take the time to research and find the best source for your wedding flower aspirations.
Luckily, Ninebark has a solid knowledge base of who has the best products in Whistler and in BC, where we are incredibly lucky to have a thriving flower industry. This means there are many sourcing options to choose from; the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island have lots of talented independent greenhouse flower growers, the Sea to Sky Corridor has an amazing collection of family flower farms, and Vancouver has one of the largest flower auctions in the world! There are also plenty of wholesalers who supply both local and worldwide flower products.
Depending on which grower produces the flowers you want, how far they are located from the studio and how urgently the flowers are needed, the price for your wedding flowers could go up or down.
Factor Two: The Preparation of your Wedding Flowers
Believe me when I tell you a lot of preparation goes into wedding flowers - and I'm not just talking about when an order of flowers gets turned into a beautiful design at our studio in Pemberton.
Before we can even start to think about arranging the designs there’s a number of things that need to happen:
A consultation to help us understand what you want for your wedding flowers.
A written proposal that is signed off to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Moodboards so that you can see what we’re aiming for with your flowers (and so that we can deliver you with your dream wedding flowers).
Lots of communication… emails and phone calls between us, the suppliers, the venue and other wedding vendors.
Order planning.
Placing orders with all the different suppliers.
And physically collecting orders, which for us in Pemberton could sometimes mean a 5-6 hour round trip (even more if it’s snowing) to Vancouver where the major flower suppliers are based.
Once your flowers arrive at the studio, still more preparation needs to happen before we can deliver them:
Unpacking and processing the flowers, making sure everything is there and all the stems are hydrated.
Gathering and preparing all the different vessels and vases that the flowers will be featured in.
The physical designing of the flowers and flower arrangements.
Transporting and delivering the flowers to your wedding.
Setting up the floral designs at the wedding.
Finally, there is the tidy-up, including:
Taking down those designs at the end of the night (no matter how late your party goes).
Deconstructing all the floral designs and recycling or composting them.
Resetting our Whistler Flower studio so we can tackle our next project!
As you can see, a lot of preparation goes into your wedding flowers - it's not just about the design! All that preparation requires human-power, equipment, and time, each of which are significant variables on the pricing of your wedding flowers.
Factor Three: All the Other Odds and Ends that can Contribute to Cost of your Wedding Flowers
Factors one and two are factors that Ninebark has control over; however, there are a lot of factors that you, as the engaged couple, have control over when it comes to driving the price up, or down.
1. Wedding Flower Availability
The cost of flowers changes throughout the year based on what’s available. Spring wedding with Tulips? Great! Winter wedding with Tulips? It’s possible, but it will cost more. The more available a flower is at a certain time, the less expensive it will be. The same thing goes with how available a flower is in general. If it’s difficult to grow, or takes two years to bloom like a peony, the more expensive it will be. And if you want a super trendy, high demand flower? Be prepared to pay more.
2. Wedding Location
If you are choosing to get married in Whistler and Pemberton, it’s important to remember that these are both remote locations. It’s also important to remember that for six months of the year it is too cold outside to grow flowers locally! The cost of getting your flowers to the studio from suppliers, and also to your venue on the day, will affect the cost of your wedding flowers.
3. Wedding Size
The bigger the wedding, the more expensive the flowers. Mainly just because the bigger your wedding party is, or the more centrepieces you need, the more flowers you’ll need to cover all your bases!
4. The Wedding Flowers you Like
Some flowers are just always considered premium blooms (largely because of the availability factors above). Peonies, garden roses, ranunculus, and anemones are super popular and have limited availability. The more flexible you are when it comes to the flowers and colours you wish to use, the more flexible we can be with our pricing.
5. Taxes
If you are planning a destination wedding, it’s important to note that, in British Columbia, flowers are subject to 12% tax, which is applied to the subtotal of your bill.
So How Much Could my Wedding Flowers Actually Cost?
When all is said and done, the pricing for every couple can really vary. That’s why pricing for my Whistler and Pemberton wedding flowers can be one of the most difficult questions that I have to answer - there’s just so many factors up in the air! But… here is an example of what spending $4,000 on your wedding flowers could get you, remembering that there are many factors that can influence this and there is not a one size fits all approach:
Personal Wedding Florals:
1x Bridal Bouquet: $275
3x Bridesmaid Bouquets: $285 ($95/ea)
4x Boutonniere: $100 ($25/ea)
2x Corsage: $50 ($25/ea)
Wedding Ceremony Florals:
1x Florals on Arch: $500
Wedding Reception Florals:
12x Low Table Centrepieces - $2400 ($200/ea)
6x Cocktail Table Centrepieces - $150 ($25/ea)
Wedding Flower Delivery and Set Up:
$900 (covers the cost of dropping off the flowers at multiple locations, time spent setting up onsite, and the take down and collection of rental items after the event)
Subtotal (before taxes):
$4,660
I hope that helps! If you have any other questions or are looking for flowers for your wedding in Whistler or throughout B.C., get in touch! Ninebark offers Micro Wedding and Bespoke Wedding flower packages that are unique, personal, and designed to be a memorable part of your celebration. Contact us at +1 604 906 0046 or info@ninebarkdesign.com and we can help start bringing your wedding ideas to life!
Sophie