Preparing for your first floral meeting
Your floral consultation is on the calendar - now what? Here are five tips to help you prepare to talk flowers:
1. Choose colors
Flowers are one of the best ways to showcase your wedding’s color scheme. Providing a palette to your florist will help them narrow down the best blooms that are seasonally available and coordinate with your design.
Pro tip: Having a hard time narrowing down your colors? We all have colors we’re drawn to. Look in your closet - what color are your clothes? Look around your house - what color is your decor? Then, take season into consideration. This doesn’t mean that your spring wedding needs to be pastels and your fall wedding has to be burnt orange. Get creative with colors and make sure they reflect you!
2. Crunch numbers
Giving your florist the right numbers will help them create a more accurate proposal for you. Certainly they won’t expect you to have it all figured out right away, but the more you know the better! Here are some numbers to think about:
Attendants - How many people will be in your wedding party? (Don’t forget personal attendants, ushers, flower girls and ring bearers.)
Guests - How many will you invite? What percentage do you expect will attend?
Layouts - How many rows of chairs or pews will there be at your ceremony? How many tables will you have at your reception? Round tables or rectangular? Head table or sweetheart table?
3. Consider budget
Most brides have no idea what flowers cost. And that’s okay! Come with an idea of your budget in mind, then let your florist help prioritize your wants and needs for the day. A great florist will be realistic about what your budget can get you, and will also find ways to maximize your budget.
As you decide on your floral budget, consider how much flowers mean to you. Some brides would rather splurge on the food or their dress and cover just the basics for flowers - bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres. Other brides can’t get enough of flowers and want to incorporate them in every place possible! No matter which type of bride you are, think about the role flowers will play in your day and come up with a budget range that reflects your decision.
4. Find inspiration
Sharing a few photos of designs you love with your florist will help them get a feel for your style and vision. Have fun with this part - spend some time dreaming!
Remember as you scroll through Pinterest that not all flowers you see will be available during the season of your wedding, and their coloring may not be accurate if the photos have been edited with filters. As you look for inspiration, try to look for overall styles and themes that you like, and your florist can help you choose the specific flowers to use.
In addition to sharing photos with your florist, a few descriptive words can help too! Are you going for modern and minimal, lush and earthy, light and garden-y? Consider the feel of your venue as you narrow down these descriptive words. The setting will contribute a lot to the overall look and feel of your wedding.
5. Keep an open mind
Floral designers are artists with a true passion for their work - let them show you that! The end result will almost always be better when a florist has some amount of freedom, rather than simply recreating photos from Pinterest. Bring your ideas and dreams, but leave room for them to share their experience, expertise, and imagination. They may show you flowers you’ve never heard of and have ideas you’ve never thought of!
