When it comes to wedding flowers, many couples will wait till just a few months before their wedding day to arrange. That is all fine and well if you are having a relatively small wedding or aren’t particularly fussed about who your wedding florist is.

However, if you need to place a bigger flower order or want to use a specific florist, you need to start thinking about putting a deposit down at least 8-12 months before your wedding to secure your date. With these helpful tips we guide you through the process of deciding what arrangements to include and where to start the process.

Budget

The first and probably most important step is to sit down and discuss a budget you are both comfortable with. Not only does it give you peace of mind having the money for wedding flowers set aside or budgeted in to your total wedding cost, but your florist will be able to give you better help and advice without having to waste time quoting for floral pieces way above your expected spend.

If you come to your florist with a budget and a list of the floral pieces you feel are most important to you, they should soon be able to tell you whether it is feasible or not. Floral pieces to consider would be your bridal bouquet, bridesmaids’ bouquets, buttonholes, corsages, table centrepieces and ceremony or church arrangements.

 

Inspiration – reflecting your style and preference

Before you have your initial meeting with your wedding florist, it is helpful to have at least an idea of what style, colour or designs you want for your wedding flowers. If you already have a colour scheme set, that is a great place to start. If you can start to pin down the kind of styles of flower arrangements that you like that is even better.

A great way to collect ideas to easily show your wedding florist is by creating a board on Pinterest, or paste some images into a document to send across or bring along to your consultation. Your florist can then get a feel for your style and suggest flowers in season that hopefully fits both within your budget and your style preferences.

Finding your wedding florist

Finding a wedding florist should hopefully not be too difficult, but this can depend on where you are located or where your wedding is taking place. If you are getting married in or around London or any bigger city, you will be spoilt for choice, whilst someone on the countryside or in a small village may only have one or two florists to choose between.

It is important that you feel confident with whoever you choose. If your florist comes up with a number of suggestions that you don’t agree with, you should probably keep looking. If you are not confident that your florist can deliver arrangements that matches your vision, it will add a lot of unnecessary stress to your planning process.

A good florist should be able to work with you on your ideas, and suggest ways to design your flower arrangements and selecting seasonal flowers that will enable you to get the most out of your flower budget.

 

What fits the style of the venue and other décor?

Your ceremony and venue reception can determine how much floral decoration you need. If you are getting married in a manor house or have your reception in a hotel ballroom, the rooms are often already decorated and will not require as many flowers or other décor to create a ‘wow’ effect. If you are having your reception in an empty barn or marquee, you may need to spend a bit more on flowers, lights and other décor pieces for it to get that special look.

Again, your florist should be able to look at pictures of your venue or even carry out a venue visit with you if budget allows, in order to spot the areas that might need an extra touch.

They can also often help you with other pieces like lanterns, chair sashes, candelabras or tea light holders. If your wedding florist doesn’t provide this themselves, they may be able to give you a good recommendation on where to rent or buy other decoration pieces.

Seasonality and availability

Lastly, but still of great importance, is seasonality and availability of flowers. The less specific you can be about particular flower varieties, the more bang for your buck you will get. If you give your florist a colour scheme and style references, but let them pick flower varieties freely, they will be able to buy flowers that are in season and will therefore be cheaper and of better quality than other varieties.

It is also important to understand that outside factors can cause chaos in the flower industry too.

Weather conditions like frost, draught, excessive rain or storms can cause flower prices to rise and may make it necessary for your florist to replace those peonies you really wanted with something else that gives a similar effect. Understanding that flowers are a living product is important to avoid disappointment on your big day. And don’t request red roses around Valentine’s Day if you’re not willing to pay five times the normal price!

 

Don’t forget to buy your wedding insurance as soon as you have started booking venues or suppliers, to make sure you are covered for any unforeseen events in the leading up to your big day!