It can be challenging to understand how many DIY flowers you will need when designing your wedding flowers. Several factors need to be considered.

• How many arrangements are you planning?
• How many flowers should be in each arrangement?
• What size flowers will you be using?
• What size container or vase will you be designing into?

How many DIY flowers will you need?

1. Create a list

There are three areas where flowers decorate a wedding:

• The Personal Flowers (Bridal Bouquet, Bridesmaid’s bouquets, groomsmen’s boutonnieres, corsages, hair flowers, flower girl petals/posies, tossing bouquet, parents & grandparents, etc.)
• The Ceremony Flowers (Aisle flowers, Ceremony bouquets, Arbor, Guest signing arrangement, etc.)
• The Reception Flowers (Reception Tables, Sweetheart Table, Food Tables, Cocktail Tables, Cake Table, Cake flowers, etc.)

Use this cheat sheet to help you create your wedding flower list.

Pro Tip: As you move down this list, assign each element a rough budget amount to understand what the overall cost of your DIY flowers may be.  You'll learn how to estimate this soon.

2. What is your wedding flower style?

The style informs your flower choice, and your flower choice can make a difference in how many blooms you will need. If you are elegant and lush, many of the flowers you may love are bigger, like peonies, roses, and dahlias. They take up more space in a design, and while they are more expensive, you may need fewer stems. 

If you prefer a wildflower look, the flowers are smaller and varied and, depending on your container size and how big/lush you want the bouquet, you may require more blooms to create the look.

The main idea is that your style will affect the form, shape, and size of the flowers you choose, which will then affect how many flowers you will need per container.

All peonies, ok… imagine that you need 10 ($30). All wildflowers, ok, imagine that you need 1 1/2 bunches ($18) for the same container and size.

3. How lush or simple do you want your DIY wedding flowers?

If you want full and lush designs, you will need more flowers per arrangement. An effective way to understand how many flowers you will need and how much they may cost is to think about how many bunches per design (or area/element) and calculate that number by an average cost per bunch.

If you want full and lush designs, you will need more flowers per arrangement. An effective way to understand how many flowers you will need and how much they may cost is to think about how many bunches per design you think you may need and calculate that number by an average cost per bunch.

Don’t leave, that only sounds hard. Imagine walking into the grocery store and picking up a bouquet (a straight bunch) of stock or snapdragons, that is a bunch. What is the cost of that bunch?

Now imagine you picking and choosing several of these bunches to purchase and build an arrangement, mixing and choosing different varieties. Hold the group in your hand and imagine if that is enough to create the design you want.

Practice this the next time you are at the grocery store, or farmer’s market, or a flower farm stand. Take note of the cost.

(A typical bunch will have ten stems, some are bushy with multiple flowers and will go a long way, and some are a single flower per stem).  

4. What size container will you be using?

In the photo below, on the left, you can see that you may only need one bunch per table if you use bud vases and a small pint-sized vase. On the left, if you want something fuller, it may take 3+ bunches per vase.

How much will your DIY flowers cost?

Pricing your DIY Wedding Flowers.

Here’s an Example: Let’s think about the reception tables. If you are planning 300 guests with 35 reception tables and have allowed yourself:

• a $50 DIY flower budget for lush flowers in a 6″ pedestal bowl per table, you will arrive at $1,750 in bulk DIY flowers.
• If you plan a much smaller container, like a pint jar with a 2.5″ opening you may only need one bunch per table, and you will arrive at $400.
• If you plan only a few bud vases per table, you may arrive at $200 or less.   

Real-Life Example:

Say you are buying DIY flowers online or from a grocery store. The average cost of their bunches can be $12 – $25 (This does not account for shipping and you should consider a certain amount of flowers lost in the shipping process.)

Here is an idea of the cost of DIY flowers for smaller-sized flower arrangements. This graph shows the cost of the flowers for a simple airier look versus a more full, lush look.

DIY Flowers	Simple	Lush
Bridal Bouquet	$35	$75
6 Bridesmaids Bouquets	$90	$120
8 Boutonnieres	$15	$15
4 Corsages	$10	$10
Arbor Flowers & Foliage	$120	$250
Guest book arrangement	$25	$55
Cake flowers	$12	$20
15 reception tables using pint jars	$150	$225
Total Cost	$457	$770

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Note: Be careful, a grocery store bunch often comes with fewer stems, not the industry standard of 10 stems per bunch. This would drastically short you on your estimated needs and skew the price.) 

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Summary

With all the variables to think about, this can be a bit overwhelming. When you book with us and use our locally grown, farm-fresh foliage and flowers, the flowers come with our support.

Fill out the Wedding Inquiry Form to see if we are available to build your Custom Wedding Package and help you figure out your needs or, if your event is very small, you can choose the Small Event option and make an order right now.

Oh!! We have an unmanned farm stand that is open 24/7/365 that we fill with farm fresh flowers during the season April – September. Check out our farm stand.

More information and help:

• The Ultimate Guide to DIY Wedding Flowers
• BeeHaven’s Process for Ordering Wedding & Event Flowers
• What to Expect When Ordering Flowers From BeeHaven Flower Farm
• Woodsy Sunflower Wedding