Why Are Wedding Flowers So Expensive? Learn the Reason

Wedding flowers are visual poetry. They tell your love story through stems instead of sentences and some blooms hold special symbolism à la floriography. If you often ask yourself: Why are wedding flowers so expensive? Consider both the creative artistry it takes to relay a narrative through petals as well as all of the skill-based and logistical factors that go into the average wedding flower cost. We understand that it can be difficult to remember this if you're searching for wedding flowers on a budget and your favorite florist's quote is out of reach, but consider this article your gentle reminder of the extensive work that goes on behind the blooms.

If you're wondering how to find a wedding florist, head over to The Knot Vendor Marketplace. You can filter the florists in your wedding area by price range to see pros that are budget friendly, if figuring out how to save on wedding flowers is a concern. Or if you're looking for something splashy, filter to view florists who specialize in luxury events. Before you start or continue your search (or lament any further about why weddings are so expensive), learn a few paramount factors that contribute to the cost of a wedding florist from some of the best designers in the business below.

Education and Expertise

It takes years of training to reach the level of a pro wedding florist, since the scope of their work is so broad and bespoke. Classical training comes at a cost, but just as valuable is the time spent on the ground to understand the real-life logistics of floral design, especially for an event as significant as a wedding. For Margaret Toppin, owner of full-service floral design studio Leaf + Petal NOLA in New Orleans, Louisiana, this real-world experience proved indispensable. "I think it helps you look past rules and think and design outside the box," she says.

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Courtney Bowden, an independent floral designer who specializes in elopements and microweddings based in New York, New York, also felt this informal education was integral to fuel her passion and confidence as a floral designer. "We learn on the job, from others who are willing to teach us and from our own additional education," says Bowden. "There are also lots of designers who have been professionally trained through The Flower School in NYC, McQueens in London or through design and business classes and degrees, like at the American Institute of Floral Designers."

Time Spent on Design

Wedding flower designs are carefully imagined, mapped out and revised well in advance of a couple's nuptials. And yes, these design stages could span longer if a certain install or arrangement concept needs extra polishing. This process takes place far before the flowers are even ordered and is additional to any updates or tweaks your florist may have to make in real time, blooms in hand. Toppin assembles a proposal for each individual couple based off of an extensive questionnaire that covers every aspect of the potential design. "Our proposals include important info, such as color-coded floor plans, so you can always see exactly where everything is going, down to your candle counts," says the pro. "As the design evolves, we keep updating changes in color palette and table counts, etc., until it's time to order florals."

Communication With Planners and Couples

"An aspect of hiring a florist that I don't think a lot of people realize is that our design time and time spent emailing and in meetings is part of the cost," says Toppin. Florists will spend tons of time in correspondence with couples initially, then with their wedding planners and then with their broader vendor team to coordinate. Bowden says that the execution of a client's vision is "a partnership of constant and clear communication." And if you're dealing with destination weddings, all of this communication might need to accommodate language barriers and different time zones. Another friendly reminder: These pros don't get paid for all of the hours per week spent answering inquiries and emails from couples they don't end up working with.

Talent and Skill Development

Wedding florists spend time and effort to hone their talent for color theory, to understand different design principles and to know how to handle finicky flowers. Their learning is constant, and many will take workshops, classes and courses to improve and keep up with demand. "I've studied design from so many different designers all over the world through material and classes they put out," says Bowden. "I've done workshops on things that I consider to be my weaknesses so that they become my strengths. I'm also always challenging myself to look at other industries, like the fashion industry, to see what may be trending in future years, as well as the business world to see what needs and spaces are opening up for florals to come in and how I can make my own business stronger."

