Money: A Top Marriage Stressor ($25)
This award winning games does not require a financial planner background. This simple to use game will get you and your partner (or parents!) on a new level of understanding about your ATTITUDES on money...spending, saving, security.
No matter what your money views, there is no "right or wrong." A few big "a-ha" moments may greatly help your wedding and married life. read more
Wedding Discounts for Marriage Preparation
You take driving lessons, cooking classes, get coaching on sports, but somehow the most complex, life long relationships are assumed to magically work.
We are teaming up with wedding vendors to offer you wedding discounts for qualifying marriage prep purchases (books and classes.) Get Details
We're Going to Be One Happy Family...or else!
A very unique book written by a nationally respected marriage and family therapist, along side his GenX daughter.
A mother loved our book so much, she bought over a dozen copies to give to everyone in the family! They used the guidance from beginning to end to reduce conflict and avoid the "emotional landmines" that are sure to arise in wedding planning. read more
Wedding Budget Help
Wedding Budget Dilemmas
- Who Pays for the Wedding?
- Should You Elope?
- Saavy Questions to ask Wedding Vendors
- The Power Around Who Pays
- Creating a Wedding Budget
- Wedding Photography and Videography | What Do You Want to Record and at What Cost?
- Should you Splurge? A Decision Guide
- Dilemas: Chosing A Wedding Party
- Wedding Budget
- Create the Guest List or Budget First?
Marriage Prep
4 part weekly class. Interactive, anonomous, online and by phone.
Wedding Flower Budget
Flowers are a near universal in wedding planning. Everyone expects them and whether real, fake (silk flower rentals are the latest floral trend), from a professional florist or Sams Club or the farmers market, wedding flowers are something to put in your wedding budget. Some say flower should be 10% of your budget, but it greatly depends on your location. Natural outdoor settings may need minimal flowers or you may want to have big flower arrangements to "mark" an otherwise undefined space. Indoor places may require a variety of flower arrangements depending on the space.
Wedding Flower Options | Wedding Flower Budget National Averages
Wedding flowers can show up in surprising places. Let's start with the most obvious places most people use flowers and then we'll continue listing all the other places flowers may show up.
- Boutonniers (flowers for groom, groomsmen, bestman, ushers, father of the groom, father of the bride, grandfathers and other important men if you wish, ring bearer, host if you have one)
- Corsages (flowers for mother of the bride, mother of the groom, grandmothers if you wish, hostess)
- Boutonniers and Corasages average spending for 2009 is expected to cost $116.
- Bridal bouquet will average $148 for the year 2009.
- Bridesmaids Bouquets will average $148 for the year 2009.
- Flower girl flowers ($80) and flower petals $87) if she throws them
- Ceremony flowers (average $274)- on the "stage" of the wedding, pews, front doors of the location, inside, really anywhere you feel a need to dress up the location or perhaps stage the location for a wedding if it's otherwise very ordinary
- Reception flower arrangements (average $369) similar to the ceremony, where do you want flowers
- Centerpieces for the reception (average $294)
- Flowers for the wedding cake (often taken from the flowers for the reception)
- Guest Book Table - you may want to decorate the table
- Rehearsal dinner - you may want flowers
- Wedding Favors - some people may forgo wedding favors but have a sticker on one persons table card per table (someone local to the area) and someone announces that whoever has the sticker is the "winner" of the centerpiece when they leave
- Bar table - you may want to dress up the bar with flowers
- Food serving tables - you may want to dress up the food stations with flowers
- Post wedding brunch - fresh flowers or you could bring reception flowers from the day before
Wedding Flower Budget Decisions
Your options include the farmers market (ask around, visit one and get an idea of pricing), a wholesale place like Sams Club, a DIY florist like one of our sponsors where you order direct online but know exactly what you're getting (and can plan ahead), or a florist shop.
Whether you have an artistic flair, or barely have time to plan your wedding will help determine the route you go for flowers. Every decision you make involves money (spending it or saving by DIY) and time (save time outsourcing to a florist and spend someone's time assembling if you DIY.) And this all comes down to your values around flowers, their place in your wedding ceremony and reception and your budget. There is no right or wrong answer and for some people flowers are the visual appeal, the scent, the beauty, the natural element in what may be an indoor setting, and may add to the romance of your day.
Elizabeth Doherty Thomas, is a co-founder of The First Dance, along with Marriage and Family therapist father Bill Doherty. The First Dance is a 2007 Modern Bride Trendsetter award winner for taking on the complex family dynamics of wedding planning. See what engaged couples and wedding professionals are saying about our book Take Back Your wedding. Our entire website is dedicated to offering advice on working through the people stresses of wedding planning as a couple, with your families, and how to strengthen your upcoming marriage through this enormous first task of married life.