Five key things to bear in mind when choosing your wedding florist
Five key things to bear in mind when choosing your wedding florist
Choosing a florist for your wedding can often feel like a total minefield. Where do you begin? Who should you trust? And what on earth will it all cost?
1. Florist or floral designer?
An important first distinction to make is whether you choose a retail florist or a floral designer / floral stylist. One is neither better nor worse than the other, but there is a difference in their ways of working. Retail florists will often have shops on the high street, whereas floral designers run their businesses for the sole purpose of working on weddings and events only. Retail florists can often afford to take on smaller wedding jobs because their everyday retail work means they have the economies of scale to do so. By contrast, floral designers will often require a minimum spend and can seem more expensive overall because they offer a truly bespoke experience. Essentially you need to choose someone whose style you love and who you warm to when you first meet or speak to them. They will (hopefully!) end up being a big part of delivering your dream day, so making sure you get on is essential.
2. What’s important to you?
Think about your overall vision for the day and be able to describe to your wedding florist how you see your day unfolding. What are the different sights, sounds, smells you want to experience? What do you want guests to feel when they walk into your ceremony and your reception spaces? This is so much more than a ‘theme’ or a colour palette – it’s about how all the planning that’s lived in your head will come together on the day and the ways in which the floral design and styling can help to bring everything to life. Be mindful of the things that you personally value when choosing your wedding florist – it might be someone who has a particular signature style, or someone who uses seasonal British-grown flowers, or someone specialises in large-scale installations, and so on and so forth. Speak to friends who have got married recently, search online and on social media using relevant hashtags, and talk to your other trusted suppliers about their recommendations.
3. Take the time to write a proper enquiry…and acknowledge the response
That means getting in touch with all the key details your wedding florist might need – your name, your wedding date and your ceremony and reception location. Your wedding florist will want to know more details as the process goes on, but for an initial enquiry that’s all you need. Sending an email asking for costs of very specific items can get things off on the wrong foot; be open to ideas and recommendations as a good wedding florist will always be able to understand and translate your brief. If following your enquiry, they come back with some helpful initial information then do write back and acknowledge their response even if you think you might not end up choosing them.
4. Have a budget in mind
But be flexible where you can. If you know you have a set amount to spend, tell your wedding florist this upfront and they will suggest and recommend the best ways for you to get the most for your money on your day. Whilst some wedding florists will have minimum spends, no one will judge you for the budget you have available – we want to help make your day as beautiful as it can be and are well versed in tricky conversations about money. Many wedding florists charge for items on a bespoke basis, so whilst this means it may be difficult to give a hard and fast figure straight away, it also means there is often flex and range when it comes to the cost of different creations.
5. Trust is key
I cannot reiterate this point enough. Trusting in the expertise and ability of your wedding florist is so important; whether it’s recommendations on how to use space, dress certain areas, or spend your flower budget effectively. The reality of using a natural product like flowers on a long day like a wedding can be very different to the polished images we see on Instagram and Pinterest. Your wedding florist will be able to advise on what’s in season, what will work best in a given arrangement, and many other truths and realities of working with flowers.
The best advice I can give you is to enjoy the process and settle on someone who you believe truly represents you and your day – and can bring your visions to life. Is there anything else you’d like to know about choosing your wedding florist? Let me know in the comments box below.
