Wedding flowers checklist: every arrangement you might need

In short

• This is a tick-box list of every arrangement you might need, organised by moment of the day.
• The essentials are few: bouquet, buttonhole, ceremony, centrepieces.
• Each item has a typical quantity and an indicative price range (excluding VAT, flowers and labour).
• At the end there is a timeline of what to decide and when.

This checklist is for couples preparing a quote request for their wedding flowers who do not want to forget anything, but do not want to pay for pieces they do not need either. Copy the items you are interested in, add quantities and bring the list to your first meeting or video call. If you would like to understand each moment first, read our guide to wedding flowers moment by moment. If you are already looking for someone, start with our list of wedding florists in Italy.

The price ranges are indicative: industry estimates per piece, in euros, excluding VAT (IVA in Italy) and travel. They change with season, choice of flowers, region and logistics.

How to use the checklist

Read it through once, then sort the items into three groups:

• essentials: the ones the day would not feel like yours without, usually bouquet, buttonhole, ceremony and centrepieces;
• nice to have: seating plan, top table, photo corner, flowers for the mothers;
• only if the budget allows: car, washrooms, place cards with flowers, installations.

Write the quantity next to each item. If the venue already provides something (plants at the entrance, for example) or the caterer does (stands for the sugared almonds), note it so you avoid paying twice. Also mark the pieces that can move from the ceremony to the reception, because they change the final total.

Bride's and groom's homes

Decorating the bride's home is a custom found mostly in southern Italy. If you are marrying from a family home there, read our guide to Italian bride's home decorations.

• Front door or entrance: 1 arrangement or garland. Similar in cost to a centrepiece, more if it is an arch.
• Staircase or railings: by the metre, like a table garland.
• Balcony or window: 1-2 arrangements.
• Table for guests at home: 1 low centrepiece.
• Groom's home: usually a single piece at the entrance, if any.

Wedding party

Quantities depend on the size of your wedding party. Count everyone before you ask for a quote.

• Bridal bouquet: 1, roughly €100-400. It is the most photographed piece. See our guide to bridal bouquet styles.
• Toss bouquet: 1, optional, smaller and lighter: €40-130.
• Groom's buttonhole: 1, matched to the bouquet: €15-45.
• Buttonholes for best man, witnesses, fathers and brothers: usually 2 to 6, in the same range as the groom's or slightly less.
• Bouquets or wrist corsages for bridesmaids and witnesses: 1 to 4, depending on the party: €40-140 for a bouquet, less for a wrist corsage.
• Flower girls: 1 small bouquet or flower crown each, usually at the lower end of the bridesmaid range.
• Page boys: 1 small buttonhole each; a ring cushion with flowers if needed.
• Mothers: 2 corsages or pin-on flowers, €25-70 each.
• Grandmothers: 2 to 4 small corsages, optional.
• Bridal hair flowers: 1 comb or crown.

For children there is our guide to flower girl and page boy flowers, and for the groom and mothers one on buttonholes and corsages.

Indicative industry ranges, excluding VAT, flowers and labour included, without long-distance travel. They are not price lists: your florist's quote is the only price that counts.

Car

• Arrangement on the bonnet or roof: 1. Similar in cost to a low or medium centrepiece.
• Ribbons and flowers on handles or windows: 2-4 small pieces.
• Guests' or convoy cars: optional, usually ribbons only.

Fixings and suction cups must hold at town speeds. Our guide to wedding car flowers explains the options.

Church ceremony

First ask the parish what is allowed and when set-up can start. See our guides to church wedding flowers in Italy and the list of florists for church flowers.

• Altar: 1 or 2 arrangements, often at the sides rather than on the altar itself: €150-800 each.
• Lectern: 1 small arrangement, optional.
• Pew ends: one every other pew, or on every pew along the aisle: €25-120 each. With 20 pews on alternate rows you need 10.
• Entrance or doorway: 1 arch or 2 side arrangements.
• Aisle: floor vases or lanterns, if the church allows them.
• Couple's kneeler or chairs: 2 small decorations.
• Aisle runner and petals: optional, check with the priest.

