It’s love… pure and oh so sweet! Our love for flowers is real and yours is too… but are you wondering why Wedding Flowers cost so much?
We understand budgeting for a wedding can be tricky and flowers are either a high priority for you or something that is the least of your concerns and either way that is totally a ok! Everyone’s priorities vary and your day should be your way!
If you follow Ivy & Bleu you would already know that most of the team are florists too! Flowers and floristry is something not only close to our heart but over the years has become an integral part of our business.
As we have grown so too has our floral offering. We hear oh so often, “Wedding Florals are so expensive”… or “they are more expensive just because of the word ‘Wedding’…”
We are here to give you the lowdown on what goes into creating unforgettable florals for your special day. From the down and dirty jobs, to the jaw dropping finished product, we are here to explain why they are worth the investment!
We start here…
Your Initial consultation! You have booked in your meet up with us to chat all things florals and we are both super excited! We love seeing what our couples dream day looks like and how we can bring that dream to a reality.
We scroll through your Pinterest feed to find that you are a little more traditional, you love the classic white and green; or you’re a bit more daring and want pops of colour; you love orchids or perhaps your theme is inspired by Greece and you’re more of a olive leaf kinda couple. Whether it be simple or it be extravagant we see your vision (even if sometimes you don’t) and we quote accordingly. There are many factors at play when quoting for us such as floral density, scale and size, type of flowers, season etc
With all of the paperwork out the way we have locked you in and we cannot wait for your day to arrive! We only wish it was sooner. Months go by and 5 weeks prior to your big day we touch base for all of your final floral inspiration. It may vary slightly but all-in-all you are still a flower lover and have now probably become a floral expert yourself!
We then begin your flower order process. Unlike retail florals, these are not as easily available (especially if you are wanting a specific type of flower or colour palette). We place a “Wedding Order” to ensure we have the best chance of getting exactly what you want. Placing this order 4 weeks in advance means we pay a higher price per stem then what you can buy locally at the markets but god knows it is worth it! It is essentially piece of mind to make sure we get the exact type of white roses “Playa Blanca” that you love (and that everyone else loves too). Without placing an order in advance we risk not having that sentimental bloom you have spent the last year of your life obsessing over. Each flower order can take between 30 minutes to 2 hours to work out stem count, cost to stay on budget etc and we have to get it all in early so that other event florists and retail florists don’t snap all of them up!
Your order is in!! Yay!! For the most part every single floral you have dreamt of and love is all yours (sometimes with exceptions to what is available we may need to sub for something similar or of the same colour but it’s ok because you are in the hands of the professionals. We will only order florals that compliment the rest of your floral pickings)
Where are your florals ordered from?
A lot of those beautiful blooms you love are all imported florals. Why? Because imported florals are the creme de la creme! They are the cherry to your sundae and they are delicious!! We do use a lot of seasonal local product as well so it’s a even mix of what is coming from where.
It is easy to forget that flowers are flowers… they don’t just appear in shops or retail boutiques. Flowers are a product of nature. Each and every seed is planted, every flower is grown, cut, packed and then shipped from overseas. This process alone takes 4 – 5 weeks. So the beautiful Columbian rose stem in your bouquet is in fact from Columbia…. and it has been flown in from Columbia….Pest controlled and flown interstate, shipped to Brisbane and unpacked and repacked by our local flower market and then lovingly babied by us.
Why do we choose imports over locally grown? We love local grown flowers and in some instances these maybe exactly what we need, but for us here at Ivy & Bleu so much of what our clients love are imports. Australia’s weather is not always an ideal climate for most growers and florists and whilst we adore local flowers and local roses sometimes they don’t has as much longevity needed for events on masse. Do they cost more? Yes! We pay between $110 – $220 just to ship these babies for you. But YOU deserve nothing but the brightest, fullest and most luscious florals. Ordering imports ensures that you receive the best quality and the best selection and we would only give our couples the best of the best!
Where to from there?
This is when all of that initial planning, sourcing and ordering comes to life and Ivy & Bleu start working their magic!
We begin Day 1!
Bright and early… VERY BRIGHT and EARLY!
One of our beautiful florists wakes before the sun comes up, jumps into our van and heads straight to the flower market.
Queue start of day.
6AM: Flower Market Once she arrives at the market she will begin hand-picking extra beautiful blooms based on what has just become seasonally available … she will also check over and pack all of our pre-ordered blooms ensuring that all of our stock is loaded into the van safely and the not only the quality is up to standard but also the colour shades matches your brief (mother nature can turn one shade on blush into brighter pops of pink at her whim).
9AM: Floral Studio
Once she arrives she will fill at least 20 buckets of fresh water (in pre cleaned and bleached buckets) ready to unload the flower filled van. Your florals are unwrapped from their packaging (plastic, rubber bands, cardboard) and the floral stems are cut and stripped removing all thorns and unwanted leaves and then placed into the buckets to hydrate.
These buckets are moved inside out of the heat and we will begin the split. The splitting of florals means that each flower is allocated to its designated wedding and the bridal bouquet flowers, centrepieces, arbour flowers etc are placed in seperate vases. As we have multiple weddings on per week this process can be repeated up to 10 times for 10 weddings.
These are then all placed into our fridge overnight to continue the hydrating and opening process.
Insert clean up. The least exciting part of the job but after unpacking and prepping hundreds of flowers we need to dispose of all cut stems, stripped leaves, boxes etc. All of our waste is separated into plastic and green waste, ready for a clean working environment the very next day.
This process often takes a team of florists an entire day…..and we haven’t actually begun the process of creating any of your florals!
