From Tracey, Ella & Louie Flowers:

Hi, I’m Tracey from Ella & Louie Flowers, and I've been running my flower business for the last 13 years here in Santa Barbara. I want to thank Santa Barbara Wedding Style for giving me some space to share what I've learned over the years. I’m planning on a few posts all about wedding flowers, so I hope you’ll check back to learn more!

I thought I would start with the most unpleasant part of flowers for your wedding, at least for most people, which is budgeting and understanding costs. Of course, your cost will depend on your overall budget, guest count, bridal party, and venue. A lot of advice you’ll find is to plan your flower budget as a percentage of the overall cost of your wedding - which may be useful, but so much depends on the style and scope of floral that it is better to understand what you are looking at and what that might cost.

Costs

First, there is the cost of goods – flowers absolutely, but also vessels, props, and candles. All of these will be included in your floral quote. Flowers can range from less expensive blooms like a carnation or baby’s breath to premium flowers like peonies and lily of the valley. Most florists will purchase your flowers from a local farm or a wholesaler, and the pricing can vary by season and availability. For example, brown roses in the fall are at a premium, and they don’t usually grow enough for the demand for fall weddings. Which means the rose will rise in price, sometimes double, during certain times of the year.

A note here: grocery stores sell flowers, usually at a loss, to bring in customers. The prices are often less than the wholesale cost. This is not an accurate way to judge how your florist will source flowers and the price. That said, if you see someone at Trader Joe’s with a cart full of peonies, it’s probably a florist!

Wedding florals from Ella & Louie

Labor

The other big factor in how much your flowers cost is labor. AI is not coming for the florist’s job of sourcing, shipping, processing and designing the flowers for your big day. It is a process that takes hours once the flowers arrive and many hands to make sure they are perfect for your big day! Usually that cost is factored into the price of the flowers, a centerpiece will be $X and it includes the flowers, vessel and labor to make it. On top of that, if you have a full-service wedding with a delivery, set up and strike (clean up) you can expect a charge of 30% for the labor of the, very long, day. Having enough help to make it all look beautiful and effortless is money well-spent.

Tariffs

The question of 2025 is what effect the tariffs will have on costs. The answer for now is we don’t entirely know. Prices will go up for most flowers and hard goods. Even flowers locally sourced will be more expensive as we all rely on imported inputs – tools, vases, seeds, you name it. My best advice is to work with a florist who is transparent and creative and can help to navigate any adjustments we need to make. It’s not great for anyone to try to manage right now.

Finally…Comparing Costs

One thing that comes up again and again is that you can get different pricing from different florists for a similar mood board and line items. This is generally because the design will vary from designer to designer – one might include more premium flowers or just a lot of flowers where another is going to create a more streamlined design. Some florists will charge less for day-of labor than another because they are bringing less helpers. If you want to work with someone, don’t be afraid to ask about how to mitigate costs and still get the wedding of your dreams. Most florists are really great people who just want to make your day as good as possible and to use their talents and knowledge to make it so.

Wedding florals from Ella & Louie

 

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