Flowers are expensive. Yes, you heard that right. Flowers are expensive and wedding flowers are even more expensive and this blog explains why.

Wedding flowers come at a premium due to several key factors, the first being the time required to grow them. Depending on the variety, flowers can take anywhere from a month to eight months to bloom. From sowing the seeds to caring for the plants, and eventually harvesting and shipping them, flowers require significant attention. This process involves dedicated growers, who nurture the flowers to ensure their quality before they are shipped to wholesalers or directly to floral designers. The level of care and handling increases for flowers that are organic, fair trade-certified, or grown according to sustainability standards, all of which contribute to a higher price. Additionally, fair wages for workers are a key component of this process, reflecting ethical practices in the flower industry.

Quality flowers and expertly crafted floral designs come at a higher cost due to the time and skill involved. In addition to the cultivation of the flowers, there are shipping fees, business overhead fees, and the expertise required to create intricate, artful arrangements for weddings and events. Even if you were to grow your own flowers, it would still require significant research, time, and effort to plant, care for, and harvest them.

At Flowers by Janie, our pricing reflects these considerations and our commitment to providing exceptional customer service. We handle every detail with care to ensure our couples receive their dream wedding flowers—arrangements that will evoke beauty and joy on their special day.

High end wedding florists source quality flowers from the best farms and growers worldwide. These growers in turn need to be compensated for growing, processing, packaging and shipping the flowers in prime condition directly from their farms to the wholesalers that we purchase from.

At Flowers by Janie, our flowers arrive from Holland, South Africa, Australia, Japan, South America, California, Florida, and Italy just to name a few. Although there are local Canadian growers in Alberta and British Columbia, not all flowers can be sourced locally. Because of this, growers, wholesalers, and delivery drivers need to be compensated for their role in providing immaculate blooms for your special day.

It is worthwhile to note that individual flower costs vary. Florals that are rarer, harder to grow, or have limited growing seasons are often more expensive. This is why peonies, when in season, are still quite costly, more so than your typical rose, and when out of season are heavily priced.

Size is also a factor. Floral arrangements that are larger with more blooms will cost more than smaller versions. A quality, professional floral designer will know what proportions of flowers and size are required to create in any given space at your ceremony and reception. While it is possible to downscale a look, the quality in the arrangements in regard to composition and proportion may be compromised.

As with anyone who specializes in a field of work, most professional florists who specialize in weddings have invested years of formal studies and/or paid workshops to develop their skills and techniques. Due to this, professional floral designers need to be compensated for their skills, especially if you value seamless and quality floral designs for your wedding day. We urge you to be cautious when choosing a floral designer. Not everyone has invested in their training and education which will be noticeable in the quality of their flowers and overall design.

At Flowers by Janie, we have designed wedding florals for over 700 weddings. Our lead designer, Janelle (Janie) Gerestein, has 24 years of experience in the floral world under her belt and has spent countless hours learning in traditional college and attending workshops in England, Canada and the USA. Our team has been trained by Janelle and all floral designers and freelancers who work with us have taken numerous floral design courses to be able to provide the best designs for our clients.

Wedding floral design is more than a service, it is a form of artistry, a unique floral creation intricately designed by hand to reflect your vision. We have unfortunately heard stories about bouquets or arches falling apart due to poor set-up or not lasting through the wedding day. Qualified, experienced florists will ensure the structure and mechanics of your florals are safe and secure. They will also know how to correctly process your flowers so that the stems stay fresher and last longer.

It takes time to provide quality floral design and excellent customer services. This includes the initial consultation, emails revising floral proposals/quotes, creating and revising the contract, ordering the proper quantity of flowers, answering questions nearing the wedding date, receiving and processing the flowers 2-3 days before the wedding, ensuring each flower is taken care of accordingly with the proper amount of hydration and floral preservative, organizing the flowers by arrangement type, and of course designing the floral arrangements. 

Additional time goes towards delivery, set up, and staffing required to ensure the flowers get to your venue(s) in perfect condition, and to design large installations such as arches, hanging installations or stairway florals. These tasks require professional florists who are reliable, know how to unpack and set up florals correctly with spare time to ensure everything looks exquisite before you and your guests arrive. The take down and cleanup after your wedding also takes time, which includes washing all the vases and buckets and cleaning up the studio!

