Why a Baby's Breath Wedding May Cost More Than You Think

By Petal Pushers STL January 26, 2021

Every so often, we get a bride who wants to do a baby's breath wedding. Sometimes it's because she really likes the look, or sometimes it's because she thinks it will keep costs down. No matter what the reason, it always happens that when we talk costs, she's shocked at how much a baby's breath wedding really can be.

But wait.... It's baby's breath, right? That tiny, little grocery store flower that you see everywhere. How can it be expensive?

Well, glad you asked. Let us show you the ins and outs of baby's breath arranging :-)

So, picture a stalk of baby's breath. This is what one piece looks like.

If you look closely, you'll see all the flowers aren't at the same level. Unlike other flowers where the blooms are all at the top of the stalk, a stem of baby's breath is divided into three separate sections or limbs. One set of flowers is at the top, one set in the middle, and one set's a little lower down on the stalk. Each section has blooms at its top, and each section is a different height.

Every single stalk gows like this.

Which means that when you go to design flowers with a stalk of baby's breath, you have a decision to make. Either cut off 2/3 of the blooms and use only the flowers at the top, or cut the stalk into sections to get the most out of each piece.

I know, probably more information than you ever wanted to know about baby's breath, right?? But wait.... there's a point to this, I promise.

You see, it just makes economic sense to use every piece of the flower you can, right? So you start cutting the stalk into sections.

But how do you do this? And what does it have to do with baby's breath weddings being expensive?

Glad you asked.

This illustration shows where the cuts are made to get the most flower out of each piece.

Every stem is cut twice (where the scissors are) to divide the flower into three separate flowers.

And if you look closely, you'll see that each branch is pretty short once it's cut. Really too short to do much with or add into a bouquet or an arrangement. Which is why we have to help nature along a little.

We've found that we get the most bang for our buck when each stalk is cut into three separate pieces.

Once this is done, each shorter piece is then wired and taped onto a longer stem so it can be included in a design where all the blooms will be a the tops of the stems.

It sounds crazy, but to have a beautiful design, you need to have all the flowers at the tops of the stems. And since baby's breath doesn't grow like this, we have to help things out a little.

But, as you can imagine, that's really time and labor intensive.

When you think about the time and energy it takes to cut each stem, wire it, tape it...... it's a lot.

Which is why Baby's Breath weddings always cost more than brides think they will.

Rather than cutting a flower like a carnation or a rannuculus once and placing it into an arrangement , we have to do all this front end work just to create a top blooming flower. Some would say we're improving on nature, and that's why baby's breath weddings look so cool, but remember, that comes with a cost.

Then, also, think about how small the baby's breath flowers themselves are. It can take 2-3 wired baby's breath stems to take up the same space in an arrangement that a rose or a mum would. When you add in the number of man hours to wire and tape all those stems, the baby's breath comes out costing more than the rose. Surprising, right??

So, if you're considering a baby's breath wedding, think twice. Ask yourself if you really love the look, and if you have the budget to make your dream come true. If so, go for it.

If not, there are other ways to come up with looks that are just as beautiful, and a lot more cost effective. We promise :-).