Flourish

1. Do you and the florist have the same vision of your wedding flowers?

First and foremost make sure you see eye-to-eye with your special event floral designer. Do they understand your vision? Did they sketch, show you photographic examples and listen attentively during your meeting? Did the floral designer not only listen to and honor your ideas but also add their own creative spin to the floral plan? Did you leave the consultation with a feeling of excitement and a clear vision about the flowers for your wedding? If you answered any of the above questions with a big NO! then maybe that floral designer was not the one for your big day.

Level of experience is so important when considering a special event floral designer for your event. Wedding flowers are different than the everyday arrangement you get from a florist. The personal, ceremony and reception flowers are all expected to not only last the long wedding day but to do so beautifully. Purchasing, processing, mechanics, storage and delivery all play a part in how well the flowers fare through your event. Ask the floral designer you are considering about their process.

In addition to the longevity of your flowers there is execution to consider. Several designs and flowers commonly used in weddings can be complicated and intricate. Ask the floral designer you are considering about their experience, have they received any awards, certificates and/or certifications for floral design.

The best place to find your wedding professionals is through other wedding professionals. At least half of Flourishs business comes from professional referral. This is the highest form of compliment any business can receive. When you photographer, event site or DJ gives you the name of a floral designer that does amazing work it means a lot for several reasons; they have seen the florist is action and know their designs are of the highest quality, they were on time and professional the day of the wedding and they are willing to go out of their way to execute a perfect wedding. Wedding professionals like to work with the best because it makes everyones job easier. The last thing you want your photographer to have to worry about is trying to find a good angle of the wilting bridal bouquet or your DJ to be looking frantically for the missing toss bouquet. You want your team to be free to do their jobs at the highest of their ability by not having to fix other professionals problems. Hire the best and your wedding day will go smoothly.

Questions to ask a floral designer during the consultation:

Here are a few questions you can ask the florist that you cannot find in a wedding magazine!

What inspires your designs?
What is your favorite flower? Why?
What is your favorite part of the wedding flower/floral design process (consult, execution, installation)?
Tell me about your favorite wedding and why.
Who is your most admired floral designer and why.
What made you decide to go into this line of work?
What was your biggest achievement in floral design?
What was your biggest failure either with a design or at an event and how did you overcome the disaster?

You Do Not want to ask all of these questions during a single consultation (how long is the normal appointment- anyway?). But there is some food for thought in this list.

You should approach the consultation as half partnership and half job interview. A great floral designer is excited to talk about their art and their passion for flowers. So ask away- how much time do you have?

Photo credit: True Love Photo