Once the wedding planning phase gets into motion, there are a lot of choices you now have to make. These typically involve decisions that can either make or break your dream wedding. One of those major decisions? Your wedding florist.
While selecting a florist might seem like an easy and straightforward process, there’s a lot that actually goes into choosing the right one. You can’t just immediately go with the very first florist you come across and later on find out there were other better ones in your local area that offer more value for your money. As flowers play a significant role in making your dream wedding come to life, this is a decision you should make with a lot of thought.
To guide you, this article gives a list of fail-proof tips that can lead you in choosing the perfect florist:
1. Do Your Homework
Whether you’re looking for florists in Seattle or anywhere you plan to host an event as big as a wedding, or you’re simply hosting a small party, and you just want to have beautiful flowers, the starting point is simple. You have to do your homework.
Give yourself ample time to research potential florists to choose from in your local area. Go through their website and read through the feedbacks and recommendation section. If you have the time, it’s a good idea to visit their shops, too. This can give you an idea of what flowers they have and what their design style forte is.
Apart from browsing through the florist’s website, this process of doing your homework should also include getting recommendations from friends who have already hired florists in the past. That’s first-hand information you shouldn’t take for granted, as you’re certain your friends will never recommend anyone to you with whom they’ve had an unpleasant experience working before.
You should have at least three to five florists as your initial options before finally choosing the best one.
2. Get Some Ideas
As you research potential florists, you may also want to print out inspiration photos of floral styles you’re after. There are loads of ideas on the Internet, particularly right off Pinterest.
When you go through the initial meeting phase with each of the potential florists you’re going to hire, lay your cards directly on the table by showing photos of how you want your bouquet to look. You can also use those photos you’ve printed as your basis for checking through the florist’s portfolio whether or not they’ve also made arrangements like them.
3. Create Your Budget
Some florists are more expensive than others, but the price isn’t always a determinant of quality. Usually, with flowers, your budget will influence whether or not your florist can follow your vision exactly as there are some flowers that’ll also cost more than others would.
Don’t be discouraged if you have a limited budget. A good florist will be transparent with you as to what they can do with your budget and what flowers you can afford to buy. You don’t have to go above and beyond your set budget just to come up with beautiful flower arrangements.
4. Consider Your Venue and Theme
Each florist will also have their respective expertise as to wedding themes. So, this is one factor you’ll have to consider when narrowing your options. It’s to your advantage to choose the florist who has done so many events in the past similar to your theme. There’s no substitute to experience and practice and, with that, you’re assured that the florist has already had so much practice in the past.
Along with your theme, you also need to have in mind your venue. Well-known and seasoned florists will have no problem filling up big venues with flowers, while smaller companies are perfectly fine if the floral needs for your venue are small and intimate.
5. Get Proposals and Decide
After showing your pegs and discussing your budget, you should now be able to ask for design proposals from florists you’re choosing from. Before deciding on one, the proposals should give you a clear-cut imagination of what to expect. Quotations are especially important if you have to cut down on some flower types to meet your budget.
By going through each one of the proposals, you can be certain that you’re working with the florist who can deliver the best floral arrangements for the budget they’re presented with.
Conclusion
When you want your wedding day to make a positive impression on your guests and on your memory, every single detail should be well thought about. Your florist is one of those. There’s no such thing as winging it or going with the very first florist you hear about in your local area and then hope that they’re good enough.
You’ll come across so many florists, but some are better than others. For the most special day of your life, you shouldn’t settle for anything less than the best. The tips above should guide you in finding the florist to create your wedding day vision.