Flower decoration is where budgets quietly disappear, usually because couples are pricing an idea rather than a season. These are the decisions that make the most difference for the least money.

Buy what is in season and local. A peony in October costs four times a peony in June and looks worse. Ask your florist what will be at its best in your month and build from there — the answer is nearly always more beautiful than the original brief.

Concentrate the spend. One substantial installation that guests walk through or sit under reads better in the room and in photographs than the same money spread across every table and windowsill.

Reuse the ceremony flowers at the reception. It takes one person twenty minutes and it halves the florals bill. Any florist who is not already suggesting this is not thinking about your budget.

Finally, think about the light. Flowers photographed at six in the evening look nothing like the same arrangement at noon, and a good florist will ask what time your ceremony is before they ask anything else.