The Dittany Blog
The latest floral events and weddings I’ve created along with floral musings, floral announcements, floral events and basically all things flowers from Yorkshire.
How Much Do Wedding Flowers Cost With Dittany Entwined?
How much do wedding flowers cost? A complex question to answer as a floral designer passionate about unique bespoke floral design. In this blog we delve in to pricing and how we work providing some clarity on the subject.
Image by Lauri b film and photography: Floral Tablescape
Pricing can be a delicate topic within the wedding industry, with rumours about the so-called ‘wedding tax’ rife in 2024. If you are planning your wedding you’re probably wondering how much wedding flowers cost, and the answer really is as long as a flower stem - it varies hugely between florists. Every wedding I flower is designed and therefore quoted bespoke, so I’d love to plant the seeds of expectation in this Dittany Entwined pricing guide.
There is a particular myth about wedding suppliers in general that is unfortunately perpetuated by the media, some industry parties, and probably your well-meaning family members who married 20 years ago! We are told that wedding flowers cost more simply because they are for a wedding, and I want to start by addressing this fiction - and explain why it’s not the case.
Image by Mark Bamforth Photography : Wedding flower centerpiece
Going to a floristry shop and purchasing a bouquet and buttonholes is a very different concept to floral event design. Creating your bespoke floral artwork for your wedding is akin to balancing nature with sculpture, style with sentiment, and playful flair with seasonality, availability and your budget. We have to work within specific time frames and around other elements of production, such as staging, lighting, marquee structures and so on, and there is a significant amount of prep time involved before the wedding day itself.
Ensuring that everything is possible, safe, and fulfils your beautiful brief is top priority, and involves skill that is honed over many years. Not to mention the sourcing of freelance florists to help me install your fabulous florals on the day, the equipment we need to bring, and any styling elements being provided such as candles and vases. All of this means that not only is it impossible to charge the same as a shop that simply provides (rather than instals) your flowers, it is also very hard to charge specific prices for specific items.
Image by Mark Bamforth Photography Floral arch and intimate wedding breakfast.
I completely understand that it’s difficult to know how much wedding flowers cost without being presented with a price list. I’m always happy to have very open discussions with my couples around their budget, and how we can interplay it with their specific wishes and desires for their wedding day florals.
We can talk about rough pricing of minimum amounts for example items, however I don’t find price lists for bespoke items helpful as they can be misleading. This is especially true when it comes to installations (think florals hanging from ceilings, freestanding archways etc) and set up and clear down charges, because there are so many specific components involved. To help, my lookbook showcases different weddings with different budgets to help you visualise what varying price points can achieve. Get in touch and I’ll send you my lookbook to pore over.
Image by Francesca Bravo photography: Modern white bridal bouquet
There are always ways to adapt your florals to your budget. For example, if you are dreaming of a showstopping floral arch there are levels we can work towards - a full, bouncy installation vs a slightly smaller, lighter version with more foliage and less stems. You’ll find more examples below as a visual representation of how the seemingly same thing can be a different price.
The Floral Arch:
When designing a floral arch we can create on a spectrum of fullness, from a frothy asymmetric cloud of blooms to a complete, bountiful sculpture that hides all the underlying structure. The digital images below show the difference in the overall look, and to further tweak the cost we can alter the flower:foliage ratio.
The Ceremony Installation:
As you can see from the digital sketches below, floral artwork for your wedding ceremony can vary hugely. What you choose will be dictated by your budget but also your personal style. Some couples like decadent displays and secret gardens surrounding them, while others prefer a more understated flow of florals for the ‘I do’s.
Hanging Installations:
Finally, many couples ask me about a hanging installation for their wedding. I’ve put together these digital sketches to show how these can vary in price too, not only in size but in abundance. Foliage-based hanging sculptures are beautiful and can feel very natural, and if we add frothy florals we can turn them into real focal centrepieces that draw the eye in a room.
Many florists do have a minimum spend, myself included. It may sound silly, but this actually benefits you! Not only does it start an open discussion about budget from the start, it also allows me to run my floristry business in a way that gets you the best possible results. I don’t want a ‘conveyor belt’ of weddings throughout the year that all look and feel the same. I want to be able to give my full energy and undivided attention to each wedding, while still balancing my family life with my two young children.
Image by Sam Sparks Photography: Floral Arch
My current minimum spend as of June 2024 is £4500 for local weddings, and £8000 for those further afield. I have been able to build the reputation I have become known for by upholding this minimum spend approach, and I simply cannot offer an exclusive service with experiential bespoke florals for less. My couples value the luxurious little details, immersive floral artwork, and the importance of a custom design that is totally tailored to them.
You can read all about my ‘Proposal of Dreams’ for more insight into the consultation and design process, and see how I entwine sentiment with style in your wedding flowers. If you’d like to discover more about how much your wedding flowers might cost the Dittany Entwined way, contact me to start the exciting process of designing together.
