Wedding centerpieces, ceremony decor, etc

[lil_goldie]

So, in my desire to expand our wedding market, I've been looking at some of your pictures in Paula's famous "wedding pictures" thread.

I've noticed a lot of you are decorating for ceremonies/receptions using ferns, trees, etc.
What do you charge per hour to decorate on location? Do you offer a service to move things from the ceremony location to the reception?


Are a lot of your brides doubling up on items? (i.e. using their altar piece as their head table piece)

Are you renting out the plants or does the couple buy them outright?
Same question for centerpieces: Do you charge the couple for all the containers? Are they theirs to keep?
We don't have a ton of space to get 20 of each type of vase in stock. However, we're a busy shop and we can sell the containers after. But then, that's a whole other charge for picking the stuff up and bringing it back to the shop and cleaning it, etc.

Also, most of the venues around here have their own glass containers. Would you borrow their containers and return them?

I know these are loaded questions! Your best answers are appreciated!

 

[RWK]

I have a rule of thumb I use whenever I am estimating the cost of onsite work.......I take my hourly wage or if you are the owner ( how much you think you would make an hour ) and double that to get my hourly rate for onsite work. Now, I keep a time log with me....If I go to the restroom, I 'clock' out, If I get a call or text that I have to answer, I 'clock' out, and so forth. I make sure that I only charge my client for the actual time I spend actively doing the contracted work.

Rental.......Another rule of thumb that I use..........What ever the retail price of the item..........charge 50 percent of that. That's for everything other than live plants. Unless you have a green thumb and the facilities to really take care of live plants...........It's far less headache to go ahead and sell them at retail and let the guests take them home, or leave at the church, or whatever.

Regarding centerpeices/ containers/ etc....... unless I have written permission to use items that belong to the venue.......I don't even touch them. I charge for the containers and stuff for the centerpeices and let the bridal party give them to selected guests or honored people. Let them worry with them in essence.

Delivery and transportation of items from your store........even if they go from ceremony to reception......anytime your transportation is involved........you charge for it....ideally you charge enough at the booking to cover that.

 

[dlnfloral]

I'm pretty even with Ricky. I will use the bride's containers if she brings them to me or if she has them at the venue. I charge for every stop and for serving the wedding. I will use the venue containers but only if it's just to float a flower in them or petals around them

 

[OB1]

Hi Chantelle,
Yep, we do quite a bit of on site decorating, and usually charge for it. If it's just a matter of the delivery person setting things on the tables, I'll estimate how long it will take, add the associated parking lot fee, and add that...usually 50$ or less. But if design staff have to go to the site to complete the work, then I charge per person, per hour. The fee is different for a full fledged designer, than for an apprentice, or a delivery person...but it usually works out to around 50$ per person, per hour.

We have always suggested that our brides consider 2 uses for each item they purchase. So an altar table arrangement can become head table cp, or pew markers can dress gift tables, or even centerpeices. Altar arrangements on pedestals are great for the entrance to the dining room etc. There is a transfer fee, of course, and depending on milage and turnaround time between ceremony and reception, it often means having a separate van and 2 people exclusively for that job, so the fee is usually in the 300 to 500 dollar mark. Depending on the wishes of the family, this can be a cheap option, compared to single use items only.

We rent ferns and palms and figs and ivys....pretty much anything, as I can usually get almost double the wholesale cost for the rental, and them blast them out of the shop for a great price, or hold them over till the next rental. The only time it has not worked out profitably for me was when we were decorating a bunch of rooms for Elton John...he wanted so many big trees that I never was able to sell of them, in fact I have 3 of the 8 foot ficus trees here at home...lost my shirt on that one.

Regarding the containers for arrangements...I rent lots of different containers. It gives us many options to create really cool arrangements without having to charge an arm and a leg for them, ie it only takes 3 or 4 flowers to do something that looks like it cost 100. But if I had to sell the vases to each bride, I'd never get that kind of money from them...often the price of the vase alone is over 100. empty. Actually, I have just taken a bit of a gamble with chrystal candleabra for a bride this autumn...they'll cost me close to 200. each, I'll rent them for 100. each, so in 3 rentals, I'll have covered my costs. I normally would not invest such a large amount into rentals, but there is no-one in the city that has nice candleabra, so it will make us really stand out against our competiton. I have twenty five 45" tall trumpet vases that I've rented out over 20 times, at 40$ each. They sure don't owe me any more!

As for the retrieval of the rental items, I give the clients 2 options. They can gather them up, and return them to us within 5 days following the event at no charge, (except of course, they pay for anything they break) That way they can reuse everything the next day for the "Day After Party" for out of town guests, or, we will go and strike the party at 2 am or whatever for a fee of usually 500$. A few times, we've transfered all the flowers back to the house for them...same deal.

I almost never use the on site containers. Just found it to be too much of a hassle.
Hope that helps.
JP

 

[sloan]

Joanne: what happens if people don't return the items within the five days? Or at all?

 

[RWK]

I can tell you what I do to prevent that situation. I always ask for the rental fee on a credit or debit card.........I tell them UP FRONT that the full amount of the flowers/vases/plants/whatever they are renting is going to be charged on the card......THEN when the items are returned, I credit back the full amount minus the rental fee.

 

[OB1]

I get a credit card number from each bride when they put down their deposit for the date. When rentals are involved, I tell them the retail value of each of the items, and alert them that if stuff is broken or goes missing, they will have to pay me the retail value of each, and that it will be put on their card.
I've never had a problem, nothing has ever not been returned, and in all these yoears, only had one large vase broken.
But a guy I used to work for had 10 sterling silver candleabra stolen from a wedding he did...he had borrowed the candleabra from our National Arts Center...man, that was a day that I'll never forget. Absolutely horrible.
JP