4PM: End of day 1.
Queue Day 2 & 3!
9AM: Floral Studio
We arrive the very next day to our studio and head straight to the fridge to check our beautiful blooms are wonderfully hydrated and petals are plump and ready to become little tiny masterpieces all on their own. Each rose is individually flexed by gently peeling each and every petal back and under (for anyone that has ever flexed a rose you know this takes not only time but also skill to ensure the petal is not bruised or torn).
We then begin prepping of bridal florals. This is our favourite part! Creating that magical bouquet of your dreams that will be held throughout your special day.
Your bridal bouquet is so important and so it should be! The attention to detail and the time spent on your Bridal flowers is paramount. These are definitely not whipped up in a second. Good things take time and your bridal florals are no exception. We take such pride in what we deliver and if your Bridal Bouquet isn’t perfect we will keep making it until it is! We usually do this first up in the day when we are fresh, bright and feeling super creative.
Then we begin Bridesmaid bouquets, buttonholes, lapel corsages etc. Again Bridal florals are timely, in particular Buttonholes. These little babies may be small but boy-oh-boy are they fiddly!
Then we move onto your table centrepieces. Table centrepieces vary so much but for the most part these also need to be prepped even before we put anything together. We are seeing a trend in free foam centrepieces which we love but these require us to individually wire your vases. Foam based centrepieces require soaking.. again buckets of water are involved and oodles of time.
What next? So all things bridal and reception florals are done. Placed into vases of water or on our shelves back into our industrial fridge. All other florals for arbours, signage, hanging installation are also prepped and placed into buckets.
We then go into quality control checking that all of these blooms are perfect, take copious amounts of photos (and if you know Ivy & Bleu you know we loveeee a photo and a good Insta-story) and post your Bridal Bouquet videos to social media for you to go and gah over sharing with your maids and friends that finally that is YOUR bouquet being shared on our socials.
4PM: End of day 2 and 3 as these are made over the course of 2 days.
WEDDING DAY
Queue Day 4!
So its your wedding day! The best day of your life and you are eagerly awaiting the Ivy & Bleu van’s arrival so you can see your beautiful florals. But before we do, behind the scenes we are still at it!
6AM: Ivy & Bleu Warehouse
Here goes that 6am start again… our girls arrive to our warehouse to pull out all of your florals from the fridge.
Your bridal flowers are individually wrapped, watered and are carefully placed in large white boxes and protected with tissue paper. We then pack all Florals safely into our van. Ready for the 1hr or so drive to your wedding venue. We also check over everything we have spent the last 2-3 days making sure nothing is bruised or battered and still looking AHH-MAZZZING!!
8-9AM: Delivery of Bridal Flowers
On our way to the venue we make the detour to your Bridal Suite and hand deliver your gorgeous Bridal Bouquets. This is often the moment that brings tears to our Brides eyes (and ours as well) We manage to blubber out the in’s-and-outs of how to hold your florals (usually to a Bridesmaid, mother or close friend who isn’t crying) and how to take care of them safely before you walk down the aisle.
9AM: Arrive at Venue
We arrive at the venue to begin work on your hanging installation. Hanging installations are lush and we are here for it!! They are the focal point to your reception and they are big! As these often hold a lot of weight overhead we are required to have these rigged to ensure that your overhead install is safe and sound. This requires 1x rigger and then a few hours work for 2x florists to create a beautiful feature for your reception. We then move onto your arbour pieces, signage florals and any other floral details to your day, ensuring that every single stem is placed in exactly the right position.
Lastly we would do a general tidy of all of all areas of your venue, ceremony and reception and begin packing the van back up.
Queue finish of day! … Just kidding….we begin the drive back to our studio.
What happens next? Who takes your florals away or do I get to keep them?
Of course! You can keep your bouquets, your Aunt Edna can have a floral deco (but she cannot have the vase it is in) but for the most part you aren’t too worried about your florals and you are off enjoying your newly wedded Married Life; sipping champagne somewhere beautiful!
Most venues require a midnight bump out. Yes midnight or just before!
This means that two of our team members drag themselves out of bed (literally) and remove your florals from hanging installations, arbours tables etc at the end of your wedding. You bet that our girls are not getting paid minimum wage at 12 o’clock at night. Outside of normal staff working hours means higher rates and rightfully so.
Queue 10PM.
10PM: Floral Studio
Jump into the van at our Molendinar studio … drive to your venue and begin deconstructing and disposing of the days florals. This often takes a few hours. We then have to do another clean up onsite and begin the 1hr drive back to the warehouse. Where possible we gently baby your flowers (venue allowing) and leave them there for you to collect the next day.
12PM – 1AM: End of Day 4!
Queue Day 5!
9AM: Floral Studio
The next morning one of the girls will take the foliage/ florals to the tip to dispose and do a sneaky drive thru to get a very well earned coffee – double shot latte on oat milk please!
And there you have it – A break down of all that is involved in the costing for your florals. Plus throw in your initial quotation process, liasing back and forth via email, costs of running 2 vans, travel costs, water, refrigerator running costs, higher weekend rates, additional staffing, rent, marketing, dump fees & tax.
We cannot stress how much we love what we do and how much love goes into creating beautiful florals for you but there is definitely a lot more time, effort and expenses involved than what most people think!
Behind the scenes after putting love and care into your floral arrangements for the last week our most memorable moments are seeing your face light up after your florals have completely transformed your wedding. When you receive your photos back and completely fall in love with your beautiful classic bouquet with those fully flexed Columbian Roses (from Columbia!)
And that… is when you realise it is all worth the investment!
