Three Steps to Choosing the Right Floral Designer

As a floral designer, I frequently encounter brides who are floundering through the wedding planning process. I mean, you are in engagement bliss and–wham!–all of a sudden, you are expected to become a full time party planner, experienced negotiator, and the budget manager of quite a large and important event. Not only that, but you’re supposed to enjoy it and be good at it!

Now, I could go on and on about the benefits of having a great wedding planner and/or stylist to help you out for this (another topic for another time!) but want to spend this post preparing you for an important part of the wedding planning process: choosing your floral designer.

Store Front vs. Home Studio

During your consultation, remember to ask your floral designer where exactly they will be designing your flowers. While a storefront may be an attractive idea because of its curb appeal, consider the overhead involved. Floral designers who work out of home studios or workspaces rather than traditional storefronts have lower expenses. This equals lower prices and a better product for you. When you hire a floral designer who has a fancy storefront with all the bells and whistles, you have to wonder which part of your bridal bouquet cost is actually going towards flowers and design and which part is being used to pay rent, staffing, and maintenance for that space.

How many weddings a weekend?

Please, please, pretty please ask your floral designer this very simple and very important question as it will make a radical difference in the kind of attention and service you will actually receive on the weekend of your wedding. Floral designers who have six to eight weddings and events on any given weekend will likely not be too concerned about you bring unhappy with your bridal bouquet if they still have three weddings to deliver to on the same day. Choose a floral designer who limits their weddings to one per weekend. That way, you are guaranteed quality service and attention to detail. But remember, if these designers are booking only one wedding per weekend, they have the ability to be as picky about who they work with as you do!

Who, who, who?

When choosing a wedding florist, don’t be shy about asking the “who” question. Who is your main contact? Who will be designing your flowers? Who will be delivering and installing them on your big day? Be leery of designers who write the proposal themselves, pass off the design to someone else, and have yet another person deliver your flowers.

Wanna know what happens when you work with someone like this? Your vision gets totally lost. Work with designers who are involved in every step of the process. The same person you meet with for your consultation should be the same person who designs your flowers, is your main contact, and who hands you your bouquet on your wedding day. Anything short of this, and the vision you talked about it your initial consultation is potentially lost in the shuffle.

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