Some brides will not have any cocktail hour flowers and some brides will have more flowers here than at their ceremony. Typically your cocktail hour flower budget should be anywhere from 5%-15% of your total budget, depending on how many tables are out, how many bars you have, if there are any stationary hors d’oeuvres, and if your place card table is a part of our cocktail hour. Some venues allow brides to re-use the cocktail hour as a late night lounge for guests to get away from the music so that might affect how much attention you’d like to spend in this area.
To review once again, here’s what you might expect to pay for your total flower budget based on each specified overall wedding budget:
$2,000.00-$2,500.00 8%-10% of an under 25k overall wedding budget (based on 25k)
$3,000.00-$3,750.00 8%-10% of a 25k-50k overall wedding budget (based on 37.5k)
$5,200.00-$6,500.00 8%-10% of a 50k-80k overall wedding budget (based on 65k)
$8,000.00-$10,000.00 8%-10% of an 80k and up overall wedding budget (based on 100k)
You should expect to spend about 5%-15% (7.5% for our math purposes) on your Cocktail Hour flowers. That would break down to:
$150.00-$187.50 – under 25k overall wedding budget
$225.00-$281.25 – 25k-50k overall wedding budget
$390.00-$487.50 – 50k-80k overall wedding budget
$600.00-$750.00 – 80k and up overall wedding budget
Here is a list of places you might want to include flowers in your cocktail hour:
Low-top tables for guest seating
High-top tables for guests standing and chatting, putting their drinks down, etc
Bar(s)
Stationary hors d’oeuvres table(s)
Place card table
Gift table
Guest book table
Bathrooms
You might also see lounge furniture, a special photo booth area, and many of these items might be in your reception area. This just gives you a comprehensive list of your options as every venue is different and every bride’s vision is different as well.
Low-top and High-top Tables: Low-top tables are usually no larger than 48″ around, seating up to 6 guests comfortably. They are more often 36″ round which seat 4 guests so your arrangements for these tables can’t be very elaborate and large because there’s such a lack of space on the table top. These tables are almost twice as small as your reception dinner tables. High-top tables vary in width as small as 24″ and as large as 36″ so keep that in mind as well. They are 42″ tall so you can play with the height of these flower arrangements if you wanted to and people wouldn’t be bothered too much. A simple cluster of candles on each table will run you anywhere from $5.00 and adding a few loose blossoms or flower petals might make each table $15.00. A small vase arrangement- 4″ wide perhaps- might run you anywhere from $20.00-$75.00 and a thin, tall and sleek arrangement for your high-top tables might run anywhere from $30.00-$125.00. Of course, you can always save money and not have any flowers here at all as your guests will not be spending that much time in your cocktail hour area. You can also re-use any ceremony aisle adornments on these tables if they’re not too large.
image by Melissa Koren Photography
image by David Murray Photography for Beautiful Days
image by Patrick McNamara Photography for Beautiful Days
images above by Studio Nouveau
image by Patrick McNamara Photography
image by Matthew Lomanno Photography
Bar(s): The most cost effective way to decorate your bar(s) is to re-use your bridesmaids bouquets or any aisle adornments you might have from your ceremony. Putting an arrangement on one or both of the ends of a bar is a great way to keep things tied together throughout the wedding, but some bartenders need all the space they can get so make sure your florist asks if there is enough room to place something here. Adding a few candles always creates a soft and intimate glow and is a less expensive way to decorate the bar. If you wanted to create something new for the bars, a 4-6″ wide vase would work well for most locations, and I would suggest staying low with the height as many of your guests will be leaning on and maybe even bumping into the bar throughout the night so low and stable centerpieces is the best way to go. I would budget anywhere from $30.00-$150.00 per bar arrangement.
Stationary Hors D’Oeuvres Table(s): Not everyone will have a stationary hors d’oeuvre table–but if you happen to, adding flowers can add just enough appeal. Typically the table is heavily displayed with scrumptious food, so either a tall arrangement or smaller vase arrangement – like a 4×4 in size – is appropriate that way food can easily be arranged. A new arrangement can be created for this table, or to save on your budget, flowers from the ceremony can be re-used (aisle dorments are great for this!). Some brides tend to have ice sculptures or stands for food to be displayed on and are sometimes a little plain. Just by adding a cluster or hedge of flowers in front of the sculpture or container will add just enough interest. Typically, the food speaks for itself, so spending much of your budget here isn’t always necessary; think about $50.00 to $350.00.
image for Beautiful Days
image by Bruce Plotkin Photography
Place Card Table: Venues typically use a 6′ or 8′ banquet table for place cards, however, we personally like using a 60″ or 72′ round situated near the entrance into the reception table. Rounds are nice because the arrangement can be quite substantial, and cards can easily be displayed in the round so that guests can reach with ease. The table can vary from a very simple layout of place cards accented with individual flowers or a decadent arrangement can be on display with ample candle lighting; and for many brides, the place card table is a focal point of the wedding since this is the first site into the cohesiveness of the colors and textures of the wedding. Again to be cost effective and simple, you can layout the cards and use individual flowers to adorn the rows with candles placed throughout. You can also re-use a ceremony arrangement to keep costs low. To spruce up the ceremony arrangement to give it a different feel from the ceremony, you can add additional flowers. For example, if your ceremony arrangements were all white and your reception colors are pink and green, you can add in pink and green florals to switch up the look. Also, you can simply add in curly willow branches to the arrangement to make more of a statement. If you want to make something new for your place card table, think about using a “different” container that fits in with the style of your wedding. The container can be of any shape or size; typically we like to use taller containers (around 30″), either fluted, stove-pipe or trumpet style. Flower hedges can be used to surround the base of the container or place cards can rest on top–and of course, candles are always welcomed on the table. For the table, I would budget anywhere between $50.00 to $750.00.
image by Patrick McNamara Photography
image by Bruce Plotkin Photography
image by Melissa Koren Photography
image by Beth Fitzgerald at Blush Imagery for Beautiful Days
image by Patrick McNamara Photography for Beautiful Days
Guest Book and Gift Table: The guest book and gift tables typically use a banquet-style table and can be simply adorned with flowers. You can re-use bridal bouquets or aisle adornments from the ceremony and place the arrangements in the back corners of the table to allow for enough room. For the gift table, you can use a few simple flowers to place by a container – like a basket – for cards, if you are using one. For the guest book and gift table, I would budget between $25.00 and $150.00.
image for Fresh LiME Events
image by Bruce Plotkin Photography
Bathrooms: For bathrooms, reusing bridal bouquets or ceremony flowers – like aisle dormants – are totally fine. If you have it in your budget to create new arrangements, a simple small vase arrangement works well. Remember that in most bathrooms, counter space may be slim so the arrangement does not need to be large. For a men’s room, its nice to add a potted plant rather than a flower arrangement for a more masculine look and feel — a phalaenopsis orchid is always a nice choice and can be taken home with you. I would budget between $10.00 and $50.00.
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