Labor Before, the Day of and After the Wedding

Why are flowers so expensive for weddings? Because you also pay for the supplies, infrastructure and many pairs of hardworking hands it takes to bring your wedding flowers to life, conceptually and literally. Florists themselves will often have 10 to 14 hour days back to back, according to Bowden, and must contend with designing on their feet in various working conditions and, oftentimes, crazy weather. For Toppin and her team, it takes months of labor to assemble elements like bases and ceiling-install mechanics, create precise schedules for multiple teams of people and gather supplies for every wedding.

"Currently in our studio, we have three people daily that spend a minimum of four to five hours working on production for one single weekend in November, and have been doing so for about a month already," Toppin says. "Cost of a wedding will need to cover all of that labor, not just what we do on event day. The week of the event, we get into floral processing which can take days, design work which takes all week and then production on the day of. We reach out to other vendors to make sure our schedules fall in line together as we all work off each other. This is kind of the bare minimum of what all florists do. Give your florist a hug!"

After you've made your sparkler-tunnel exit, your florist's team is on the scene to carefully and quickly disassemble your installations and arrangements too.

Impeccable Timing

"Floral designers are masters of time," says Bowden. "We receive a cut product, so from the moment we lay eyes on it, the clock is ticking. So much of our job is knowing each flower and how much time we have left with it. If we have an event on a Saturday, we know exactly what we can and cannot do every single day of the week in order for the flowers to be at their peak for that Saturday event." The prep work needed for flowers is a careful balance of cleaning them, trimming them, keeping them hydrated and at the right temperature. If the florist makes even one miscalculation in a flower's care, they'll incur extra costs to replace it to ensure you have the best blooms possible.

Cost of Acquiring Flowers From Near and Far, All Year

One of the first questions you ask your florist might relate to what flowers are in season during the time of your nuptials. Pricing based on seasonality is one reason why flowers are so expensive—and it's not always a perfect science. "Seasonality is a huge factor in terms of budgeting," says Bowden. "Peonies are a very popular wedding flower, but it has two short seasons, once in May and another in December, so getting peonies in August or Lily of the Valley outside of March will either be impossible or five times as expensive." On the other hand, if your design requires a certain bloom with a far-away growing season, such as roses or orchids from Ecuador, it could be more expensive. "I find if a flower is in season, usually it has a higher cost because it's at its peak and there's a demand for it," says Toppin.

Ability to Creatively Problem Solve

If you're still wondering: Why are flowers so expensive? Think about the nimble thinking required of a wedding florist to source and maintain the best possible blooms amidst unpredictability.

"So much about this industry is problem solving," says Bowden, "For example, loss of product was a huge issue post COVID. Certain flowers weren't available for a full year or two and designers didn't know how much they could guarantee anything, even something as consistently available as a white rose. We would often find out the week before a wedding that a main color or bloom was totally unavailable. After our design recipes were created, our numbers were crunched, our invoices were sent to you, you approved and you paid, we had to majorly pivot. We had to use our design skills, color theory and knowledge to figure out what could stand in for a white rose or an out-of-stock tulip or the entire color of light pink and still bring your vision to life. This is ultimately what floral designers do all the time and why we're worth your investment."

Taxes, Fees and Cost of Facilities

While you think about who pays for wedding flowers, florists must hash out payments like rent for their studios, taxes, pickup and delivery fees, and other overhead business costs. "I think every florist has production and design fees, and then you pay taxes as well," says Toppin. "I think these fees always shock people."

The Creation of a Bespoke Design, Every Time

"Floral design isn't just putting pretty flowers in a vase, it's an art form," says Bowden. "There are design principles and techniques that create a visually beautiful and cohesive design."

Toppin adds: "Everything we do is specialized, from learning how to process each individual style of flower to creating installs." You can't deny the incredible artistry and effort that it takes to craft a bespoke design for each and every wedding. Yes, your dollars go toward the flowers, the labor and the florist's time, but you also must account for the creative capacity to truly listen to a couple's vision and determine how best to execute it. This creative process is drastically different for every wedding, and the ability for a florist to create unique art that speaks to so many individual love stories astounds us eternally.