A Wedding Florist Tells Us How Inflation Has Changed Their Business (And What It Means For Couples Planning)

Photo by: Lauren Parr Photography

Florist: Poppy Hill Flowers

As a wedding planner (and recent bride) it is painfully obvious that inflation has hit just about every industry, including weddings. It’s been extremely tough to navigate for everyone; clients + vendors equally. To help bring to light some of the impact, I reached out to my florist friend, Laura of Poppy Hill Flowers, who not only has worked with me for years on numerous client weddings, but also created florals for my wedding this past year. Here’s what she has to say:

How has Covid/Inflation impacted the floral industry?

Photographer: Kadi Tobin

Florist: Poppyhill Flowers

The impact of Covid hit the floral industry hard, along with the entire global economy. Shipping delays, farm closures, supply chain issues, recession, and weather have all impacted floral pricing as well availability. When the shocking prices per stem doubled or even tripled in price, we thought this must be temporary. But here we are several years later and although it has stabilized a bit, it still is nothing like it was pre-pandemic. 

There has also been an influx of weddings these last few years so demand is up, yet supply has not caught up. Simple florist staples like floral adhesive, vase sets, and plastic lomey dishes have been back-ordered sometimes for over 6 months. We’ve learned to not take any product for granted, and to purchase early.  

What if a client requests more greenery?

Photo by: Laura Ford Photos

Florist: Poppyhill Flowers

Some people think. “Ok, I’ll add lots of greenery instead of florals to keep costs down” but there are similar issues with foliage. Where we used to be able to purchase huge bundles, now we only get 4-5 stems per bunch and they are often not less expensive than floral stems. 

How has inflation impacted pricing of services?

Photo by: Simply Adri Photography

Florist: Poppyhill Flowers

Vendor relationships have helped a lot in getting the florals we have needed.  Lots of 4am flower market runs and phone calls to see if the florals we ordered have come in. And if not, we work with our wonderful vendors to find beautiful replacements while products are still available. We have had to increase our prices to keep our business sustainable, but we have also adjusted and have been creative in our designs to still produce beautiful products at a fair price. 

What other changes have you made in your business?

Photo by: Kadi Tobin Photography

Florist: Poppyhill Flowers

One thing we have done to change our business is educate the clients from the beginning and have open and honest communication with them and our wedding planners.  We don’t guarantee any specific flower.  Mother Nature has always been in charge (and now with limited availability and increased costs) we let our client know up front that they will need to trust us to adapt if necessary and create a beautiful look. For example, instead of using all high-end garden roses in the bridesmaids’ bouquets, we may layer with standard roses at base and have the garden roses pop out on the second layer to be the star of the show. 

What advice do you have for couples planning?

Photo by: Simply Adri Photography

Florist: Poppyhill Flowers

Trust has always been a big part of a client/vendor relationship. Clients book PoppyHill because they love our aesthetic. Then we ask them to trust our over 10yrs of experience and knowledge to deliver a beautiful product. We work off of color palette, inspiration photos and a description of how you want your day to “feel.” Our reputation is something we have worked hard to build, and our clients happiness is always our goal. 

We are all in this post pandemic world together and we are all smart and creative enough to adapt and adjust together. It’s fascinating to me how flowers just kept growing though all that has happened in our world these last several years. I’ve always learned a lot from the metaphors they provide. Yes, they may take a little longer and cost a little more to get to our weddings, but they never stop growing and always remind us to pause and enjoy the most beautiful things. 

I hope this has helped clarify what is currently happening in the industry + the ripple effect inflation has created. Thank you so much to Laura for her honesty and sharing inside details to her business. I always strive to be open + honest with couples to help educate them on how to make the best decisions for your big day and how to manage your budget. For more help on making your wedding day budget work for you, I have a FREE downloadable wedding budget spreadsheet. Also, you can contact me on my homepage here + we will work together to make your dream wedding a reality!