Picking The Right Wedding Florist

By Wedding Rings Direct

Choosing the right flowers for your wedding day can be a very complicated and confusing process. There are so many flowers available! How are you supposed to choose the best ones for you?

There are also many different uses for flowers during a wedding day:

• Centrepieces
• Bouquets
• Petals for the aisle or the send-off
• Corsages for specific honoured guests
• Small arrangements to make the venue look appealing

Most of us don’t have the first idea about types of flowers, arrangements, design or scale. So you might want to consider going to an expert wedding florist who can help you in every element of your floral decisions.

If you have the funds available, an independent floral designer can be hired to create a dedicated motif. They are usually more expensive than normal florists, but they are experts in their trade and you can almost guarantee that the work they produce will be flawless.

Floral designers may also be able to help with other wedding decorations as the title “floral designer” is just one of many titles they will take on. An added benefit is that they usually only take on one client at a time, so you will get plenty of attention and work from them.

Once you have decided on whether you want a florist or floral designer, you will have to choose which specific one you want which, if you haven’t had any previous experience with florists, can be a particularly difficult task. Rely on word-of-mouth for reliable floral referrals from any friends and family who have been married. You can even ask the venue for their opinion on the best flowers they’ve seen for a wedding there.

Usually, planning the flowers doesn’t start until about a month before the wedding, but keep a look out for potential floral ideas from as soon as you get engaged. Keep a collection of notes and pictures of flowers that you like and could be potential flowers on your wedding day.

Budgeting for Flowers

You must know your spending limits and budget for your flowers and establish this early on with the florist so they know the maximum they can work up to without breaking your budget.

A standard flower budget is roughly 8-10% of your overall wedding budget. So, if you were having a wedding costing £20,000, then around £1,600 – £2,000 is about right to get some perfect floral creations.

Separate flowers into those you MUST have, and those that you would LIKE, in order to give the florist something to work with and give you a range of choices so you make the right decision, remember to try and keep in with the theme of the wedding.

If you suffer from hay fever but still want to have the same flowers, then silk flowers might be for you. They look very similar to real flowers making it very difficult to tell them apart and generally don’t cost as much. Another benefit is that you can use them more than once. After your wedding, you can keep artificial flowers as a keepsake, as they never die. If you have real flowers, then you might want to get one or two of them pressed to keep them as a special memory.

The bridal bouquet is an accessory to the wedding dress, so make sure they complement your dress and they are in keeping with size of the dress, i.e. if you have a big dress, get a big bouquet so they don’t look insignificant.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different shades and tones of flowers before you make a final decision. This allows you get the perfect bouquet for your dress and the venue. If possible, choose flowers which have special meanings to both of you, this will give the flowers that little bit of extra special meaning throughout the whole day.

Subjects