Florist explains why wedding flowers are going up in price
The wedding industry is booming again as many central Indiana couples tie the knot after a two-year delay.
In a five-part series, Lakyn McGee looks at the pandemic’s effect on weddings.
Part 1 | Part 2 |
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — It’s wedding season, and some couples are finally getting married after the coronavirus pandemic interrupted their plans.
Flowers are an important part of any wedding, and with so many rescheduled weddings on the calendar, demand for floral arrangements is up.
“Everyone is wanting to get their canceled wedding in now. We are definitely busy,” Bri Hewitt, a florist at Oberer’s Flowers in Carmel, told News 8.
Hewitt says it wasn’t uncommon for couples to have to cancel their orders because of coronavirus. Florists once canceled an order because a bride tested positive for COVID-19.
“Some of those people, unfortunately, had to postpone more than once,” Hewitt said.
Just as the calendar fills up with weddings, wedding flower costs are hitting couples’ wallets hard.
Hewitt has been a florist for 12 years and has seen prices go up and down. She says wedding flowers are expensive right now because of a lack of product and expensive shipping.
“Shipping costs are way up because of the pandemic,” explained Hewitt. “We’re seeing it more on that side as opposed to just because weddings are increasing.”
High costs may cut short a couple’s dreams of saving money on wedding flowers or even having flowers at all.
A study done by The Knot, a wedding planning app, showed that in 2018, the average cost of wedding flowers was $1,800. In 2019, that cost was $2,000, and last year, it jumped to $2,300.
Even as flower prices rise, customers keep coming into Oberer’s, and the staff tells News 8 that things are starting to return to normal with most of the previously-postponed weddings back on.
Hewitt says that’s a big change from the height of the pandemic when staff at Oberer’s relied on curbside pickup and deliveries to keep the business running. Most of their business moved to Zoom calls because people were afraid to be indoors.