Guest blog by Clare from Clementine Moon Floral Design
Tips for choosing your wedding florist! Including details of: booking process, top questions to ask, and pricing.
There are so many decisions to make when planning your wedding and choosing your suppliers that it can feel quite daunting and possibly overwhelming. To help you to find your ideal florist Dheyna asked me to share my top hints and tips with you all.
How do I know if a florist is right for me?
Think about what type of flowers you like and what kind of feel you want for your big day. It might help to think about your home and style, do you like minimalist schemes with clean lines and neutral colours or are you more eclectic and colourful. Different florists produce work that is in a style individual to them, so it’s a good idea to have a look at a few websites. You could also follow your favourites on Instagram to see whether they match your vision.
It’s also worth considering your eco stance when booking a florist, some florists use only eco-friendly and sustainable techniques, including not using floral foam to arrange and sourcing local flowers where possible (like myself), whereas others use less earth friendly techniques. So, it’s worth looking into and asking your florist shortlist what their preferred methods are.
You also need to take into consideration your budget at this point. Most floral designers or studio florists will have a starting price for their full design service. For instance, I have a starting price for my full design service. This includes a consultation, the design of your flowers, plus installing them on the day and returning to clear them down the next day if required. The reason for a minimum spend is that floral designers tend to only work on weddings and events so they have a minimum cost in overheads to make a wedding viable for them to work on. If you are planning a smaller intimate wedding or elopement then I offer a service called ‘The Clementine Edit’ instead, this allows you to choose from a menu of pre-priced options and collect your flowers from me. A florist who also has a retail shop may be less likely to have a minimum spend, as they always have to have flower stock in their shops and are able to use any extra flowers in their day to day work.
What is the booking process?
Most florists offer a consultation of some sort whether this is face to face, over zoom or by telephone or email. This consultation is so the florist can find out about you, your wedding and what your ideas for flowers might be, but also to see whether you both have a connection that means you’d like to work together. Don’t worry if you don’t know much about flowers, your florist is the expert and can guide you about flower choices plus different types of installation and aesthetics to consider. Following this consultation I pull together a moodboard and initial proposal and quote, this helps you to see that I’ve understood what you are looking for, make any changes that you would like and see how much it will cost.
What happens after booking?
Once you’ve decided to book, you should expect to pay a booking fee (usually non-refundable) to secure your date. Your florist will then work with you over the coming weeks and months to make sure you are happy with your final proposal and confirm all the finishing touches and details with you. If you received a moodboard before your booking, then quite often a florist will expand this into a full proposal or look book for you, so you know exactly what to expect on your big day.
How much do services usually cost?
This really depends on what you want and how big your budget is. For example if you wanted bridal party flowers, beautiful table centres pieces and some statement installations such as beautiful floral arch, hanging installation or big dramatic mantelpiece then you would probably expect to pay somewhere between £2000 and £5000, depending on numbers in the bridal party, number of tables and installations and flower and foliage choice. My best advice is to be honest with your florist and let them know your budget, then they can advise how to create the best impact with flowers for your hard-earned money.
What questions should I ask my florist and key things to think about?
Service provided – check what is included in the quote, does it involve set-up on the day and get-out afterwards (if required), how many consultations can you have, does your florist visit the venue with you? It’s important to feel comfortable with the process and trust your florist to deliver.
Flower choice – what flowers will be in season on your chosen wedding date and in what sorts of colours, discuss the feel and ambience you want for your wedding day.
Understanding - does the florist understand your vision, or if you don’t have a vision then do you feel confident the florist can produce flowers to wow you?
Sustainability – what is your florists take on this and is it important to you to use eco-friendly and sustainable suppliers?
Work load - How many weddings will you be flowering on the same date as mine? It’s good to know whether you will have the florists sole attention or whether they flower multiple weddings on the same day in which case it might be their team on site for yours.
Set-up, clear down – How does this work, what will you need to (or not need to) do before and after your wedding?
Clementine Moon Floral Design is an eco-conscious wedding florist covering South West, UK. If you’d like abundant, romantic and seasonal flowers for your wedding then get in touch
clare@clementinemoon.co.uk. You can also find Clare on Instagram and Facebook!
