Most wedding budget planners advice you to allow 8 to 10% of your wedding budget for your flowers. This of course includes all the flowers for the wedding ceremony and the reception decorations as well as your bouquet and those for your attendants as well as the boutonnieres for male members of the wedding party. While 8-10% may not sound to bad, the reality is if you are not careful that percentage can soar well above even the 10%. So what is a budget minded bride to do?

One of the easiest ways to keep floral cost down is to keep the season in mind when choosing flowers. Flowers that are in season will always have a lower cost than flowers that are not in season. The same rule applies to types of flowers, more common flowers will be less costly than exotic flowers such as orchids. Another very easy way to make sure that your wedding flowers don’t blow your budget is to use lots of greenery instead of lots of floral stems. Greenery such as ferns and ivy can go a long way in filling up a space for little cost. Often times you can borrow ferns from friends and family and save even more.

Keeping with the seasonal flower idea, you might try buying pots of seasonal flowers from your local big box stores or other retailers. For instance if you are planning a December wedding, potted poinsettias are plentiful and cheap at Christmas time. You can wrap the pots with tulle or some other coordinating fabric and have a gorgeous, inexpensive display of flowers. Other readily available seasonal potted flowers are bulbs in the springtime (daffodils, tulips, hyacinths) or chrysanthemums and pansies in the fall. You could also use pots of greenery wrapped in tulle and perhaps tied with a bow in your wedding colors for another way to make a big statement with little cost.

These potted flowers can be used to decorate the ceremony location and then transported to the reception to decorate for even more savings. Of course you have to have people and vehicles available to move the flowers, so keep that in mind and plan accordingly.

Ask around, at local retailers to find what kind of potted flowers they regularly have in the season that you are planning for your wedding. You can then decide if one of them will fit with your chosen wedding colors and theme. You might also ask about a discount if you purchase several pots of flowers, you never know you might be able to save even more.

Another benefit of this budget wedding flowers idea is that you can plant the flowers in your yard and have a long lasting memento of your wedding.

For a free wedding budget calculator and lots more budget wedding ideas click here now.

Flowers are expensive, some varieties are more expensive than others. Even so, flowers will usually play a part in your decorating for your wedding reception and if you are not careful you can blow your budget on flowers alone.

It should go without saying but, remember that whatever flowers you choose should be in keeping with the style and theme of your reception. You wouldn’t choose sunflowers if your wedding reception decorating is taking a more formal slant. On the other hand, sunflowers would be perfect for an outdoor, picnic type of reception.

In order to keep your budget under control, be especially careful in your selection of flowers by following these simple tips:

• Using only flowers that are in season
• Avoid using expensive orchids or other exotic flowers
• Using massive amounts of relatively inexpensive greenery
• Make sure that the floral arrangements you choose for the ceremony can also be used for the reception

If you are the creative type or have family members that are you might consider creating your own floral arrangements. You can learn more about creating your own flowers from this site.

A simple, elegant and very inexpensive idea for decorating the tables at the reception is the use mirrors and votive candles. Start with a white tablecloth then add a table runner that coordinates with your wedding color scheme. (Have a friend or family member who sews make these table runners to save even more.) Top this with a mirror, (you can rent or purchase these, the florist my daughter used allowed her to use their mirrors at no additional cost) and a glass bowl with a votive candle inside, arrange greenery around the bowl and you have a beautiful centerpiece at very little cost. If you want you can omit the table runner and add a ribbon bow for color, or sprinkle colored confetti or silk rose petals on the table.

Helium filled balloons if done tastefully can also be used in place of expensive flowers. Choose balloons in coordinating colors or perhaps, gold, silver or white and use ribbon in your wedding colors to create arrangements to use in the corners of the reception location. This will add extra color without costing a fortune.

Be creative, and remember simple decorations are often more elegant than their more elaborate counterparts.