Buffalo NY wedding florist, Wedding flowers in Buffalo NY, Best florists in Buffalo NY — Photo by Ash K Captures

Updated February 26, 2025

I’m a wedding florist… and I’ll be the first person to say wedding flowers are expensive, but hear me out: There are legitimate reasons for the high cost of wedding flowers.

Large weddings require weeks of time and labor. The amount of time that goes into executing wedding floral is enormous — from initial meetings, proposal drafts, emails and phone calls, site meetings, planning, ordering flowers, vessels and supplies, and in my case, growing and harvesting flowers and foliage on my flower farm.

This is not to mention the florist’s cost of all the things that go into the end product: Flowers & greenery, vases, stands, candles & candle holders, mechanics, tape, glue, ribbon, plates, pruners/knives and scissors, water bills, packing materials, electricity bills for flower coolers, vehicle upkeep & transportation costs, our labor, hired labor, liability insurance policies, not to mention rent for a design space… and that’s just off the top of my head.

Whether you care about all of that or not, I feel a responsibility to inform people about it, otherwise you might think all us floral designers sneakily got together and decided we’d love to charge arms and legs for our services (this has never happened, I promise!)

Despite all the hidden costs involved, there are actual ways you can save money on your wedding flowers!

Sometimes saving money means buying cheap flowers and vases, skimping on materials, or simply doing it yourself, but I do not encourage cheapness when it comes to your wedding day. Here, I’m happy to enlighten you to my tips & tricks for saving money on wedding floral without skimping on the quality of the design.

10 Ways to Actually Save Money on Wedding Flowers

1) DIY your flowers - with Bulk Flowers and Greenery from a Local Farm

DIY’ing your wedding flowers is the #1 way you will save the most money on wedding floral, hands down.

It might sound like a lot of work (and it is), but if you are a naturally creative person or have a bunch of friends and family that would go ape over making your bouquets and centerpieces, then you’ll be totally fine.

The way to avoid DIY wedding flowers that look cheap and junky is to start with the BEST flowers and greenery you possibly can. This means ordering gorgeous, seasonal bulk flowers from a local farm like mine. If this sounds difficult or confusing, there are websites dedicated to helping you find local flower farms — there are a LOT of us!

Where to find local flowers:

By DIY’ing your own wedding flowers, you will save a minimum of 60% of the cost by doing it yourself. See our numbers here.

So how do you create a gorgeous DIY wedding tablescape that is EASY and looks amazing?

Simply fill adorable bud vases with 1-3 stems of flowers and greenery (1 vase per linear foot of table, or more if you want a fuller look). Then add a few colorful taper candles with glass cylinder holders (Yummi is the brand I use for non-drip candles), and you’ve just created a stunning display!

Photo by Ash K Captures // There are bigger arrangements on this long head table, but imagine filling it with bud vases and taper candles! You totally can!

2) Order ‘A La Carte’ Wedding Flowers for pickup

“A La Carte” is a wedding floral option offered by many flower farmers, which means you order off a menu of items and pick what you want (rather than buy a whole package deal).

Ordering A La Carte Floral from our studio can save you thousands of dollars in delivery and setup fees.

3) Skip the Boutonnieres and Corsages

These small detailed pieces can really add up if you have a large family and/or bridal party. For an average bridal party with 1 groom, 6 groom’s attendants, 2 dads and 2 moms, the cost for these mini floral pieces comes to $315.00.

In the grand scheme of things $315.00 may not be much; however, if you’re trying to cut costs everywhere you can, I’d start with the boutonnieres and corsages.

4) reUse Your ceremony Arbor as a Photo booth backdrop

You have your heart set on an arbor but you just can’t swallow that price tag… I get it! Arbors that are fully covered with flowers range $3,500+ and they usually can’t be moved, so it seems like a giant spend on something you may only enjoy for 30 minutes.

If your ceremony location is anywhere remotely near your reception, I highly recommend reusing that beautiful masterpiece as THE photo opportunity for the rest of the night. I’ve had couples that have hired photo booth companies that set up shop in front of the floral arbor, and I’ve had couples that have opted for a DIY version of a photo booth by setting up a Fujifilm Instant Camera on a table in front of the arbor and let the guests get creative with their own photos.

The idea is, allow your guests to enjoy the arbor as much as you do! In turn, they’ll never forget your gorgeous floral arbor.

