A wedding florist doesn’t just turn up on the day of your wedding and arrange the flowers, often the creative process starts a long time before the wedding day. I am often asked what goes into the cost of wedding flowers, what does a wedding florist do? On average, the whole creative process for wedding flowers can take more than 6 days from start to finish. So I thought I would de-mystify what happens.

Initially the couple will contact me for an initial chat and discussion and if we like each other this then leads to a more in-depth consultation. If the couple needs some help to think about what they really want by the way of flowers, as opposed to what they think they ought to have, I will send a prompt sheet / questionnaire to help them decide on what is important to them. Often they have an idea of colour or theme but may not know what flowers are available at the time of year they are getting married. They may also have a particular flower or flowers that they want to incorporate.

I always 100% encourage the re-purposing of flowers – so for example, the personal flowers, the bridal bouquet and bridesmaids bouquets could be used to decorate tables at the reception. Any flowers that can be moved from the ceremony to the reception should be. Maybe a garland on the registration table can be moved to the main table in the reception. The most important thing is  they must get the best value out of the flowers I create.

Once I have gathered enough information I go away and create a ideas / thoughts document which incorporates any inspiration pictures that the couple have gathered together for their day  and I add to these ideas and add the types of flowers that could be used and where. I will advise on seasonality, if a particular flower is wanted but it is out of it’s main season, and therefore not available or available but much more expensive than it would be in season, I will also propose alternatives that give the same look and feel.

At this stage I may also provide an initial quote or ask the couple to narrow down their thoughts and select what they do or don’t like from my ideas and then I will provide an initial quote. Sometimes there are some subsequent toing and froing of ideas and thoughts. If I don’t know a particular venue I will also go and visit it to be sure I know the lay of the land and what is possible.

If the couple decide to go ahead then more planning takes place to ensure that all the raw ingredients come together at exactly the right time – there generally also needs to be a plan B as flowers are affected by the weather, sometimes crops fail – sometimes varieties are no longer grown – a plan B is always important just in case and ultimately it is up to the florist to ensure this is in place.

At least a month before the wedding day I will catch up with my couple and check that nothing needs tweaking – sometimes things change – ideas change – and this conversation may already have happened prior to this.

I will then place my order for the required flowers and foliage. I may have also have had to order specific vases for table centres or candles to dress the table etc.

Then at least 4 days prior to the wedding day I will take delivery of the flowers and foliage. As soon as they arrive I will unpack them and then thoroughly check the quality of the product – I will then re-hydrate them. This can also be called conditioning. I will re-cut the stems and place them in clean buckets of water and a re-hydrating solution to give them a drink for as long as possible before I use them.

I then have to carefully manage them each day – are they cool enough? do they have enough light ? are they warm enough? This is so important so that by the time the day of the wedding comes they are at a perfect maturity / flowering stage to look their absolute best.

Then depending on the types of flowers and arrangements that have been planned about 2 days before the wedding I will start to make some of the elements of the wedding flowers and then finish them off the day before or on the actual day of the wedding. If things need to be constructed at the venue this can happen the day before the wedding or on the actual day – depending on the venue and also if there has been another wedding the day before.

Some elements of the wedding flowers – like buttonholes, corsages, flower crowns etc. need to be made as close to the wedding as possible. This often means getting up at some ungodly hour to finish all of this work off on the wedding day.

On the day of the wedding I will then deliver the flowers to the couple – the buttonholes, the bouquets, the corsages etc.  I may have to then start setting up the venue or finish off what I started the day before.

Once all this is done I can relax and get some much needed sleep

So there you have it – each wedding is different and unique but this gives you an idea of what is involved.