8 Things Your Florist Wants You to Know
Trista Rose | Rose’s Bouquets
1. Don’t get the cart before the horse.
Before you can do any floral planning, you must have your wedding dates and venues selected and booked. Although most of us love to talk all things weddings, it’s pointless until we have that information as we may or may not be available on your wedding date or your venues may be outside of our delivery radius.
2. Select a color scheme ASAP.
It’s very difficult to plan flowers without a set color scheme. We offer 2nd consultations in case of color scheme changes, and these situations do arise, but not all florists offer this service and you might end up with additional service fees. A complete floral palate is even more helpful, and floral ideas are always welcome!
3. Season flowers are sort of a misconception.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some flowers that are subject to seasonal availability and variable pricing. But the vast majority of popular wedding flowers are available year-round with virtually no price change, Valentines Day excluded. Some common exceptions to this general rule are peonies, dahlias, ranunculus, and anemones.
4. White and ivory are all that really matter.
Your bridal gown style and color are important to most professional florists, but we don’t get hung up on specific tones too much. Names of colors vary from one designer to the next, so this is not an exact science. From a design standpoint, it’s nice to mix white and ivory tones, so don’t stress about matching a very specific color. In the industry, we talk in general categories of white, ivory, and champagne.
5. Monotonous color schemes are boring.
And by monotonous, I mean meticulously matching the exact same color tone for maid’s dresses, flowers, linens, invitations, favors, cake etc. Variety within a color family is very pleasing to the eye, as well as additions of other complimentary colors. This applies to interior design and clothing styling as well. A professional florist can suggest complimentary color palates, or if you are doing your own flowers, visit the paint swatch section of your local hardware store or use online resources for inspiration.
6. Local flowers aren’t really a thing.
Very few flowers are grown for commercial use in the Midwest. Roses are imported from Ecuador and Columbia, hydrangeas come from Holland, orchids from Thailand and Singapore, etc. I will be the first to champion the fight for lower greenhouse emissions and reducing our carbon footprint, but growing the types of flowers that brides demand just isn’t practical in Indiana. So no, I didn’t personally grow your flowers but know that you are helping economies from around the world when you purchase your fresh flowers. Also note that flowers can be in transit and processing for up to a week before they reach the local wholesaler, which is why special ordering is so very important.
7. The early bird doesn’t get the freshest flowers.
Remember your flowers are fresh, and have a limited amount of time that they will be at their peak appearance. When you schedule your floral delivery on the day of your wedding, keep this in mind, and coordinate your flowers to arrive when formal and dressed photos start, or about an hour prior to ceremony start time, whichever happens first. Any earlier and they are sitting around unnecessarily, with precious beautiful moments passing by. Even if there are large floral installations to manage, your photographer can work around these set ups and will still have plenty of time for gorgeous photos anywhere you want them. So trust your florist to be professional and punctual. If you don’t feel you can trust your florist to do these things, find another florist.
8. DIY comes with a lot of risks.
Over the years I have been contacted by brides who are faced with the following situations, usually the morning of their wedding
- Flowers never arrived
- Flowers arrived dead
- Flowers came in wrong color
- Flowers were put in freezer instead of refrigerator and died
- Flowers were stored with produce and wilted (due to ethylene gas)
- Flowers came in smaller than expected and there aren’t enough stems
- Stained dresses due to pollen
- Flowers wilted due to improper conditioning/hydration
- Malfunction of refrigerator/cooler froze flowers
- Flowers were damaged in transit from design location to venue
A professional florist should prevent or effectively manage any of these issues if/when they arise-without you ever knowing! Ignorance is bliss! Not to mention a florist will help with design planning and professionally arrange the stems.
Happy wedding planning!
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