The following list is not an exhaustive list of everything you should ask or know about your floral designer, but rather thoughts and opinions based on personal experience, continuing education, and reviews of design articles and editorials. This list was written with the intention of being published on a nationally followed and published blog, but we decided to submit a different topic instead so we are sharing here on our personal blog site. We enjoy creating dialogue with other wedding industry personnel both locally and nationally through our blog, Twitter, and Facebook.
#1 Floral design is an art form! Art is subjective so make sure your style and vision for your wedding coincides with the person you are hiring for your wedding day florals.
#2 Know who is actually designing your flowers for your big day! Most floral shops and major players in the flower world rarely have the "star" actually designing your flowers. They tout a big name, but unless you are the top dollar wedding that weekend they probably aren't the one designing YOUR flowers. Make sure you're not being sold a reputation or a name. Being a smaller floral design company, I design the majority of my weddings and oversee every aspect of my weddings. I only employ 1-2 designers who are hand picked and trained by me.
#3 Always know how many events your prospective florist will have on your wedding day. It is typical to be one of 4-5 events with a large event florist. At CeCe Designs, we prefer to only take one event per day and a maximum of 3 events per weekend. You never want an overwhelmed floral designer.
#4 You as the Bride need to understand why it's important to hire a professional! Hire someone who specializes in flowers for events and weddings. You don't want your best friend who did flowers for her sorority mixer, an Aunt who loves to garden, or local grocery store chain doing the flowers on one of the biggest days of your life! Simply put, it's not worth the few dollars you save for the lack in peace of mind and more stress! When you don't hire a professional, you run a very high risk of it becoming a disaster. You won't know until your wedding day, and by then it's too late to do anything about it. As a floral designer, I eat, sleep and breathe it. I know it like the back of my hand and I deliver exactly what's expected to my brides.
#5 NEVER let your mother, mother-in-law, or immediate family member do your flowers, coordinating, or any major task on your wedding day. It is enormously stressful on both the family member and the bride. You want your mom enjoying your day, not stressed out setting up table centerpieces. Keep family AND friends out of the equation. Let them enjoy your day with you!
#6 Make sure your floral designer is trained! I'm not suggesting all designers need letters or to have graduated from some obscure floral school. Sometimes the overly trained are the hardest for a bride to work with as far as seeing HER vision and not their own. What I'm referring to, is someone with a back ground in the industry of design. In this day and age of every one who has an iPhone thinking they are a photographer, the same is true in floral design. The "garden/wildflower" movement allows pretty much anyone to grab some flowers, tie a ribbon around it, and tout themselves as a floral designer. Floral design requires proper mechanics. You don't want thorns piercing your skin as you hold a bouquet because the designer didn't know how to use a rose stripper. Heaven forbid your large alter arrangement crumble to the floor because they didn't know to use wire and tape to reinforce the oasis. Perhaps they will make your all hydrangea pew markers without any water source and they all wilt and die an hour before the service! THESE ARE ALL THINGS I'VE SEEN HAPPEN! I was trained for years in brick and mortar floral shops and regularly attend training seminars that keep me up to date on the latest techniques. I've spent 16 years learning the mechanics in all things floral, and you should expect no less from your floral designer. If they "just love gardening" or "did flowers for a few friends then decided to open their own business".... RUN as fast as you can to an experienced professional.
#6 You're not just paying for the flowers!!! Like I stated in #5, you are hiring a professional and paying for their knowledge, expertise, and talent. You are paying for their knowledge in mechanics, their eye for design and color, and their knowledge of flowers. For example, what flowers will last in a flower girls' halo, how to put a succulent in a bouquet ( they have no stem), or what will be in season for your wedding. If you were just paying for flowers and ANYONE could do it, we would all be out of a job. It's WAY harder than it looks. Trust me! Every professional floral designer has stories of late night calls or wedding day emergency texts of brides crying hysterically because they can't get theirs done, they are all wrong, or they are all falling part.
#7 Be flexible and make sure your designer is too! Pintrest rules the wedding world. I personally love when my brides bring me their Pintrest board. I look at it as an awesome communication tool between brides and florist. Rarely do brides know the names of flowers, shade of roses, or a design style, but with Pinterest they can show me exactly what they like. But keep in mind, a florist can't do an exact duplicate so be flexible on substitutions, size and shades. We will get it as close as humanly possible but there are different factors at work. Mainly, we're not the same person who made the one in the picture! :) In return, your florist should embrace what you are wanting. If you don't like it, speak up. If they are dragging you kicking and screaming away from your wedding day vision, don't be afraid to say that's not what you want. If they still don't want to listen to you, then move to another expert.
#9 Ask to see "Real weddings" from your potential florist and ask for references. Do your own online research. It usually doesn't require much effort. Most reputable florists are members of organizations or rating websites such as AIFD (American institute of Floral Design) www.aifd.org AWEP (Alabama Wedding and Event Professionals), Weddingwire.com or BorrowedandBlue.com. To be a member of most trade organizations, you must have a proven track record or pass exams to belong. Most anyone can make something look good for a picture, but who knows how it was put together, or if it will die in 15 minutes. It just has to look good in that one second because Styled shoots and magazine layouts are not realistic because they are a "no financial limit" design. A real wedding that a florist shows you is actual work they have done for an actual bride and groom. Don't be afraid to ask them the cost of the centerpieces in the picture. It's a great gauge to see what you're getting for the money. Are they heavy on greenery? Then your not getting a lot of flowers for the money. Are they mostly props and little flowers? Then most of your money is going towards the rental of the prop and not the actual flowers. Even ask for a mock up, but don't expect it for free. It costs the florist time and resources to create.
#10 READ YOUR CONTRACT! READ YOUR CONTRACT! READ YOUR CONTRACT!!!!
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