To be honest - flowers always have been relatively expensive due to the small quantities produced worldwide in relation to vegetables or crops, but in 2022 florists have seen flower prices rocketing.
What are the reasons?
Brides throughout the UK often choose similar flowers - Blush pink and White roses are prime examples. Simple supply and demand rules come into play!
Unfortunately -There are not an infinite amount of fresh flowers available worldwide.
The main reasons why flower prices have increased:
• Drastically reduced flower production due to Covid. Growers lost a lot of money when weddings were postponed. • Too many buyers – too few flowers. • Weather conditions causing shortfalls that can’t be replaced quickly. • Price increase on sundries due to higher manufacturing costs incurred by social distancing/reduced staffing levels. • Lack of freight space with shipping costs doubling and tripling in price. • Brexit paperwork – small by comparison to above but another cost.
See the full article here:
"Since March 2020 the return to full production has been very slow and the world is nowhere near back to normal supply levels.
Growers have either not had the confidence to grow in the same quantity, physically can’t grow because Mother Nature requires more time, or, in the case of countries like Colombia, Ecuador, Kenya, the ability to ship product isn’t the same as there hasn’t been enough freight space; many flowers are shipped as belly fillers on passenger flights and there haven’t been many of those due to Covid!
In addition, in the first, always more expensive, first-quarter weather has impacted on all major growing areas adding to the problem; for example, in the UK 1.5 million tulips from one British grower didn’t happen because it was too cold, growers in Holland lost crops due to snow destroying greenhouses, and whilst Colombia and Kenya had good conditions, Ecuador saw production slow due to inclement conditions."
Ecuador produces many of the Bridal roses we use in the UK, they had their first-ever snowfall this year!
Locally in Sussex, Dahlia growers had their fields washed away by the sheer amount of rain in August 2021.
The solution?
A couple of things that will help with your budget and peace of mind...
1. Ask for a florists' choice - your florist will then be able to work with your colour scheme and choose the most reasonable flowers for your budget.
2. Try not to ask for certain varieties of flowers - it will certainly increase the overall price plus give your florist a headache as they will have to search lots of wholesalers to find them, with no guarantee that your chosen flower will appear in the flower market that week!
In time prices will return to normal as growers gain more confidence that their products will not go to waste.
If you are planning your wedding for next year check your wedding date asap - bookings are in high demand due to postponements.
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