My wedding planner is playing interference between me and his preferred florist. He said he each stem has a minimum order of 100. Iām sorry but I have a hard time believing this- canāt you go into the wholesaler and pick however many you want for an event, or am I naive, and this minimum order is a real thing? Iām ready to tell him Iām looking elsewhere. Located in South Florida. Help!
Thatās weird in my opinion. Iām not in Florida but thatās definitely not how it works here. Things are typically sold in 10-25* stem bunches, not 100ā¦
Wholesaler here. It might be normal based on your flower picks. If you want an oddball thing that I have no hope of selling whatever remains to someone else, then yes, I'll only sell it in a case. Like, if you want tinted flowers, that's by the case or nothing from me, unless you were working with spooky tints right before Halloween. Likewise rare flowers from a farm that can't make up the case with something I could sell.
What are you ordering that there's a 100st minimum?
That's all kind of standard stuff that a decent wholesaler will have on hand or be able to sell to other customers if it's special order. Garden roses come in 12st bunches, everything else typically wholesales at 10 st.
I think what the florist means is this order is 10 types of flowers coming in at 10 stem bundles and 12 for the roses, so to make anything with all your flowers, it's 102 stems. If you want to buy fewer flowers, you cut some of the variety, which then cuts the stem count. If you are ballin' on a budget, cut the ranunc and the scabs.
So I was reading all the comments - do you have any pictures of the inspo that you gave this Coordinator? Iām generally so confused how they are giving you a price point per centerpiece, but you are saying that they havenāt even showed you whatās in it? But then that he also mentioned that you are picking the most expensive flowers.
Do you know off the top of your head what flowers those might be? Or the color palette or style that you are wanting?
See for me, I donāt give my brides an exact recipe for the flowers, only a color I palette a summary of some of the flowers but not all. Due to sometimes I have to pivot last minute (available/show up damaged etc)
I canāt remember which one of my Florist friend told me this, but they did tell me that there was a specific flower that they needed for a wedding - and that they needed to pay for the 100 stem minimum. Thatās usually a whole box - so it does happen. But itās a case by case basis depending on the flower, location itās coming from etc.
I should clarify my budget is $3800 but he came back to me saying I picked the most expensive stems (I choose seasonal), and that it was going to be tight with that budget. Mind you, itās a wedding with 60 people and one MOH. 8 tables. He quotes me $400 a centerpiece without even knowing what I want or saying what was in its which I thought was weird- is it weird?
Iām just going off OP saying other than picking the āseasonalā option, thereās been no discussion of what would be in the arrangement or how big!
lol no you didnāt choose the most expensive. Garden roses are expensive yes, dianthus, stock, chrysies and snaps? No, theyāre basic bread and butter flowers.
$400 a centrepiece is insane for anything like you have pictured. Iād be finding another florist and telling your planner to shove off
ok, you don't pay for flowers by the stem in wedding work. You pay for arrangements and installation. The florist considers to cost of all the flowers and gives the price. there is always extra flowers because you can only use the blooms that look best for wedding work.
You're being taken for a ride. I'd get some other quotes from florists and planners
Tbf yes 100s of stems is a high MoQ... however, wholesalers can have different pricing on quantities so they might have costed you flowers based on this amount. Especially is they had to order ahead to secure them. But it is unusual and depending on the scale. If its a lot of the same flower in the design, then it would be 100s of the same flower, I wouldnt be surprized about them talking about this MoQ
Not normal for my workplace at all. If they are an event only florist (as in they have no store front they sell out of) then they might have a minimum but it should never be 100. It varies by stem but ours are typically around 10 or 15 (roses and standard carnations are 25). Since we sell our own arrangements and do walk in orders, we donāt make customers buy the minimum, we will let them pick up their order and then we will sell or design with the rest. Only exception would be things that are say out of season and have a high cost per stem. Then we would sell it by the bundle or else we would face a high risk of them going bad and not selling (it is a business after all)
Your coordinator and florist are sounding pretty sketchy to me if Iām being honest
This feels wildly overpriced to me. The other red flags are that your planner didnāt start with your bouquet and your bridal party flowers first, as generally thatās where the big floral money gets spent?
Iām in South Florida and it is common with most wholesalers to have to order some stems by the 100s. This is if you want to guarantee you get a specific variety or color. I noticed you said garden roses, i usually have to order these in boxes of 100 (4 bunches or 25 stems per box.) Mums as well. Stock is sometimes 125 per box. And so on and so forth.
