3 Questions to ask Your Wedding Florist

If you’re a bride-to-be and have an endless list of to-dos, feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin… I’ve been there. I’ve also been the bride, excited to plan every. last. detail of our big day! Planning events is a passion of mine, I love all that goes into it, but I wasn’t expecting the pain and frustration I would have planning the floras. I hated this part of the wedding planning process. I was completely on top of everything else, I knew what I wanted, I had a vision and I was able to move forward on that vision. Everything but the flowers, that is. When it came to working with my floral vendor, I had multiple breakdowns. I mean shut it down, can no longer make decisions, sat there blankly, break downs. Why was this so hard?

We were having a spring wedding, the weekend after Easter. It was a formal wedding, with soft, romantic elements infused with spring touches. I didn’t want the flowers to be too formal and glam or too organic and free flowing – I was really looking for something in between. But how do you describe that? Is there a term for this look and style?

I’m sure there is, but I didn’t know…

Even a year later, I am not sure I can precisely describe the style and design of our wedding. So how was I supposed to, in the middle of all of these other to-dos, describe it to my florist?

Here’s a few things I learned along the way, that can hopefully prevent you from having a major meltdown during your planning process (or a least eliminate one of them!)

Top 3 Questions to Ask Your Florist

Do You Have Examples of Arrangements Similar to my Style?

First you’ll need to identify your style. Bring in images and examples of what your are looking for. And see if the florist has created similar arrangements based on your style. I highly recommend working with a floral vendor that has already designed arrangements to your taste. This will eliminate the question of whether or not they can create the type of design desired.

Can You Walk Through These Designs with Me?

Although I was prepared and brought pictures to my meetings with the florist, we were not speaking the same language. I am by no means educated in floral vocab, so when I used the words “organic” and “natural” to describe the type of free flowing design I was looking for, the florist and I were not on the same page, even after looking at photos together. After many visits and lots of back and forth, she finally elaborated on the designs I was showing her, letting me know I liked the “grouping” of like flowers and preferred the flowers to “poke” through the arrangement rather than have a uniform ball. Once we got to this point, we were able to really hone in on what I liked and didn’t like about the design.

Do You Create a Trial Arrangement?

This was key in achieving the desired final result! You may think it’s crazy, but we were not on the same page about the floral design until after the trial arrangement (which took place about a week before the wedding!!). When I arrived, the table bouquet was nothing like I envisioned, the poor lady could visibly see I was not happy with the design. She was beyond amazing to work with and worked very hard to make sure she came back with a trial arrangement that matched my vision.

This step was so crucial in achieving our happy medium! We were able to make modifications and changes to the design, prior to the big day. We even decided to add in the baby’s breath in the vases rather than gems or stones, to give it a softer look.

The process may have been challenging, but the end result was absolutely beautiful! It took longer than I had hoped, but the last question really allowed us to achieve what we were looking for. If I would have asked the first two questions earlier on and chose a vendor based on similar styles it would have saved a lot of back and forth.