All The Questions Brides Should Ask Their Floral Designer Before The Big Day - Exclusive
You've set your wedding date and booked your venue, but now you need wedding flowers and have no idea where to start, let alone what you need to know. If this sounds like you, you're not alone. Many couples get extremely stressed about wedding planning and feel like they have no idea what they're doing.
The first suggestion for stress-free wedding flower planning is to do homework before you make meetings with florists. You're going to want to check out their Instagram or website to get a sense of what florists are going to fit you and your event. Some florists, Wedding Bells explains, can specialize in a certain type of floral design and you need to make sure it's what you want before you decide to make a meeting.
Aside from your venue, Wild Flowers recommends also having your number of guests, boutonniere, and bouquets finalized to help your florist be able to provide you with a realistic estimation of what you're looking for would cost you. You're going to want to know whether or not a florist is going to break your wedding budget. Knowing your wedding colors already, too, is going to help your florist be able to visualize your wedding and talk through design and flower suggestions.
To get guidance about how to navigate wedding flowers, we turned to Mary-Anne Da'Marzo, founder of SoHo's The Last Bunch, to find out what couples should be asking when they meet with potential wedding florists.
Ask your wedding florist these basic questions first
When you're putting together your questions for your potential florists, consider how much support you're going to want from your florist through the process. From the research you do prior to your meeting, you should already have an idea of whether or not the florist is a big shop with a large team or a boutique operation with only one or two designers.
"If you want something unique and if you need a little more hand-holding during the design process," Carissa Jones of JL Designs explained to Bridal Guide, "don't book someone who already has their hands full and won't give you the attention you are seeking." If these things are important to you, you're going to want to ask whether they take multiple weddings on the same day and, if so, how many clients they work with total.
You should also ask if the florist is familiar with the venue you've booked for your wedding, per Brides. If the florist isn't, ask if they are willing to do a tour and if there'd be a fee associated with the visit.
Along those same lines, Mary-Anne Da'Marzo, founder of SoHo's The Last Bunch, told The List that clients should ask their florists what flowers and colors they believe would work best with the season of your wedding and the space it'll be held in. Unless your wedding is somewhere that's essentially a blank canvas, like an outdoor tent, there are already established styles and colors. An easy way to ask a question like this is by saying, "Bare in mind my wedding is in (insert month), what flower choices are available to me at this time?" You can also ask: "What flowers would work best in my venue?"
Don't be afraid to ask your florist for suggestions
Being familiar with the venue ensures the florist won't create arrangements that clash with the already established décor. If you've already checked a florist's website and Instagram before setting up a meeting with them, you should have a sense of their design style. If you're having a hard time putting to words what you feel their aesthetic is, ask the designer to explain how they see their style.
You should also ask the wedding florist what you should prioritize your wedding flower budget on, Brides suggests. This, too, can be answered the easiest if you're able to tell the florist about the venue, the ceremony, the number of guests, and vibe you're going for.
Depending on the type of event you're having, and where you're having it, you may need things like tablecloths, candelabras, votives, or mirrors to put arrangements and candles on. Ask your florist if these are things they provide, per Brides, or if you can rent from them, if these aren't included in the design's price. If they don't have what you need, ask for recommendations of vendors they've worked with in the past, which could make things easier on your vendors for the wedding day set up.
If you're having cake or a dessert table, ask your florist for recommendations on how to decorate the cake or table, if at all. Mary-Anne Da'Marzo of The Last Bunch suggests you ask, "Could you work with our cake provider and add flowers to the wedding cake?" Just keep in mind that, even for wedding cake topper flowers, your florist may charge a fee.
Ask these questions about wedding day flower delivery and set up
Wedding cake toppers are generally delivered to the venue the day of the wedding, just like everything else. But, you're going to want to ask your florist how the wedding day setup works. First and foremost, Bridal Guide recommends making sure your florist has liability insurance and making sure the venues you're having your event don't require proof before your floral team goes to set up.
Make sure you ask the florist if they charge for setup and breakdown on-site, says Brides. They also recommend asking your florist how long they're going to need to set up, so you can ensure they can access your venues with enough time to finish their work. If you're repurposing arrangements from your ceremony for your reception and want your florist to do it, Brides says to ask them if this is a service they'd be able to provide and whether or not there would be an additional fee.
Besides on-site flower installations, you're going to want to ask about how bouquets and boutonniere will be collected the day of the event. Clarify whether someone will pick them up or if the florist can deliver them, and if so, make sure they are able to deliver the pieces where they're needed. For instance, if you need your boutonniere at one location and bouquets delivered to another, it's a good idea to make sure the florist can handle that, per Wedgewood Weddings.
What you'll need to ask your florist about post-wedding cleanup
Another important detail you're going to want to ask your wedding florist about is post-event cleanup: Who is going to handle it and, if the florist can, what will the cost be? This is something you'll also need to coordinate with your venue, too.
If you're handling cleanup on your own or family members are for you, be sure to ask your florist how to coordinate dropping off rentals, like flower containers and votive holders.
Ask about your centerpieces before giving them out. Some places, like Mary-Anne Da'Marzo's The Last Bunch, work with brides on creating smaller bouquets out of the dismantled installations to give as wedding favors. However, if your flowers are in containers your florist provided, Wedding Bells says, you'll want to discuss additional fees for guests to take these home. Da'Marzo suggest posing this question as: "Can my flowers become my wedding favors?"
While you're on the topic of final details, you will also want to ask your wedding florist how payment works. Not only may your florist require a deposit, but they may require you to pay in full by the day of the event. Ask when the final payment is due and how much of a deposit is required, if any, when you sign your contract with them. It's also okay to clarify whether the total in the proposal they give you is subject to change, or if you'd rather your florist makes substitutions that would keep your wedding flowers under a certain price point.