10 Questions to Ask Your Wedding Florist Before Booking
With so many wedding to-dos, it is so easy to fall behind with planning or get overwhelmed. Wedding florals can be one of those categories that may seem daunting, especially if you have never planned an event of this magnitude or never worked this in-depth with a professional florist before. If your wedding florals are important to you and you need some guidance, this blog post is for you.
Planner Tip: Check out our NEW Floral Design & Wishlist Template to guide you even further with a step-by-step design template to send to your potential florists.
Here are some questions I recommend you ask any floral designer before officially booking with them:
1. Are you available for my wedding date? And how many weddings do you typically do per weekend? Per day?
In order to inquire with a wedding florist, you definitely should have your venue and date locked in first so your potential vendors can check their availability. And it is always good to know how much of a load each florist would have per weekend or per day so you can gauge how personalized your experience will be. Larger companies can possibly take on more than 5+ weddings per weekend.
2. How many years have you been doing wedding florals? Do you have any experience at my venue?
If you are on the hunt for a professional floral designer, it is important that he or she has experience doing weddings. Weddings are much different than other kinds of events. And it is also nice to know if they have experience working at your venue before, but this should not be a deal-breaker. Working at new venues is a wonderful opportunity for your vendors to be that much more creative and make your wedding that much more unique and special.
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3. Do you have a floral minimum we must reach?
In my experience, wedding floral designers will have a minimum spend you must reach, especially during the peak season depending on where your venue is located. This is a great question to set each other’s expectations.
4. Do you have any suggestions to maximize my budget? Which flowers would you recommend based on the season, color palette, and budget?
Your florist should be able to help you select specific flowers and recommend ways you can make your budget go further. An example of this would be repurposing your ceremony florals for your reception. Make sure to discuss this in detail if you must stick to a tighter budget or you have specific ideas.
5. Can you provide other decor rentals, such as arches, candle votives, runners, draping, and pillars?
Some floral designers have an inventory of rental items you would have access to. In my experience, it is wonderful to be able to rent a ceremony arch, draping, candle votives, etc. from your floral designer because it makes for a convenient and seamless set up and clean up.
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6. Do you normally stay to place the fresh florals on the cake?
Several florists I know will place the fresh florals on your cake if the cake is there within their set-up time; If not, many florists suggest that your cake baker place them on the cake when they deliver. Just have your florist leave the cake florals or greenery on the cake table or with your coordinator for them.
7. Do you charge extra for a design mock up?
This varies widely from florist-to-florist depending on the company. A “design mock up” normally consists of your venue and/or rentals and your florist coming together to show you an example of what your guest reception tables will look like. This may also include any decor, such as your table numbers, place cards, menus, etc. that you’d want on the tables. This gives you an opportunity to see in-person what your florals will look like and discuss any modifications you’d want to make. If you think you would like to have a mock up table arrangement or centerpiece, definitely discuss this with your florist ahead of time.
8. Do you charge extra to stay and repurpose after the ceremony?
Again, this varies widely from florist-to-florist depending on the company. This is a great question to set each other’s expectations and plan ahead.
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10. Do you charge extra to return for clean up at the end of the event? Do I get to keep my florals after my wedding?
In my experience, having your floral designer return on the same day after the event is an extra charge, but you will need to confirm with your designer. Normally, you are able to keep the florals you paid for, but not the vessels, vases, or any rental items. Make sure to discuss this.
11. When is the last day I can make changes to my order?
Typically, the final day to make any changes to a floral order is about one month before the event. Confirm with your florist and make sure to go over all your details again at this point in case anything has changed throughout your planning process.
