Wedding Budget 101

Tip #4: Substitute Your Flowers

Most brides choose to have a lot of flowers at their wedding. They have their own bouquet, the bridesmaids bouquets, groom and groomsmen boutonnieres, corsages for the mothers, the table centerpieces, the flowers in the ceremony (at the altar, along the isle, along the walls, on the chairs, etc) and petals for the flower girls. All of this adds up REALLY fast. Especially if you are choosing more expensive flowers.

To reduce the cost of your flowers, try choosing flowers that are in season and locally grown. If they are flowers that have been flown in from another region, the costs go way up.

For example, if you exchange Black Magic roses for more reasonably priced, deeply colored dahlias in all your bouquets and table arrangements, you'll save about $4 a stem. If you were planning on having five roses per bouquet and 10 per centerpiece and have a wedding party of five gals and guest list of 150 people, you could save $700.

Black Magic Roses

Deep Red Dahlias

(both via google images)

You can even make carnations, which are really really cheap, look expensive and fun!

(via budgetdreamweddings.com)