Waste not!

Yesterday I talked about things you should know when looking for and booking a florist. Today I'd like to give you a few ideas to help you get the most out of your money and flowers.

Like I wrote yesterday, flowers are mother-effing expensive. If I had to guess, I'd say it's our third biggest expense after the reception and photographer. But I wanted quality and I knew our florist, Blooms by Plantscaping, would deliver. Because we're spending so much, I wanted to make sure that we didn't waste one single cent! Here are a few ways we're doing this:

1. Use a single type of flower for your and your bridesmaids bouquets and make sure those flowers are in season. Also, big flowers mean you need less stems. My bridesmaids are carrying hydrangeas so hopefully only a few stems will be needed. If the single-flower idea isn't your thing (which is totally fine), then at least make sure the flowers you want are in season. Peonies in February are going to cost you a pretty penny.

2. Figure out where you can re-use flowers. At the reception, the bridesmaid bouquets will also serve as the flowers for the head table. At the ceremony, our centerpieces will serve as aisle and "altar" decor (it's not really an altar, but that's the best way to describe it). This eliminates the need to pay for flowers for 2 separate spaces.

 (This is an example of a bouquet re-used on the table. You'd never know, right?)

3. Have you florist create a variety of centerpieces. Obviously, taller/larger centerpieces are going to be more expensive than shorter/smaller centerpieces. While brides often do half and half, to save even more money think about doing 2/3 small and 1/3 tall. A good florist will know how to set up the tables so it looks cohesive.

I hope these tips were helpful to some of you. And if not to you, then maybe pass them along to newly engaged friends :)

How are you getting the most bang for your buck?

**All photos in this post are from the Blooms website