How to plan for your dream wedding flowers.
I help plan around 20 + weddings per year. From elopements to large, full traditional weddings I create my client’s dream wedding flowers.
After meeting with hundreds of clients over the years I’ve come up with some simple and actionable tips for streamlining your wedding flower planning.
In this blog I’m breaking down the wedding flower planning process into four simple steps:
1) Make a list of the items you need.
2) Curate an inspiration photo collection.
3) Schedule a meeting or consult with your desired florist.
4) Book your florals and move on.
How to plan your wedding flowers STEP 1: Make your dream wedding florals list.
Planning your dream wedding flowers starts with deciding what floral pieces are most important to you.
I like to have people visualize traveling through their wedding as a guest in order to help them decide where to place flowers. Dream big here and write down everything.
Write down everything you need for your ceremony and everything you need for your reception. Create a list of “must-haves” and “may-likes” and be open to suggestions when the time comes to talk with your florist.
Not sure what you need or what is customary? Don’t be shy about asking your florist any and all flower related questions. Most florists want to give you exactly what you want - nothing more and nothing less.
Your bridal bouquet is the centerpiece of your wedding. Take time to decide what you want here and come up with one to three photos of your dream bouquet. Photo courtesy of Joshua Veldstra.
How to plan your wedding flowers STEP 2: Wedding flower inspiration photos.
Creating a curated pintrest board or a select collection of inspiration photos is key when planning your dream wedding flowers.
I suggest honing your inspiration photos to 1-3 photos per piece. For example, if you want an arch, find 1-3 photos that best represent your dream arch. Fewer is best as it's easier to communicate what you’re looking for if you can narrow your focus.
Just start searching around for images on the web. Keywords my clients are most recently into include: “garden inspired wedding bouquet”, “unique and boho wedding flowers”, “wildflower wedding bouquet”, “dried flower wedding bouquet”.
In addition, search for your specific pieces like “floral pillar with peonies” or “full floral arch with roses”. You can also include your venue in the search in order to see how others have decorated with flowers.
Don’t get wrapped up in needing to know floral varieties. In fact, I suggest you do not request specific varieties. This will allow the florist to use whatever looks the most amazing when buying or sourcing locally.
Let your florist pick the flowers. You focus instead on your desired colors and floral style. This will free you up to focus on other aspects of planning your wedding.
Gardenwild Floral elopement centerpiece for an Alaskan destination wedding. Photo courtesy of Turnstone Farm/Gardenwild Floral
How to plan your wedding flowers STEP 3: Your meeting with a wedding florist.
Most florists offer a consultation to talk about your wedding. Some charge a small amount for this meeting and some offer complementary meetings.
Here’s how to get the most out of your meeting with your florist.
Talk with your florist about your vision and the guest experience you want to create. If you’re not sure yet what you want, take some time to sit down and think this through.
Think about how best to highlight flowers at your particular venue. Think about how you want to honor your guests with flowers. If you’re not sure about any of these things, ask your florist if they have recommendations for using flowers at a particular venue. Ask them how best to honor guests at a wedding.
Bring your list of floral items to your meeting. Sometimes florists can give a price range over the phone, other times they will come back to you with a more precise quote later.
I usually give a price range over the phone. Then after our creative call and after I see inspiration photos and exact numbers of all the floral pieces, I can then write up a detailed proposal that includes itemized pricing.
Most often, people come to our first meeting without their inspiration photos organized. If you have your photos, great! Either way is fine.
If you can get your photos ready before your first meeting, then we can look them over together and you can tell me what you like about them. But most often, folks go out and get them after our meeting.
And finally, have a list of questions to ask your florist. This can be anything from pricing, to delivery details to the booking process.
How to plan your wedding flowers STEP 4: Book your florist and move on to the next thing.
Decision fatigue is a real thing. And when planning a wedding, making lots of decisions can wear you down.
I suggest making quick and informed decisions and then having your own back and moving on. What do I mean by having your own back? Make your decision, love it and don’t second guess yourself.
Early Summer Wedding at Alyeska Resort with yellow ranunculus bouquet. Photo courtesy of Corrine Graves.