Between holidays, weddings, or just being friendly, specialty floral arrangements are booming in the United States. While fresh flowers are commonly thought of for specific occasions (holidays, weddings, birthdays, graduations), the industry as a whole is enormous.
In the United States, annual spending on flowers and floral products is just a hair under $27 billion. Not surprisingly, weddings play a big part of that. Studies show that about 7-8% of a typical wedding budget is spent on flowers. In 2016 the average wedding cost in the U.S. was a staggering $35,329, according to Fortune.com. Eight percent of $35,329 is just over $2,800. According to that math, for an average wedding, the florist is looking at almost $3,000 in sales. It starts with bouquets, but weddings also include flower girls, table arrangements, corsages, and simple decorations. Those specialty floral arrangements add up fast.
However, it’s not just weddings.
- Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day is one of the biggest floral shopping days on the calendar. In 2015, 35% of adults bought plants or flowers in celebration of Mother’s Day. Furthermore, a study by the National Retail Federation suggested that over 65% of respondents would be sending flowers to their mothers. Those are big numbers.
- Christmas. The Christmas/Hannukah season is an enormous time for florists. It’s not the same as Mother’s Day in the sense of what’s being sold, but Poinsettias, Christmas cacti, and holly fly off the shelves at the local florist. If it’s red and it grows, chances are good that someone is buying it around Christmas. But while Christmas is enormous, there’s an undisputed winner for holiday flowers.
- Valentine’s Day. The American Society of Florists estimates that about one-third of all fresh flower purchases made in a given year are made around Valentine’s Day. One-third! Valentine’s Day is so popular that it has wide-ranging effects on both men and women, too. An estimated 36% of women bought Valentine’s flowers for their husbands while an additional 15% of American women bought flowers for themselves for Valentine’s Day. It’s borderline out of control. Roses are the most common Valentine’s Day flower, but flower shops show off all sorts of specialty floral arrangements in advance of the holiday rush.
- Other Special Days. Birthday flowers? Anniversary flowers? Graduation flowers? Yes to all! A florist will tell you that there’s no occasion where flowers are inappropriate, and it’s hard to argue. Can you think of a time that plants or flowers would be an unwelcome gift?
You can celebrate a birth with flowers, you can mourn a death with flowers, and there are specialty floral arrangements for virtually anything that happens in between. Best of all, by purchasing from local florists, you’re stimulating the local economy, increasing production of plants (which is good for nature), and making someone’s day just a little bit brighter.
