Why do wedding suppliers have minimum spends?
What is a minimum spend and why does it exist?
A minimum spend ensures your floral designer can create the quality, scale, and style you’ve fallen in love with. It’s about helping to educate couples on the time, materials, and expertise needed to consistently deliver beautiful weddings. Flowers are a luxury material and bringing your vision to life takes not only design skill, but also months (or even years) of planning and logistical know-how. A minimum spend guarantees that the service you receive, aligns with the experience and style showcased in your floral designers portfolio.
Laura Wade Photography
How to determine your floral budget…
Your floral budget depends on how important the atmosphere and overall visual impact are to your wedding day. Flowers often serve as the foundation for transforming a venue, setting the mood, and creating an unforgettable experience for you and your guests. If large impactful floral installations, statement pieces, or intricate tablescapes are central to your vision, you may find yourself investing more heavily in this area.
Start by thinking about what role florals will play in your day. Do you envision flowers as subtle accents or as dramatic focal points that define the space? Your initial budget is a starting place, but it’s natural for this to evolve as you explore ideas and understand what’s required to achieve the scale and style you’re dreaming of. Collaborating with your floral designer will help you balance your vision with your investment, ensuring every element feels meaningful and impactful.
Katie Melling Photography
Laura Wade Photography
What does a minimum spend include?
A minimum spend covers much more than just flowers. It includes the designer’s expertise, creative time, and the extensive planning needed to make your vision a reality. From sourcing the highest quality flowers to crafting and installing your arrangements, there’s a lot happening behind the scenes. Factors within the logistics such as staffing, transportation and setup equipment to create incredible wedding days are all part of working in events. By meeting the minimum spend, you’re ensuring every detail is carefully planned and executed to the highest standard.
What do other couples usually spend?
There’s no ‘normal’ amount that couples spend on wedding flowers because every wedding is unique, with different priorities and styles. Wedding flowers are bespoke, and the cost is influenced by many factors, including the scale of the design, the types of flowers used, the complexity of logistics, and the overall atmosphere you want to create.
For smaller weddings florals, around £5k and under, designs tend to focus on key elements like bridal party bouquets, minimal table details, and a few carefully chosen design touches or one larger feature. Midrange budgets, from £6k to £20k, often include lush table centerpieces, multiple venue installations for a more polished high end style. For couples investing £25k and beyond, the vision involves large-scale productions with intricate installations, dramatic full venue transformations, and a luxury, almost set-design level of visuals.
Your budget reflects how much of a role flowers play in creating the atmosphere for your day. Whether you’re looking for minimal elegance or a full-scale immersive florals, your designer can guide you through options that align with your vision and ideal spend.