Florist wants 800 minimum in LABOR costs!

Wow! Where are you located? That is crazy. My florist will only book 3 weddings per weekend, but she was totally willing to work with me despite my order being pretty small (ie no centerpieces or decorations - just bouquets, corsages and bouttenieres). We paid a little over $400 for our flowers.

Ali...that is awesome that they are working with you =)

I am in Portland Oregon but from San Francisco and used to live in New York..so I know and understand high prices but I think for where I am at, 800 just for labor is insane. If she wont work for less than that, then I guess she doesn't need me. Oh well. haha

Go with silk. It will be much easier for you to make, or even have someone make them for you. Plus you can get them done well ahead of time and not worry about it.

Me? I went with silk. I got them from a website called Budget Bride. For a bit over $300 I got my bouquet, 3 BM bouquets, a grooms bout, 5 GM/fathers bouts, and 2 wrist corsages for the mothers. I love my flowers, they are great. Mind you I did roses and not daisies, but I'm sure daisies will look just as great.

If you don't want to spend time or money on your flowers then silk is a great way to go. I can suggest some other websites if you're interested.

That is insane. I am having silk flowers total of 5 bouquets and 5 boutteniers. Im doing them myself.

We are getting:

6 bm bouquets

1 jbm bouquet

1 bridal bouquet

8 boutonnières

5 corsages

All for $700

So yes the quotes you are getting are INSANE!

If you only want Daisys you can buy them in bulk from Costco for $200 and make the bouquets easily.

I agree, do your own! Or find another florist.

Yeah, these prices are crazy! I'm doing real bouquets from Trader Joes or the farmers market the Thursday before. If all else fails, I'll go somewhere and buy 5 really big flowers and we can each hold one.

Rock on ladies!

Nice to hear so many of you are DIYing the flowers. I am watching some youtube videos about gerbera daisy bouquets and how to make them.

I will also look into silk....because I can't kill those...which is nice ^_^

We ran into this problem with some of the "big city" vendors. They want to charge a $2K MINIMUM for flowers and at least $500-$800 of that was "labor". Give me a break; you are cutting and arranging flowers not re-plumbing my kitchen. The "home town" vendors will charge a fraction of that and I mean one lady quoted me $12 a piece for center pieces and $50 for a huge bridal bouquet. Shop around!

You should look on Thumbtack or Craigslist for a florist. There are a lot of just starting out florist that will work with your budget.

I'm doing just white hydrangeas for my bouquet, 3 bridesmaids, 4 boutonnieres, and two mom corsages. Total is just over $300 for a local florist in Mesa, Arizona.

I bought a 28 piece, silk flower bouquets/boutinniers for 328$ of eBay

Wow I am really so happy with my florist now!!

1 Bridal bouquet

1 Toss bouquet

5 BM bouquets

6 Boutonniere (5 for GM 1 for Officiant)

1 Groom Boutonniere

2 Father Boutonniere

2 Mother corsages

All for just $300! In San Diego!! EEEKKK!! So blessed!

Double post! My Bad!

Dude... Kathryn...I am going to steal your florist! hahaha That is FANTASTIC...especially for SoCal.

Have you checked Beaverton florists or Zest floral design? I don't remember a labor fee or minimum.

Try costco! They have awesome deals.

http://www.costco.com/Solid-Color-Gerbera-Daisy-80-Stems.product.11605217.html

http://www.costco.com/Assorted-Gerbera-Daisy.product.11605220.html

Wowzers... I am doing my own bouquets.. like you, I only have a few. Trader Joes has really pretty flowers. They usually have the daisies as well. Might be worth it in the long run!

I'm getting my flowers from costco. I agree with the other ladies. Take a look at their website.

I strongly encourage you to either keep looking, or do your own. I tried the silk flower thing, but they just did not live up to the hype. I was going to to my own flowers, buying real ones from Costco, but I ended up finding a small shop willing to work with my budget. We're getting the following:

7 bridesmaid bouquets - carnations, hydrangea, and roses

My bouquet - cabbage roses, hydrangea, stephanotis, freesia, and silk lady of the valley (florists buy their silks from specific retailers we don't get access to, so they look real)

6 aisle decorations - huge balls of baby's breath

Arch decoration - hydrangea, carnations, baby's breath, tulips and roses

Baby's breath for all my tables - 21

The total came to under $550 before tax...