Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on weddings—especially in Jamaica! With government curfews, gathering restrictions and (oh yeah) a pandemic in full-effect, weddings have had many hurdles to mount over the past two years—but the highest hurdle has definitely been the cost of wedding flowers.
Allow me to disseminate the myths from the facts.
Myth: Jamaica is a tropical island therefore flowers are plentiful and abundant.
Fact: The majority of Jamaica’s flowers are imported. Yes, we are a tropical island and yes, we grow flowers, but the volume of cut, specialty flowers needed to outfit the number of weddings that are held in Jamaica every year FAR exceed what we are able to produce locally. Therefore, wedding flowers are vulnerable to the global flower market prices.
During COVID, many South American flower exporters closed their doors, and still haven’t re-opened. This has caused the price of wedding flowers to increase 60%-100% and change every day! Frankly, we don’t know how much your wedding flowers will cost until a week or two before your wedding. It could be X or it could be Double X. We just don’t know nor do we have any control over the global flowers market!
At the same time, as costs skyrocket, quality has decreased. If you require 1 dozen roses for your wedding, the florist has to order at least a dozen and a half, sometimes 2 dozen, just to make sure she can produce a quality dozen!
Wedding flowers have really taken a hit during COVID. It’s the story that nobody talks about because it’s inconsequential in the grand scheme of a pandemic, but super upsetting to a couple who are getting married on a budget. My advice: use as few flowers as possible until the pandemic subsides.