Please note that depending on the arbor design, it may not be possible for your florist (or venue) to move the arbor after it is designed. Make sure you communicate with your florist what your intentions are, so they can come up with a design that will suit your wishes before you sign off on the final floral plan.

5) reuse ceremony arrangements in the reception space

If you aren’t doing an arbor, or if your ceremony location is a drive from your reception, I recommend choosing statement pieces that can be easily moved and reused in the reception space. Our studio offers to move the pieces after the ceremony, but we also encourage you to glean help from willing aunts and uncles to save on delivery fees (we have to charge for the labor & mileage involved).

I’ve had many couples opt for big, beautiful statement pieces that they then had friends & family successfully move to the reception. These pieces are perfect at entryways, behind the sweetheart table, next to the bar, and really bring the whole floral design together.

If you’re on the fence about any ceremony flowers due to the cost involved, consider that these larger pieces can always do double duty.

6) Use Round reception Tables instead of Long tables

We all love a long tablescape: the entire length adored with colorful flowers, whimsical greenery and glowing candles; but what most people don’t realize is that the amount of decoration needed to fill a long table is about 3x the amount of flowers, greenery and candles than that of a round table. This is because when guests are seated at a round table, they are all oriented toward the same center point of the table (requiring one centerpiece), whereas when guests are seated at long tables, every guest has a different viewpoint on that long table, requiring multiple points of interest.

If you’re thinking you’ll decorate your long tables with “just greenery” and “no flowers” to save money, keep on reading.

7) More greenery does not mean less money

Another misconception about the cost of floral design is that greenery is cheaper than flowers. In some cases, depending on the greens or the time of year, it might be. But popular wedding greenery such as eucalyptus, italian ruscus, wild smilax, eleagnus, clematis vine, rosemary and olive leaf are not cheap for a florist to acquire, and thus, you will be paying top dollar for a nice greenery display.

If you want greenery garlands down the center of your long tables, be prepared to pay a minimum of $25-125 per linear foot (yes, you read that correctly). Rather than actual garlands (greenery that has been wired together in a pattern to a specific length and width), you could opt for loose greenery to be laid down the center of the tables for a minimal look that is (or should be) less expensive than garlands.

8) If you long for a destination wedding, research the most economical places and book an all-inclusive package

This article by Paradise Weddings is an amazing resource that details the best all-inclusive destination wedding packages: Your Average Cost of a Destination Wedding.

Along with the tips above, there are 2 more things we want to discourage you from:

Just say no #1: Reusing Attendant/Bridesmaid Bouquets as Table Centerpieces
There was a time, long, long ago, when I reluctantly agreed to reuse attendant bouquets as table centerpieces. I’d provide empty vases on the tables just so my clients could save money — and every single time I would go back to tear the wedding down, the bridesmaids usually had never put the bouquets in the vases provided (even when a wedding coordinator said they’d take care of it). Which meant 3-5 tables had nothing but an empty glass vase with water in it the entire time.
At one wedding, the table had took it upon themselves to decorate the empty vase by hanging slices of bread & cheese around the edges of it. It was funny, but, I was horrified that THIS was a centerpiece when the rest of the wedding was so beautiful.
I will never recommend reusing attendant bouquets as actual centerpieces, but I do sometimes recommend they be reused on a head table, as bathroom arrangements, or on other accessory tables such as the guest book or gift table, but only if the couple needs to save money.
Related: 10 Ways to Make Your Wedding Meaningful & Unforgettable
Just say no #2: Buying Flowers from the Grocery Store
It might seem convenient to order buckets of flowers from a grocery store, but chances are you may not be able to order anything specific, and you definitely won’t get anything unique
Flowers from the grocery store have traveled thousands of miles to get to you, packed up in plastic and cardboard that’s been thrown in the landfill and never to be bothered with again.
As a flower farmer, I will always recommend seeking out a local flower farm and contacting them about bulk flowers — or check their website to see if you can easily order bulk flowers.
Flower farmers like me grow flowers for people like you. Flowers are our joy - and serving you is what we’ve chosen to do with our lives! We would love nothing more than to have your business and have our abundance of beautiful, unique flowers help make your day beautiful. Please reach out to your local growers before ordering from a grocery store.
Related: Why Local, Organically-Grown Flowers are So Important