Budget-conscious brides are turning to fauxliage
When it comes to wedding planning, budgets often come front and centre. From photography to event hire, it feels like prices instantly leap up when the ‘W’ word is mentioned and floristry is no exception. Though there’s no doubting that huge amounts of time and energy go in to making the perfect floral arrangements, an increasing number of brides are being put off by rising prices, and instead of the real thing, they’re turning to fauxliage to cut costs.
In the last five years, the UK has seen a 250% growth in the number of people searching for artificial wedding bouquets online. Google Trends data also shows that searches for ‘artificial wedding flowers’ and ‘paper flower bouquets’ have shot up, each more than doubling in the same timescale.
New research from Blooming Artificial sought to find out what’s driving the sudden boom in bridal fauxliage, and it looks like the rising cost of real cut flowers is to blame. In a survey of more than 2,000 people around the UK, Blooming Artificial found that:
85% say the cost of wedding flowers is unfair
48% would prefer to spend on fake flowers for their big day
Many survey respondents said that they would be happier to spend money on fake flowers which they could keep, re-use or sell after the wedding day is over, with the vast majority stating that the price of real flowers is unfair.
With the average UK couple spending around 900 on flowers alone for their wedding day, and the cost of wedding floristry rising more than 10% in the last few years, it’s almost no surprise that around half of us would rather fake it.
There are a number of reasons why brides-to-be are turning to artificial wedding bouquets in place of the real thing, says Blooming Artificial’s Business Development Manager, Alick Burnett, from budgeting and a desire to keep bouquets as a memento, to avoiding the risk that flowers have wilted or failed to open ahead of the big day.
Other reasons for choosing fauxliage include wanting flowers that can travel in suitcases to weddings abroad, and watching out for pollen allergies. Artificial flower arrangements can also be used to dress a venue further ahead of schedule, without the risk that the flowers wilt and shed petals before the wedding itself and if you don’t want to hold on to them, any that are in their original condition can be sold on elsewhere in order to recoup part of your wedding spend.
Image: Blooming Artificial
