We often see how people are surprised by how expensive flowers are. To help you understand where the prices come from, we put together the main reasons why a flower arrangement costs what it does.
Production: First thing to remember is that growing flowers is hard work and every step of the process takes time and money. If you have a garden or if you ever planted bulbs for spring, you know that process goes from seeds, to garden maintenance, care, and the final harvest.
Logistics: Many flowers are grown abroad and travel long distances to florists for arrangement and sale. Some wholesalers deliver flowers right to our door, but we often have to drive to the supplier to pick up the orders as well. While the product is infinitely better and has a smaller carbon footprint, you can imagine what a time consuming process that might be. The other option is paying for a flower shipment to come over on the ferry but then we have additional travel expenses on top of the basic ones.
Care: Flowers are delicate so they require extra care while picking, traveling, and processing. Because flowers need to be transported and handled so carefully the process takes more time and thus more money. If blooms are bruised or crushed in the process they can not be used. Or at least, here at So Blooming Beautiful, we don’t. When they arrive, each bunch is accounted for, stems are cleaned of foliage, freshly cut, and put into fresh water.
Talent and effort: All flower arrangements are works of art. Countless hours go into the placement and design of each arrangement and floral piece. Everyday arrangements take experience, patience, and creativity to master.
Delivery: After designs are ready, transporting and delivering flowers is not the same as shipping other things. To transport and deliver flower arrangements, each one must be packaged, misted and placed into the vehicle to arrive perfectly.
You get what you pay for: When you deal with less expensive flowers or supermarket ones, unfortunately, you usually get poor quality and a short life span. At the other end higher prices can mean:
The design will take longer to be done;
The flowers are bigger, rarer and or in a larger quantity;
The design itself is unique for that client.
So when you see the price on a flower arrangement, remember that you are not only paying for beautiful flowers, but you are paying the farmer who planted your seeds, grew them, and harvested them. You are paying your florist to plan, order, process, design, pack, set up, and clean up. Flowers are special, as are the artists and farmers who help to bring them to you.