
Photography: Joyelan.com | Venue: Tampa Garden Club Wedding
Have you noticed over the past few months that the prices of flowers have drastically increased? Whether you’ve purchased an arrangement from a local florist or ran into a grocery store to buy some stems to liven up your house, you’ve probably became aware that pricing is not what it used to be. This may leave you wondering why there is a sudden increase that seemed to happen overnight. Unfortunately, the price surge didn’t necessarily happen “overnight”, but instead has been building up since 2020 and has just now exploded.
To make a long story short, there is a major flower shortage throughout all of the United States. What caused that shortage you may ask? Well, there are a few major reasons that we’ve discussed down below.
Weather/Natural Disasters
One of the biggest struggles that all wholesalers have been experiencing is terrible growing conditions. A lot of the States in the US (and especially Florida) import their flowers from other regions. Many areas have been experiencing heavy rainfalls and flooding which has then caused rot, mold, and bug attracting bacteria.
COVID-19
With the rise of stress caused by the pandemic the need for flowers has also gone to an all time high. Even the smallest “sorry I can’t be with you” arrangements were sent out more frequently which created a surplus demand of flowers.
Closed Ports
In mid 2021 we are still feeling the repercussions of the pandemic which includes many ports being closed. Since we get a large majority of our flowers elsewhere, those areas are still having a hard time making deliveries due to shut downs and newly implemented regulations.
Farmer Strikes
Believe it or not, many farmers from other countries are going on strike due to tax reforms. Even the growers who aren’t taking part in the disagreement are having issues getting to their fields as well as shipping their products due to roadway blockades. Due to the difficulties in other regions, many wholesalers are having delayed orders which may not arrive to their facility until weeks later.
Okay, I understand the shortage, but what does this mean for my wedding planning process?
Florist cannot recommend enough to continue to go about your wedding planning! Just because we are experiencing some difficulties, doesn’t mean that we are unable to help you with your special day. One thing that we do ask is for you not to get your heart set on a certain flower because we are unable to guarantee its availability (especially if it’s outside of its normal growing season). Instead, we can work with an ideal color scheme and flower suggestions such as “I really love ranunculuses but I’d be equally as happy if they needed to be substituted with a similar flower such as a garden rose”.
Our company strives on customer service and loves to be as transparent with you as possible. We hope that these examples of flower shortages helps resolve some unanswered questions and prevent unnecessary stress later on down the road!