Finding Your Perfect Wedding Florist

Wedding floristry is an art, not a commodity, which makes the purchase process highly unfamiliar for most. The choice comes down to price over style or style over price. My advice is to approach booking your florist on style rather than price. This does not mean that you should pay more than you can, but you should begin your search based on design aesthetics. Florists are the professionals and while they may not be able to give you exactly what you want within your budget, they will know how to give you the biggest impact with your allotted budget.

Chances are you do not purchase flowers regularly, so I often liken floral designers to chefs. If you want thai food you don’t go to an Italian restaurant and ask them to make you pad thai. Truthfully, they can probably make something, but you’d be better off finding a chef that excels at what you are craving.

Not all designers are created equal and they certainly don’t create equally. One of my favorite parts of attending hands-on floral design workshops is that in a room of ten designers, where each person receives a bucket with the same recipe, the day will end with ten completely different designs. Add to that the opportunity for each designer to choose their own stems and palette and the possibilities are endless. The other skills that set designers apart are their talents at sourcing the elements they want to use, their experience, their vision, their use of color, texture and blooms.

Ok. Ready to find your designer?

Define Your Floral Design Style

How do you figure out what you like? Look around your home and your closet for clues. Perhaps you enjoy bright colors, lots of texture or modern clean lines. Think about how you want your wedding to feel. Some want their wedding to feel romantic, vivacious or modern. The aesthetics you want to convey are part of floral design. A lot of clients use Pinterest as a brainstorming tool. Scroll away. Look at floral designs as a whole. If there’s a certain flower you want, note that separately. Look for images that capture your palette – these may not be pictures of flowers. Is there a painting, photo or piece of fabric that showcases your color preferences? Create a board with all the images that showcase the colors, flowers, mood, and aesthetic you like and then stop. Edit that board down to your top 20-ish. Remove repetition and what you no longer like or want. Do you see a commonality? Your florist should.

Research Wedding Florists in Your Area

Word of mouth goes far in this industry. It may be helpful to reach out to family and friends for their florist recommendations. Your venue may provide a list of recommended florists that they have routinely worked with. Turn to Instagram and look for regional hashtags, something as simple as #maineweddings. Posts featuring photos from real weddings will have tagged all of the involved vendors. See which florists are tagged and take a look at the pictures they’re sharing in their feed. Note their overall style, the vibe their designs give off or what aesthetics they gravitate toward. Does a designer’s work align with what you’ve pulled from your Pinterest board?

Florists know what they do well and set themselves apart by their artistic vision. Retail stores do the same thing – if you want something athletic you visit Althleta, if you want something more stylish you visit Levi’s, each company has honed their style and found what they excel at.

If you skip the step of matching your vision board to a designers website, and go straight to each and every florist in your area with the same inspiration, cross your fingers that they will be honest with you and let you know that what you want is or is not their style.

Contacting Your Wedding Florist

This is a big investment and may feel intimidating or overwhelming at first. Don’t make it harder by gathering too much information. If your top choice designers have a website and Instagram that is consistent and gives you a real feel for their skill, style, personality, and process then go with your gut. Hire someone you trust. If you know your florists’ style you know what they will deliver. This will allow you to let go and enjoy your wedding.

So, inquire with your top florist first, and try not to shop around. Perhaps they will come back with a number that is far greater than what you thought wedding florals cost. Instead of asking them to do exactly what you inquired about, see what they can do for a budget that is closer to what you can offer. If they are not able to make suggestions that would work for your budget move onto the next. Gathering multiple proposals at once will not allow you to compare apples to apples. As mentioned, floristry is art. Or to use the restaurant analogy, a $$$ restaurant and a $ restaurant both offer steak, but they are not the same. The $$$ restaurant may not be able to make you the filet for a lower price, but they can make you a sirloin that will blow your mind.

This is an investment in creativity. These designs will help highlight the significance of the day and give your guests a visual experience that creates joy. If you want to enjoy your wedding day, get to know your preferred style, invest in experience and go with someone you trust.