If you’re planning a wedding, you’re probably already running through all of the ways you can cut things to fit into your budget.  One of the most obvious ways is your budget for flowers and decorations.  There are plenty of reasons to save money here and no reason to spend an arm and a leg! You want to set a mood for your wedding, but most people are not going to be paying a ton of attention to the flowers and decor. You can focus on it if you want to put some of your wedding budget in that direction, but make sure you consider the cost. Here are my tips to save on wedding flowers and wedding decor.

Frugal Wedding Planning | How to Save on Wedding Flowers & Decor

Select an outdoor location

If you choose an outdoor venue for your wedding and reception, it will already look beautiful without spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on decoration.  Let nature speak for itself and keep all of the other decorations very minimal.

Use lots of greenery

If you’re using a florist, tell them you’re interested in using more greenery than flowers.  Greenery is a classic look and it’s way cheaper than a bouquet of roses.

Buy in season

If you’re buying flowers from the florist, make sure you choose flowers that are in season.  If you have your heart set on a particular flower but it’s not in season, it could cost you an arm and a leg.  Choosing flowers that are in season are not only less expensive, but it seems like a more natural and effortless design decision for your wedding.

Hire an inexpensive florist or creative friend

I don’t highly recommend doing all of your flowers yourself, although I’ve heard of people who this totally works out for and they have an awesome experience.  Yes, it’s the cheap way to go but because flowers are living products, they have an expiration date.  You have to wait until the last minute to arrange wedding flowers and it may be added stress you don’t want to handle the day before and day of your wedding.  Consider hiring an inexpensive florist.  You don’t need top notch florists to make beautiful arrangements.  If that’s still too expensive, ask a creative friend who isn’t in the wedding to arrange the flowers.

You can find quality flowers at the grocery stores.  Buy already-made bouquets from the store, take them apart and put them back together in your style.  When you buy the arranged bouquet you get a wider variety of flowers for your money than if you were to buy one bouquet of all the same flower.  My favorite stores for reasonably priced flowers are:  Fresh Market, Trader Joe’s and Publix.

Have bridesmaids carry a single flower or a non-floral bouquet

Let’s face it, your house probably won’t be littered with photos of your bridesmaids holding their bouquets.  If anything, you’ll hang more pictures of you and your husband. So save money on their bouquets and put it toward your bridal bouquet.  Consider having them hold a single show-stopping flower like a peony, king protea or even a hydrangea.

If you want to go even more frugal, don’t have them hold a flower at all.  Choose something that goes along with your wedding’s theme like a pinwheel, paper flowers, or cotton.

Use potted plants as centerpieces

Don’t spend a ton of money on elaborate floral arrangements for the centerpieces.  Plants still give life to the room and they’re not as fussy.  The best part is that they can double as favors.  Whather it’s a fern, something with flowers on it, or another plant, this is a great option.  You can buy succulents very cheaply ($2 or less for tiny ones) and they’re easy to keep alive.

Use bottles for centerpieces

You can find glass bottles for very inexpensive at flea markets or antique malls.  Choose a color that goes along with your theme and cluster them on each table.  They can be clear bottles, brown, amber, green, or even wine bottles.  You can attach the table number to a bottle or add a single flower or two in each bottle to add a little bit of life to them which is still less expensive than an entire arrangement.  After the wedding you can display the entire bottle collection on top of your kitchen cabinets.

If you have clear glass and you want it to be go along with your wedding colors, you can easily stain the glass.

Reuse ceremony flowers at reception

Grab a vase for each table and put the bridesmaid’s bouquets in the vase to add some color for centerpieces or just to line up on a table, a window, or a mantle.  It can create a lot of color rather than letting the bouquets sit unused on a table.  If you’re using big arrangements at the church, bring them to the reception for the food and gift tables.

Use candles

Who said there needs to be flowers at the tables, anyway?  Use a cluster of candles inside hurricanes at each table and add some greenery around the cluster to soften it.  Candles add a romantic feel to the space.

Make sure you check with the venue on any fire restrictions.  Many of them won’t let you have an open flame unless it’s inside of something like a hurricane.  Don’t get your heart set on tapered candles before you check with them.

Use the venue’s decorations

Many venues have decorations on hand for you to use or rent.  You might as well use what they have than paying an arm and a leg to buy it yourself and then never use it again after the wedding.

Do you have any further tips to save on wedding flowers and decor? Let us know in the comments!