How to Choose a Wedding Florist

Choosing a good florist for your wedding is very important. As with all wedding suppliers, you need someone who is capable of delivering the kind of products and services you expect of them. For example, do they sell azaleas? Can they design teardrop bouquets? And so on…

Choose a wedding florist only after you have set a flower budget and have read the following information:

When To Start
Because they should all complement each other, you should start looking for a wedding florist only when you have found your wedding dress, ceremony venue and reception venue. For example, some colours and flower varieties suit some dresses better than others. Also, different venues call for different flower arrangements. Types of wedding flowers also depend on the formality of the wedding, as well as whether it is going to be indoors or outdoors.
As you can see, there are many things you must decide before deciding which flowers to use at your wedding. Therefore, you do not need to start looking for a florist until about four to six months before the wedding.

Find Prospective Wedding Florists
To find prospective florists you should first of all have a look at our business directory, which lists all the wedding suppliers you might need, including florists. Also ask any newlywed friends or relatives for any recommendations. You can also ask your other wedding vendors, such as the reception venue, if they have any suggestions. They should be able to tell you if they have worked with any good florists in the past. You should also go to bridal expos where there might be some florists who can show you some samples of their work. And, consult the yellow pages, online business directories and bridal magazines/books.

Consult Flower Books and Bridal Magazines
To get an idea of what type of wedding flowers you want, you should look at pictures of flowers in various books and bridal magazines.

Make a List of Floral Arrangements Needed
You should write down a list of floral arrangements you will need for your wedding. For example, you need flowers for your bridal bouquet, the ceremony and reception venues, the bridal party, and your parents. Bring this list to the florist. Click on Floral Arrangements Needed At Your Wedding for more information.

Meet Prospective Wedding Florists
After you have asked and looked around for some prospective wedding florists you should choose about three to five to meet with. Bring your list of flower arrangements and pictures of your desired wedding flowers to these meetings. This way, each florist can show you samples of what you actually want. If possible, also bring fabric swatches of your wedding dress and your bridesmaids' dresses. This will make it easier for the florist to give you advice regarding things such as which bouquet designs and colours will complement the colours and styles of your wedding dress and your bridesmaids' dresses.
Wedding florists should also be able to give you advice on things such as which flower varieties have a longer life span than others, and which are more difficult to handle.

Ask Questions
At the meetings ask the florists as many questions as you like. Ask them things such as whether they will deliver the flowers to each location or if you have to do that yourself, if they are familiar with the ceremony and reception venues, and what the terms of their contracts are, etc. It's important to know the exact role of the florist. Click on Questions To Ask Wedding Florists for more information.

Choose Wedding Flowers
Florists should be able to give you advice and make suggestions regarding what type of flowers should be suitable at your wedding. For example, they should be able to suggest which type of bouquets and colours will suit your wedding dress. You might have brought a picture of red tulips and want to have a teardrop bouquet, but will that suit either your dress or body-shape? You probably don't have a clue what will look best on you, but good florists do.
If you are keen on having Australian bush flowers good florists should be able to tell you which varieties are suitable for weddings. Common bush flowers used for weddings include banksias and boronia.
Florists should be able to tell you when common wedding flower varieties are in season. Choosing flowers that are in season will be much cheaper than if you were going to have to import them. Check out Seasonal Availability of Common Wedding Flowers to get an idea what flower varieties will be in season at your wedding before meeting with florists. This, however, is a general list that might vary a little depending on weather conditions and where in Australia your wedding is going to be. Therefore, good florists should be able to give you an exact list of the seasonal availability of wedding flower varieties.
You can also choose to have silk flowers, either by themselves or a combination of real and silk. Silk flowers are generally cheaper and, these days, can look very real. But, unfortunately, they don't have that fresh and beautiful scent that real flowers have. See if the florists sell silk flowers.
Another important thing to consider when choosing wedding flowers is allergies. Make sure you don't choose any flowers that you or anyone else are allergic to. Of course, you probably don't know every single guest's medical history, but at least ask your wedding party if they are allergic to any flowers. They are the ones who will be having flowers closest to their bodies, e.g. corsages and bridesmaids' bouquets. Also consider that flowers with a strong fragrance can be a nuisance to some people.

Final Choice
Once you have met and checked out some wedding florists it is time to actually choose one for your wedding. You should choose one who is best able to give good advice, while at the same time be open to your wants and needs. Experience in weddings and friendliness are also important. Of course, costs are an important consideration.
It is important to know the role of the wedding florist. For example, will they deliver the flowers to the locations or will you have to organise transport yourself, what kind of floral arrangements do they design, and do they set the flower arrangements up or do you have to do that yourself, etc? These are all important things to consider when choosing a florist.
If your chosen florist has never been to your ceremony and reception venues make sure she or he visits the sites before the wedding. They have to know beforehand where to put the floral arrangements (unless you are going to do it yourself).

Sign a Contract
To protect both you and your wedding florist make sure to sign a contract. At a minimum, the contract should include:

• the date of the wedding
• times when the flowers have to be delivered to the ceremony and reception venues, and if and when they are going to set up the flowers at the venues
• if delivery is included in the final costs or if you have to pay extra for it
• if you are going to transport the flowers yourself, time of pick-up
• descriptions and number of floral arrangements the florist is going to provide, e.g. bridal bouquet, flowers for the ceremony, etc.
• any rental fees for things such as vases
• payment schedules
• when the final payment is due
• cancellation terms
• any additional charges, such as labour costs

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