Three Things To Know Before Booking Your Florist
Hi there! I’m Mikayla, a wedding and event florist from Salt Lake City, Utah. I am owner and designer of Sprigs of Love, and I am honored to design wedding flowers for couples all over Utah. After reading this article, check out my other reads for tips and tricks when planning your wedding flowers!
You can start looking into wedding florists whenever you want: I recommend browsing instagram and saving designs you like, and compiling a list of florists in your area (even if they are a little outside of your area, most florists love to travel! Just be aware you may be charged a travel fee).
I begin booking brides 12 months out, and have booked brides as late as 4 weeks before their wedding! There is no universal time schedule that you should have your florist booked by, especially here in Utah where we have quick engagements!
My advice is to book a wedding florist after knowing THREE things:
The venue
The budget
The sense of style/vibe
1) THE VENUE
Florists will be able to walk through your venue with you or share pictures of your venue with suggestions on what to do where. That big fireplace in the corner? Put flowers on the mantle! The chandeliers? Let’s ask the venue if we can hang flowers or greenery from it! Does your venue have a lot of white walls? Let’s make your flowers POP by using color!
Besides the design, it’s helpful to know what venue you’re using for a wedding day timeline. Venues let wedding vendors in at a certain time to start setting up, and florists need to know if we only have 2 hours to set up, or 5 hours! That will make a difference in pricing because we’ll need to hire more helpers if there’s only a short window of time to set up!
2) THE BUDGET
If you don’t give your florist a budget, we will create a bid for you that’s like $700,000. We are creatives! If you don’t give us a cap, we will have way too much fun and probably give you a bid that’s out of your price range.
Everyone knows their budget, or at least what they DON’T want to spend. Even giving your florist a range is helpful and we can always take designs away or add more until you are in a comfortable place.
It’s possible your wish list of floral items won’t match the price tag you had in mind. It’s our job as wedding florists to educate you on what is realistic and what isn’t with your budget. We’ll make suggestions on arrangements that won’t cost an arm and a leg, and flower varieties that will keep you from going into debt.
3) THE STYLE/ VIBE
It’s helpful to have a few photos of inspiration for your florist to see while having your consultation. Are you after a garden style? Are you modern or minimalist? What do you want your guests to feel while they’re at your wedding? Sprigs of Love loves creating a whole atmosphere for your wedding day, so give us a direction and we’ll take it from there! You don’t need to know all the flower names; that’s our job!
I hope this helps as you’re looking for your wedding florist! If you’re in Utah, I’d love to help! Fill out our inquiry form on our website for full service wedding florals, or order from our Wedding Collections!