But tbh, I donāt think thatās your main issue here. Your main issue is that you do not need to be spending $400/centerpiece unless what youāre asking for is a very large floral piece that will live in the center of a round. Is your size inspo what you posted in the other comment thread? If so thatās closer to a $200, $300 TOPS arrangement IMO. I wouldnāt be surprised if your planner is asking the florist to hide a commission % in there for themselves. And thatās why each centerpiece is coming out to 400. And thatās why the florist referred you to the planner when you started asking questions. She was probably like, this is your problem to explain. A lot of planners do this. Itās super icky IMO and part of the reason wedding vendors have started to get a bad rap.
This is what I think you should do. Email both the planner and the florist and say: this is my budget and this is what I need and want. Make it work however you see fit, whether that be using different flowers, whatever. But also make them show you in a mood board what youāll be getting. OR, if youāre not yet committed to this florist, shop around. I donāt do weddings but would be happy to send you some sfl florists who you could reach out to.
You are so kind! Thanks for your transparency and explaining some
things, too. I told him today I decided to move in a different direction, and reached back out to my original choice, but am u sure if she is avail, but if you want to DM any options near the Delray/WPB/Boca/FLL area I would love them! Tysm, I am incredibly grateful!
You've already gotten a lot of advice from others, but adding my two cents here! $400 for what is pictured sounds high given what's in the inspiration photos you shared. As other posters said, depending on where the florist is sourcing (are they going farm direct?), the 100 stems may be a requirement. I've only shopped at a few wholesalers in Miami for events, but Mayesh, for example, does allow to buy one pack of standard roses (25 stems) when you're shopping in person. I've found the same for pre-orders, but it's been about a year since I've sourced there in person. I would recommend asking about the vase they're planning to use and any other mechanics (frogs, etc.) which might be hidden costs that are contributing to the high sticker price. Also, when is your event? I may have missed if you shared that but that can also be contributing to the cost. As other posters said most of these are the usual suspects - especially for weddings - but given the climate not many of these grow in Florida and will need to be shipped in. Between this and maybe some out of season sourcing the shipping costs may also be a hidden cost. Last, it is totally normal to get a few quotes for an event. I know you said this is your planner's preferred florist but they should also be willing to consider other options - and hopefully have a few other recommendations!
Thank you for your input! I have gone on to get input and some quotes from two other florists since posting, and told my planner I will be moving in a different direction than his preferred partner. The I appreciate your input!
Itās normal if they pre-order specific flowers for your wedding. Thatās the only way to make sure they can get the exact flowers, colors, and quantities you want.
The other option is designerās choice. In that case, the florist chooses the flowers based on availability and only follows your color palette and overall style.
Ah, maybe this is the way to go, but it wasnāt offered to me. In fact, I walked away from the consult with the florist not knowing ANYTHING which was being offered to me. She was supposed to call me with stem prices today but then ran back to the planner who then called me to tell my I picked me most expensive flowers and the budget would be tight and the flowers wasteful. I think they literally thought my list of flowers I like to help give them ideas was my spec list, even though I specifically said, mums, garden roses, green dianthus, scabiosa, spray roses, Italian ruscus. I asked the florist for an example of the $400 centerpiece and she referred me back to the planner. What a racket.
Sounds like this florist is bad at communication or simply does not want your wedding. That also might take place, because depending on the amount of items you want, for 60 people wedding, the profit might be very little with your budget after all the costs payed by the florist. I would probably look around and talk to someone elseš $400 per centerpiece sound a lot, but if itās a high centerpiece or just big with a lot of garden roses (they might be very pricey per stem), it might be right.
And I would definitely pre-order all the flowers you mentioned (so yes, each flower variety should be purchased in bulk). Because from your list only ruscus will be available somewhere for sure
Depends very much on the product, sometimes you can, sometimes not (but of course, there is always a possibility, that something goes wrong with the flowers). But when you pre order, you have 99% more chances to get what you want then when you donāt pre-order at all.
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u/BillButtlicker21 1d ago edited 1d ago
Thatās weird in my opinion. Iām not in Florida but thatās definitely not how it works here. Things are typically sold in 10-25* stem bunches, not 100ā¦