15 Best Portland Oregon Wedding Florists
In this post, you get the top 15 wedding florists in Portland Oregon, and tips from some of them to make your wedding day even better and get more from your florals.
Choosing a florist is hard, and knowing how to make your wedding flowers go far and reflect you is even harder!
I hear this from my couples and wanted to make a list of florists in the Portland Oregon area that I have either worked with or seen in action. I put them together in a list (not ranking) and all are equally talented. They all have a unique style, so depending on what you prefer, you will find at least one florist from this list that you will connect with.
1. Brier & Ivy
2. The Slow Cult
3. Caroline Reusen
4. Selva Floral
5. IsaFlora Design
6. Blum Floral Design
7. Noble Floral Co
8. Jodi Iverson Floral
9. Swoon Floral Design
10. Fresh Cut Flowers
11. Kristine Ae Jin
12. Bella Bloom Florals
13. Amarie Floral
14. Fleurs Versailles
15. Kvetka Florals
The List:
This changes all the time based on the costs of goods, world events, tariffs, etc. So take it with a grain of salt. I am also no expert - I just get this information from my florist friends.
1. Are the flowers you are wanting in season? If they aren’t local and in season, then they will have to be shipped in from other countries, which adds a lot to the price.
2. Labor: If you want an installation, bouquets, boutonnieres, and table pieces, it takes an entire team to construct those in a short time so they are fresh and look great. It also takes a few days to process the flowers. Things like de-thorning roses, pulling off leaves, waiting for flowers to open up, wrapping the flowers, putting them in refrigerators. The amount of labor involved in making sure the flowers look good, are constructed correctly, and stay alive through your hot summer wedding include a lot of processing.
3. Type of Flower: Some flowers are difficult to grow and thus, result in a more expensive cost per bloom. Brenna from Brenna Burnett Florals told me that the Lilly of the Valley is a very tiny flower with a small stem, and an entire bouquet would cost over $1000 because it requires so many stems for a small bouquet and each stem can cost $30 or more. That is a lot for a tiny flower!
AVERAGE COST OF WEDDING FLORISTS
The average cost of wedding florists will range and the most up to date and real data will come from wedding planners and florists themselves, but I recommend looking at:
Nanty Narking - an instagram page dedicated to wedding pricing transparency.
In the Pacific NW, you can expect wedding florals for a 110 person wedding to be around $10k. This depends on the range of things you are wanting:
- Bouquets
- Tablescapes
- Bar florals
- Dance floor + Cake table
- Boutonnierres
- Installs
All of these things will add to your overall price and depending on the labor and how expensive the blooms you choose are, can impact pricing.
Let them know what your budget is. They can help you choose what would be the best route and the best bang for your buck depending on what is the most important part of your wedding to include flowers.
Let them know what your vision is. They can tell you what really went into all of those Pinterest images. You'll be shocked that Pinterest is full of images of weddings that the floral budget was most likely in the upper range.
Let them know that you trust their decision-making. Florists have done this for a long time and will likely know what will look good and what won't. The work you see on their websites are images of some of their most creative and most fun work. If you allow them to have the ability to be creative and do what they think is best, you will get something better than you could imagine.
Ask them about the process of taking down the flowers after the wedding and if you are wanting to flip the florals (meaning move them from one location to the next between events), ask them what that would look like if you're wanting to reuse your altar for example, as the backdrop behind your sweetheart table. Sometimes florists will come back to help flip or stay, depending on how quickly the flip must happen.
ADVICE ON WHAT TO ASK YOUR FLORIST
Florists pour their heart and soul into their work and they really want the day to be magical. Especially when it comes to photos of their work. They go above and beyond to make sure it looks good and stays fresh all day.
Trust their vision. They know what will work in a specific season or venue. They have done this before and know when flowers might not work together or on a hot day in the sun. They also can give you advice on how to stay within your budget, what truly is required to make your vision come to life, and be a strong advocate for you.
Do your research. I once had a bride who went with a florist that had no experience, and when she got her flowers for her elopement days before the event, they were already browning, not what she had asked for. She would have had no flowers if another florist friend hadn't stepped in and made a whole bouquet, boutonniere, and dog collar together for her and saved the day!
Avoid doing DIY florals. Nothing wrong with them at all, however, looking back on your wedding day, you will realize you spent so much time and effort (if it is you or your mother making it) and didn’t get to really appreciate and relax during the wedding planning process. From a photography perspective, you will really see stems, coloring, etc. can sometimes be off. I get no money from saying this, it is just my experience, but the really dreamy photos and weddings have been the ones where there was money invested in good florals. You’re investing in me to document the feeling of your wedding, and absolutely nothing enhances that feeling more than good florals.
MY EXPERIENCE AND ADVICE FROM WORKING WITH FLORISTS
There are florists who work hard to reduce their carbon footprint to zero. You should find a florist that takes precautions to use items and source items that do not leave a carbon footprint. These are the things that contribute to negatively impacting the environment and how a sustainable florist can counteract that:
Fossil Fuel Use
According to Ethical Unicorn, 80% of flowers come from the Netherlands, Kenya, Columbia, Ecuador, and Vietnam. Nothing wrong with that but the amount of energy and fossil fuel required to transport is astounding.
Pesticide use and water contamination
Choosing to work with a florist that sources most of their flowers locally, and from farms that use sustainable practices, you can support a business that doesn’t add to putting pollutants into our environment.
Waste
Bouquets are typically wrapped in plastic. The shipping containers that they’re in as well as the greenhouses that grow them all use plastic and create waste. Floral foam included. Floral foam doesn’t break down, it has some pretty nasty chemicals in it as well. Sustainable florists will use wire caging or chicken wire to create a frame to build their floral designs. They also use recyclable materials and multiple-use containers so that there is little to no waste.
What can you do?
Ask your florist if you can use flowers that are local and in season.
Ask if they don’t mind refraining from using foam and plastics.
CHOOSE A SUSTAINABLE FLORIST
I have compiled some links with additional information and resources to give you the best possible information to make an informed decision about your wedding florals:
