You’ve signed the photographer’s contract and you’ve picked out all your stationary. One of the next pieces of wedding planning that you’re probably considering is selecting your florist. Choosing a florist can be a challenge; the floral knowledge of the average person probably ends somewhere around roses and baby’s breath. You want to choose someone that’s not only an expert at quality design you want someone that’s going to be able to guide you through the process of choosing flora that’s right for your particular needs.
 |
| Wise Originals Bridal Bouquet |
As with photographers you’ll want to get recommendations as to a good florist or floral designer. Ask family and friends who they worked with and if they were happy with all aspects of the service the received. If you don’t have any friends or family that have recently used a florist talk to the venue manager where you are having your ceremony. They’ve seen hundreds of weddings and chances are they’ll have suggestions of who to use – and who to avoid.
 |
| Wise Originals Corsage |
Next you’ll want to start collecting photos. You may not know the difference between an orange day lily and a tiger lily but you do probably have some idea of what you like aesthetically. It will be much easier to express that to your florist if you have visuals that you can share – especially since most standard lists of wedding flowers is in the hundreds of varieties. Tear pictures from magazines, print out a list of URLs or photos from online pages, any place that you find a design, flower or color that strikes you.
You’ll also need to set your budget. Let’s be honest, budgeting is probably the least fun part of the wedding. It would be nice if you could simply go around selecting anything and everything you want without flipping a price tag, but that’s just not realistic. You’ll save yourself and your floral designer a lot of heartache if you set the budget up front. This way the florist can be honest with what they hope to create for you with the dollars you’ve set aside for flowers. On average the floral budget of most weddings is 8-10% of the overall budget. Since the average cost of a wedding in 2010 was just under $24,000 that means you may want to set aside $2400 for this portion of your planning.
 |
| Wise Originals Reception Piece |
Lastly you’ll need to decide exactly what you need for floral services. The bride’s bouquet is probably a given but what else? Bouquets for the bridesmaids, boutonnieres for the groomsmen, flower petals for the flower girl to spread, corsages for your parents and other special guests, centerpieces for the reception. If you want to keep your bouquet you might want to consider a separate tossing bouquet for the reception. Maybe a few floral arrangements for the wedding ceremony? Jot down what you think you may want and then take it with you to your consultation.
 |
| Wise Originals Ringbearer Pillow |
About 6 months before your wedding (you can start earlier if you already have all your venues selected and booked and your colors and dresses selected) you’ll want to start having consultations with different florists until you find the one that’s right for you. Be sure to take the photos you’ve collected, the list of services you think you need, as well as swatches of the bride’s and bridesmaids’ dresses (and anything else with a color you want to match or compliment), and quotes from other florists you’ve met with. Some questions you may want to ask:
- Is the same person who arranged the flowers in these photos the one that will arrange mine?
- Is there a delivery charge?
- Is there a setup fee?
- If I want to change something about the order later, can I and what’s the latest date changes can be made if so?
- Will you transport the flowers from the ceremony to the reception or do I? Is there an extra charge for that?
- What flowers are in season near my date?
Once you’ve chosen a florist you’ll want to book them and sign the contract. A month or two before the wedding call to confirm they were able to procure your flowers in the colors you wanted. Keep in mind that if your wedding falls around major “floral holidays” – like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, etc. – you can expect to pay 2-3x the amount for your flowers that you would at other times.
That’s a lot to digest! It makes those consultations so important – not only so you can get your questions answered but also to get professional suggestions to help you create your dream look. Joan and Alycia at Wise Originals Florist & Gifts would love to meet with you and help with all your needs. They have been serving Ashton, PA and the surrounding areas for over 25 years. If you are in the Ashton area you can request a face-to-face consultation with them. You can view samples of their work here. If you’re not local to them they also deliver world-wide with no service fees.
Wise Originals is providing an awesome prize for this week’s giveaways, which will be posted this weekend. Be sure to check back to win some flowers!