If you prefer a single price, industry estimates for full church flowers range roughly from €300 to €4,000: the size of the church, the number of pieces and the choice of flowers make the difference.

Civil ceremony

At an Italian town hall time slots are short and the room is often shared. See our guide to civil wedding flowers at the town hall.

• Registrar's table: 1 low arrangement, €80-450.
• Couple's chairs: 2 small decorations.
• Room entrance: 1-2 arrangements or vases, if the town hall allows it.
• Aisle: optional, only in large rooms or licensed venues.

Symbolic outdoor ceremony

Here you are free to design the setting, but wind and sun have a big say. See our guides to symbolic ceremony flowers and wedding arches.

• Arch or ceremony structure: 1, or two floor arrangements at the sides. A floral arch costs roughly €800 to €4,000, depending on size and the amount of flowers.
• Celebrant's table: 1 low arrangement, in the same range as a civil ceremony table.
• Aisle: vases, lanterns or floor arrangements every 2-3 rows of chairs.
• Chairs: decorations on the front rows or on alternate rows.
• Petal cones for guests: one each, or a basket at the exit.
• Weights and a rain plan: always needed for structures and tall vases.

Indicative industry ranges, excluding VAT, flowers and labour included, without long-distance travel. They are not price lists: your florist's quote is the only price that counts.

Drinks reception

• Welcome sign: 1 sign with an arrangement. See our guide to welcome sign flowers.
• Poseur tables or bar: 1 small arrangement per table, often reusing ceremony flowers.
• Canapé buffet: low arrangements kept away from the food.

Reception

This is the section with the most items and the biggest share of the budget. You confirm the number of tables only once your guests have replied.

• Seating plan: 1, €100-800 depending on size and structure. See our guide to the floral seating plan.
• Place cards with a flower: one per guest, optional. Low cost per piece, but it adds up.
• Centrepieces: one per round table. Low ones €40-160, tall ones €120-450. On a long banquet table you count by the metre: a garland costs €40-140 per metre. With 100 guests at tables of 10 you need about 10 centrepieces. See our centrepiece ideas.
• Top table: 1 long arrangement or garland, €200-1,200. See our guide to top table flowers.
• Buffet and food stations: 1-3 arrangements, tall or to the side, never above the food.
• Cake: suitable flowers agreed with the baker. See our guide to wedding cake flowers.
• Confettata (sugared almond table): 1-2 low arrangements.
• Washrooms: 1 small vase each. Low cost, much appreciated.
• Photo corner or flower wall: 1. See our guide to photo corners.
• Hanging installation: optional, only where the venue allows it. Industry estimates start at around €2,000.
• Candles and lanterns: to be agreed under the venue's rules.

Indicative industry ranges, excluding VAT, flowers and labour included, without long-distance travel. They are not price lists: your florist's quote is the only price that counts.

Exit and after the wedding

• Petals for the exit: cones or baskets for guests. See our guide to the petal toss exit.
• Bouquet to keep: decide beforehand whether to dry or press it. See how to preserve your bouquet.
• Flowers for guests: arrangements to give away at the end of the night.
• Donation: to a church, a care home or a hospital that accepts them.
• Breakdown and collection of hired items: who does it and when. See what to do with your flowers after the wedding.

Timeline: what to decide and when

A summary to keep beside the checklist. Timings are indicative and stretch in peak season and for destination weddings.

The full month-by-month plan is in our wedding flowers timeline.

In closing

You do not need every item. Tick the ones you will see in your photos and the ones that matter to you, then let your florist tell you where you can save, for example by reusing ceremony flowers. If you are still choosing a look, browse the 18 wedding flower styles; for prices per piece read how much wedding flowers cost in Italy.

When your list is ready, request a quote and attach the items you have ticked with their quantities.