Figuring Out The Florals
When creating your perfect wedding day, you might consider florals or other decor to bring everything together. Florals are a great way to tie in the theme, the colors, and set the mood. Plus, they make your seating tables full and complete. But, how do you know what florals to use? And what florist?!
Here are our tips for navigating wedding florals:
- Identify your budget. Before you meet with a florist, identify a budget range. It's OK if this changes, but knowing if you have $1,000, $5,000, or $10,000 (or something else) will help significantly when meeting with a florist or floral designer.
- Get inspired! This is one of the times we love Pinterest! But, pull photos for inspiration. Pull photos of bouquets, bouts, table centerpieces, ceremony pieces, welcome signs, seating charts, hair pieces, cake - all of it! Use these for inspiration to help create YOUR wedding design.
- Do your research. Search for florists and floral designers in your area. Look at their websites, look at their reviews, look at their social media. Do they have the style you like? Do you see anything on their website about required minimums or other details? This might help you eliminate some florists before you spend time meeting with them.
- Pick three. If you've ever worked with us you know we like a "rule of 3". Find three vendors to start with. Meet with them, talk about your event, and get a ballpark quote. Any more than three and you are wasting their time - and yours. If you don't like the three quotes you get, THEN you could go to a fourth. Keep in mind that these starting quotes may be a ballpark. (Equally, we feel like if you quote less than three you might not get a full picture of what is available.)
- Compare apples to apples. If you get one really high quote and one really low quote - look at the details. Are they quoting the same items (flower types, number of items, sizes, etc.). Are containers included? And are you renting them or do you get to keep them? And is delivery and installation included? Make sure you really dig in to compare all options before making your selection. Once you narrow down who you want to work with, you’ll pay a deposit to lock them in. Then you can dig in to a more detailed quote (and a design) with your chosen florist.
NOTE: All florists and designers are different! Some will provide a quote with a design, without signing a contract or paying a deposit. Some won’t.
- Let the other florists go. Don’t ghost them! Let the other florists know you’ve gone in a different direction so they don’t hold the date, the paperwork, or spend any more time contacting you. It’s as simple as “Thank you for talking with us about our wedding florals - we’ve gone in another direction, but I appreciate your time!” Please don’t ghost them!
.... Let the florist do their thing! Once you’ve selected your chosen florist or floral designer, let them do their thing! You’ve hired this expert - likely because you saw something you liked. We aren’t saying you shouldn’t have a say in what your finished product looks like - but you shouldn’t micro-manage every single stem going in every single vase. If you don’t like something - speak up! You hate things hanging from the ceiling - tell them. You like a tighter, more uniformed look - let them know! But, when you micro-manage every single detail, your floral designer loses their creative ability to do their thing and I promise you the end result is less fabulous.
All of the above is SO important (IOHO), but there’s more to consider than the above. Once you’ve received quotes - make sure you look for or talk about the following things:
Designs - what is the process for seeing and approving designs.
Deposits & Payments - what is the deposit total, and what is the payment schedule for the balance.
Containers - do they have these or do you need to source? Are they rented or do you keep them? What about candles and such?
**If they are rented, will the florist come back to get them or do you have to return them?
Experience with this venue - does your chosen florist have experience in this venue? That will help with their knowing venue rules and regs.
Set up and Strike - will they be there to set up and tear down? Or do they just drop off and you take it from there? That will change what day-of help you need (And time) so this is super important!
Style - do they often create designs/events that have a similar style to yours? For example, if you are wanting whimsical and garden-party feeling, do they often create designs like that?
Team - what does their team look like? If you have a large design, do they have the appropriate team to help deliver, install, and strike? Otherwise, you may need additional set up time so things aren’t running behind on wedding day. (If you don’t have a large install and/or are doing a drop-off, this is not applicable)
What floral questions do you have that we haven’t addressed here? Drop us a note in the thread below and we are happy to chat all things floral! (At no charge!)
P.S. Pinterest includes a lot of professional photos of professional designers who have published their work online. Not everything you see is "DIY" which is why we suggest using these photos for inspo. UNLESS you have a large floral budget....