Make your wedding budget go further with a flower buddy
If you’re planning a wedding right now, I probably don’t need to tell you that weddings are EXPENSIVE. You’re expected to feed 200 people, at least a quarter of which you don’t really know, hire a harpist to serenade you down the aisle, buy a dress or a suit that costs thousands only to wear it once, host a bar, and keep music pumping and the party going into the wee hours. And on top of all of it, you gotta make it beautiful using these ultra perishable, but so pretty, flowers. You have them in your bouquet, along your tables, being worn by your friends and family, strung up above your heads while you whisper “I do”, and floating in the toilet so the guys have something to aim at. There’s no question that weddings and flowers seem to go hand in hand. Thankfully for you, there seems to be a trend taking place to help you slash the prices on your flowers in half; flower sharing!
Here are a few tips to make flower sharing worth your time and effort!
Figure out what kind of florals your wedding needs
Your wedding might be adorned with flowers or you might want to keep it simple. These are some flowers you’ll have at your wedding that you may be able to share:
- Arbour/arch pieces (but if you’re having your florist setting these up, be sure to also have them take these flowers down and set them up again for your flower buddy)
- Pew markers
- Alter arrangements
- Arrangements for cocktail tables or the welcome table
- Vines to accent a mantle or arch or other decor
- Statement installations (again, your florist should set these up and take them down for both buddies)
- Centre peices
- Garlanded greenery
And some flowers you don’t want to share with a flower buddy are:
- Bouquets carried by anyone
- Flowers worn by anyone (corsage, boutonnieres, flower crowns, etc)
- Petals thrown by a flower girl or loose as decor
- Cake flowers
- Loose greenery (these aren’t cared for as well as greenery that is put into a garland)
- Flowers not kept in water or green floral foam during your wedding
Find a flower buddy
As flowers are perishable, you have to find someone who is getting married within one or two days of you. If the only thing you’re looking at sharing are study greenery garlands, you would probably be safe finding someone who is getting married within 10 days of you. You can do this by going to your local wedding groups (Facebook buy and sell pages, anyone?) and putting up an ISO (or “In Search Of”). The earlier you do this, the better. Your ISO should look something like this:
ISO Flower Sharing buddy; I’m getting married on Saturday May 9th at this golf club in Coquitlam and I’m looking for someone who is getting married on the Friday or the Sunday to share my flowers with. We’re looking at white and pink flower centrepieces for approximately 15 round tables. We’ve gotten a few quotes and are looking at $X per centrepiece. Let’s split this cost!
Communicate your needs with your florist
Let them know you intend to share your flowers with another couple and you need flowers that will last over 2 or 3 days in whatever heat you can expect at the time of your wedding. This means under no circumstance should your florist use hydrangeas! You want tough flowers that will look just as good on day three as the day you get them. As long as your florist knows that your flowers are not single use you should be set!
Clearly outline your expectations with your flower buddy
Regardless if you have the flowers first or second, you need to have clear expectations with your flower buddy. Have them join you in meetings with the florist so you can figure out inspiration together and have the same expectations with the florist. Clearly outline who will be paying the florist for the flowers and how they will be compensated by the other and how much they will be compensated. It’s not always a 50/50 split because the person getting the flowers second is taking a bit of a risk should something happen to an arrangement. Don’t leave any detail to chance when it comes to sharing flowers for your wedding. If both buddies are getting bouquets I suggest using the same florist so that the flowers throughout each wedding are the same colours and general ideas. If you can, between the two of you, get three invoices from the florist. One for you, one for your buddy, and one for the florals you’ll be sharing.
Figure out pick-up/drop off
This is the MOST important piece of the puzzle, because if the second person doesn’t get the flowers, what’s this all been for?! On your wedding day you probably don’t want to wait around until 1am and grab all the centre peices and deliver them the next morning to someone else. And your flower buddy won’t want to come to your venue at 1am the night before their wedding when they need to be up at 7am for hair and make-up! If the person taking the flowers on the second day is paying the same amount as the person on the first day, it should likely be the responsibility of the first couple to have the flowers taken to the second. And between picking the flowers up and taking them to the venue of the second person, do not have the flowers sitting in a vehicle! They should go into a cool location (like a basement or a garage) and out of direct sunlight (when the morning hits). Another thing to consider is if the arrangements are in vases, who is providing these vases and how will they get them back? Often you’ll rent vases from the florist, but the florist will need to get them back somehow. Figure this out together.
Obviously, sharing flowers will take a bit more coordination and organization than just getting your own for a one time use, but good news is if you hire someone like us (an awesome coordinator who encourages saving money wherever possible!) we can work with you to ensure that flower sharing goes smoothly. Bonus points, you’re doing something good for the world and reducing your wedding eco footprint by sharing flowers!
Florists I’ve worked with and would recommend again and again