Our studio has a minimum spend (this is elaborated further down the blog) and takes on only a few weddings each week to ensure every detail of your florals exceeds your expectations. From your initial inquiry to post-wedding care, every step is carefully planned to provide you with the perfect amount of high-quality, artisanally arranged blooms. Each design is crafted by hand, requiring time, skill, and expertise to bring your vision to life!

There are a few other expenses that wedding florists, like all business owners, incur. We must pay for qualified staff, bills for water, electricity, floral coolers, florist tools, websites, delivery vehicle gas, and maintenance fees. Also taxes, business licenses, accounting fees, lawyer fees, liability insurance, commercial vehicle insurance, disability insurance... well you get the idea. We also need to provide for our own basic needs, make a living like every other profession, and a vacation would be nice every now and then too.

I want to touch a little more on business licenses. Every business must be properly registered as an Alberta company and have a business license to legally operate. Because we offer wedding florist services in Calgary, Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise, and even Jasper, we require separate licenses for each municipality. This includes getting a license specifically for the Town of Banff, along with a Canada parks permit that is required to operate within Banff National Park, Yoho National Park, and Jasper National Park where many weddings take place.

All of our business licenses add up to more than $2,000/year. Please be cautious if the florist you hired is barely charging a travel fee to go to the mountains as they may not have the proper licensing and could face a large fine if found to be working without proper permits. We urge you to save yourself the hassle and hire a florist who is licensed and can legally provide the wedding service for you. 

It goes without saying that there are many aspects involved with designing high quality wedding floral arrangements. It is not as simple as tying a ribbon around your typical grocery store florals. Quality, experience, time, and overhead are all things to consider when booking your wedding florist.

Your family friend or a florist you found on Facebook Marketplace may be offering flowers at a low price, but this questions the quality of the flowers, experience of the florist, effort put into the process, reliability of the service, and legality of the business. Sacrificing on any of these essential aspects of wedding florist services often result in many of the sad stories that we have unfortunately heard.

When comparing the quotes you have received from florists, it is important to keep in mind the following: Are they offering the exact same design? This is often untrue as each wedding florist has a unique floral style. Also, proposals should also be read carefully. For example, if one florist is quoting on expensive phalaenopsis orchids for the bouquet while another is quoting on baby's breath there will be a large discrepancy between the two.

It is important to choose a wedding florist who understands your floral vision and has a floral style that fits with it. While your wedding florist can provide ideas to stay within your budget, sometimes they are unable to accommodate a lower budget when considering the floral requirements you are asking of them.

This is why our floral studio has a minimum spend of $5,000 + GST for weddings in Calgary (higher minimums in August) which takes into account the cost of flowers and everything included in the process as mentioned above. Our minimum spends are higher for Canmore, Banff, and surrounding areas due to the transportation fees and additional business licenses required to operate there. On average, our clients really value flowers and spend around $10,000 on their wedding florals with some wedding and event florals even exceeding $75,000+.

If you would like to read more about our minimum spend, we invite you to read our Why We Have a Minimum Flower Spend blog.

Below are more wonderful blog posts that discuss budgeting for wedding flowers and the costs associated with them. They are well worth the read!

Why Are Weddings So Expensive: Floral Design Costs Explained By Susan Kelly

Ask A Professional Florist//Why Do Wedding Flowers Cost So Much? By San Francisco Floral Designer Cora Hardin of Blumenkiss

Wedding Flowers Part 1: The Budget By Emma Hla + Jay Archer Floral Design

Wedding Planning Tips: Budgeting for Centerpieces By Green Weddings Shoes

*Please note that some blog posts about wedding flower costs may be outdated or may be higher or lower than the flower costs in Calgary, Alberta as flower prices do fluctuate with the market and many regions in the USA and other countries have a more plentiful resource of local cut flowers to choose from. Due to the low Canadian Dollar it is costing local Calgary wedding florists more to purchase flowers.

Flowers by Janie is a boutique floral design studio that creates statement floral designs for weddings and events. We serve couples in Calgary, Canmore, Banff, and surrounding areas in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. For more information about wedding flower pricing, please inquire with us today!

*This blog was in no way intended to offend anyone. It is meant to educate couples on the real costs of wedding flowers.

Photography Credits:

Justine Milton Photography | Corrina Walker Photography | Kim Payant Photography