Image by Emma Ryan Photographer: Floral installation on the beautiful staircase at Thicket Priory.
“Every great design begins with and even better story!”
Scented Wedding Flowers: The Power of Immersive Floral Alchemy
Scented wedding flowers add more to your wedding day than a beautiful vision. They help transport you and your guess in to another place, help you connect wit your wedding and become present. Finding ays to tap in to your senses is a know way of becoming calming nerves, becoming present and managing overwhelm. Choosing the right wedding flowers and design can help you tap in to all the senses, read more on how in this blog.
Image by Laura Calderwood: Floral arch at Woodstock Weddings and Events
Dittany Entwined floral designs have become synonymous with immersive, alchemic creations that caress each of your senses. Going far beyond the realm of scented wedding flowers, your bespoke wonderland is an experience you are encouraged to get lost in.
I know firsthand how overwhelming your wedding day can be, and I personally found it difficult to stay present and connected to the moment on mine. Becoming intentionally aware of each of your senses is one of the best ways to ground yourself, and your floral design is curated with this in mind. Making memories becomes much easier when we are present, not panicky - for this reason, your blooms will be like a balm to any nuptial nerves you may be feeling.
Learning about the power of the senses through my son, who is autistic, has really deepened my understanding of the magic that touch and sound can instil in people. Now I can bring this foundation to your luxury wedding flowers, nurturing their natural organic power to give you an unforgettable encounter.
Image by Eyes to Pixels: Ceremony Floral installation at Oakwood at Ryther
Going Beyond Scented Wedding Flowers for an Immersive Experience
My approach to any form of aesthetic design involves igniting all the senses to create an immersive experience. I love texture and giving things an irresistible, tactile quality, and through sculptural floral art we can unlock this for your wedding day too. Rather than you and your guests just looking at your wedding flowers, I create three dimensional designs that you can walk through and around, touching and smelling and living within the bounteous blooms.
Many of my couples love the idea of natural, just-grown-here designs that seem as though they have sprung up from the ground at the venue. With these it’s wonderful to create floral art that everyone can connect to, and I particularly love archways, staircase flower arrangements and pieces that guide guests through the wedding day. It’s like wandering through a meadow, forest or garden, and you can almost notice the sounds of your feet walking on the ground, birds twittering overhead, light splintering through the surroundings…taking you out of your everyday life and into the magic of the wedding day.
Take a look at a Thicket Priory wedding I worked on, using carefully considered flowering to guide guests throughout the day.
Engaging The Senses Through Floral Design
Scented wedding flowers are one of the most evocative inclusions to sweep you away through your senses, and the fragrance is often one of the first things people notice when they walk into the venue or church on your wedding day. We’ll discuss scent in depth during your consultation and at our final details meeting, as some couples really like or dislike particular smells.
Not all blooms smell, but there are some that are really beautiful and distinctive in their aroma. Eucalyptus and lavender are considered calming scents, and I personally love the smell of garden roses like O’Hara and the autumnal chocolate cosmos that smells just like a sweet treat. Early summer scents such as sweet peas are popular, and different foliages and herbs like mint and rosemary can really bring a design to life. Scent is intrinsically linked to taste, and certain smells like the herbs and garden plants can conjure up familiar memories.
The most important thing is that the smell of your flowers is in keeping with your brief, a detail that adds to the immersion of the day and doesn’t jar.
Image by Mark Bamforth: Intimate wedding reception filled with flowers
Flowers are naturally beautiful so tapping into the ‘sight’ sense isn’t a stretch, but the way each individual bloom grows and is arranged makes all the difference. Each stem grows in its own unique way, bending and blooming uniquely. Flowers of the same type differ slightly in their glorious finished state, and so working with a naturally diverse array adds a level of personalisation to every design that comes straight from Mother Nature herself.
The first thing my couples do when they see their flowers, whether that’s the bouquet, table arrangements or installations, is touch them. Feeling the petals, running their fingers through the foliage, revelling in the dynamic movement…it really brings you into the moment, and I encourage you and your guests to do this. Your flowers are designed to be touched, moved through and brushed past, not stiff sculptures to be admired from afar but rather living artwork designed for joy.
Even your auditory sense can be stimulated by your wedding flowers, since with movement comes sound. The gentle rustle of a breeze blowing through an archway, the happy buzz of a bumblebee visiting your blooms, or simply the soft swoosh of your own journey through the arrangements all become part of the experience.
Image by Emma Ryan Photographer: Thicket Priory stair case dressed with abundant luxury flowers
Your bespoke floral design is considered down to the last petal, specifically crafted in a way that is as personal as it gets. We’ll work together on wedding flowers that aren’t just there because they ‘should’ be, but because you’re connected to every element in its entirety. Stylish, storytelling florals that flood your senses with the beauty of the earth are the Dittany Entwined signature. Ready to be immersed? I can’t wait to hear from you and create your own playfully sophisticated custom wedding flowers - get in touch here.
“Love is the poetry of the senses.”