How to Plan Your Wedding Flowers, Part 2: Finding Your Florist
Planning your wedding flowers begins with figuring out your style and what you like. Once you've got that down, it's time to see what your local floral designers can offer you!
Image by Brittany Mahood Photography, designed by Stone House Creative for Host Winnipeg
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A FLORAL DESIGNER
So, what should you be looking for in your floral designer? How many should you meet with? How do you compare them to decide who to meet with?
Start by a simple google search, "Winnipeg Wedding Florist" and open up a few websites. Click to their portfolio or their wedding tab to see what they offer. Visit their social media channels or their blog to see their most recent work. Do they have any current testimonials on their site, or have any of your friends used them? This initial search will help you create a shortlist of a handful of local floral designers who you're interested in learning more about.
Next, consider what's really important to you. Is great customer service something that's going to help you streamline your wedding planning process? Are you all about a specific design style? Is it important to you that the florist has worked in your venue or with your wedding planner? Compare your needs to what these websites are telling you. No recent blog posts? Scratch it off the list. Does their online portfolio look like it hasn't been updated in a couple of years? I'd be worried. How do they interact with their clients on social media, and how frequently are they posting quality work? Does it seem like they share your aesthetic?
Hopefully, now you'll have found 1-3 florists you're interested in inquiring with.
Keep in mind the most important thing: you need to have a great connection with your floral designer (click for more on that).
You will be trusting a huge part of your wedding day (and your hard-earned money!) to this person, and they need to do a good job for you.
what to include when you're inquiring with a floral designer
Whether you're sending an email, a message through a contact form, or leaving a voice message, there are some very important details to include when putting together your inquiry.
-Your wedding date (obviously)
-Your ceremony and reception venues
-Your estimated floral budget
-A few extra details that will help determine if the florist can accommodate your needs:
how large is the bridal party? are you requiring floral decor? what is your personal style?
All of this info will help the floral designer(s) you're inquiring with to know whether or not they can take your wedding, in which case, it will be time to set up a consultation.
WHEN TO BOOK YOUR FLORIST
Winnipeg is an interesting market, where wedding vendors are booked up fairly far in advance. We're 6 weeks into 2016, and I'm already meeting with couples for their 2017 weddings, and many photographers and venues are booking heavily into 2017. So, when it comes to inquiring and booking your floral designer, be sure to give it enough time.
I'd recommend inquiring 8-16 months in advance. I know, that seems a little crazy. But, it's important to connect really well with vendors who bring your aesthetic vision to life, and therefore, it's important that you book those vendors early before someone else does.
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Part 3 is coming next week, and we'll be talking about the actual consultation itself - how to prepare, what to expect, and so on!
Want to book a consultation with me? Click below!
How to Plan Your Wedding Flowers, Part 1: Find your Style
You're engaged. Congratulations! This is a really exciting time, and planning a wedding can be a lot of fun. And in my completely unbiased opinion, planning your wedding flowers is one of the most fun parts! But, where do you begin?
Image by Brittany Mahood Photography, designed by Stone House Creative for Host Winnipeg
FIND YOUR STYLE
Get started with the basics - figuring out what you like! This is the perfect time to get online or pick up a couple of bridal magazines, and do some looking to see what's in style right now and popular for weddings. You're going to be carrying around your bridal bouquet for most of the day - figure out what bouquet shape you like. Have you selected your dress yet? Your bouquet should complement your dress well, so you may need to think about the shape and size of your skirt, the embellishments on the bodice, and so on. Are there any flowers you know you really do like or don't like? Have a general idea for the overall colour palette for your wedding, and if there is a "theme" or specific vision for your wedding, consider how that might play into your florals.
Think about other areas where you'll need flowers. Do you envision a floral altar, or something lining the aisle? Do you like tall or short centrepieces? What type of decor would look good in your venue?
START WITH PINTEREST - CAUTIOUSLY
Chances are, you've already got at least 1 secret wedding board on Pinterest. Head over there and take a good look at it, and here's a great hint: Don't be afraid to hit DELETE! Your engagement is the right time to start with Pinterest, but don't rely on it throughout your planning process. It's better to create that wedding board, and then a few weeks from now, go through and start deleting everything that doesn't fit into your vision. If you end up with 3-15 images, that's great. Much more than that, and you won't really be looking at your "favourites" anymore, but just a large selection of things that you like.
Here's why it's important: your wedding in an amazing opportunity to celebrate your unique relationship and your decision to commit yourself to your fiancĂŠ, honouring and supporting each other throughout your lives. Pinterest shows us a lot of awesome ideas on how to do that, but the thing is, once you've seen something on Pinterest, it's no longer unique. It's much better to find ideas that you love on Pinterest, and consider WHY you're attracted to them. Then, think about how you can personalize that to your own wedding! "When you replicate things seen on Pinterest, you are doing what was right for THAT bride, not what is right for YOU" - Every Last Detail (more on why you don't want to have a Pinterest wedding, here).
SET YOUR BUDGET AND YOUR EXPECTATIONS
I know that setting your budget can be incredibly tricky. After all, you've never planned a wedding before! A general rule of thumb is to allot 10% of your total budget to your flowers. If you want floral decor at your reception, you'll probably need to increase, but if you just need bridal party and family flowers, you can probably get away with less. It all depends on what your floral needs are.
Knowing what to expect can be even harder, again, thanks to Pinterest. I have spoken with brides who have a $20 budget/table centrepiece, while the image they're showing me that they want is at least $500/table. Ouch. That sucks for all of us. We'll talk more about budget specifically in your consultation, once I get a good feel for what you're looking for, but in general, be flexible. If you don't know what to expect, just tell me. I'll do everything I can to come up with some awesome ideas that you'll love, that fit your budget, and that create the look and ambiance that you're looking for. Being flexible with your expectations will go a long way.
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Keep your eye out for Part 2 next week: What to look for when researching local florists and inquiring!
Planning your wedding flowers? I'd love to help. Click the button below to connect with me!
Breanne's Blush and White Bridal Bouquet in Assiniboine Park
Breanne was such a lovely bride to work with. You can tell from these images that she has a beautiful, romantic aesthetic. I loved her colour palette of blush, white and soft greens and it played so nicely against the richer rose colour of the bridesmaids. We really wanted her bouquet to make a statement so it was large and lush, and we kept the bridesmaids bouquets simpler to keep them more cost-effective. Special thank you to BLF Studios for the great photos!
Blush Bridal Bouquet Recipe: Hydrangea, mums, quicksand roses, faith roses, pink astilbe, snowberry, Queen Anne's Lace, spider mums, succulents, and a collar of eucalyptus and dusty miller.
Lea and Ian's Garden Wedding at Hawthorne Estates
It's pretty rare for me to come across a bride on her wedding day, setting up her own lovely and well-planned decor items. It's even rarer to find that bride calm, peaceful, and kind to everyone around her while she works! Lea is just one of those beautiful spirits, and it was lovely to be a part of her wedding day to Ian early this fall.
Hawthorne Estates is one of my favourite venues in Manitoba. It's not overly large, but it is such a beautiful building with all the details well-planned. And of course, these images from the always amazing Brittany Mahood Photography are to die for!
2016 Wedding Flower Trends
As Iâve been busy meeting with and booking many brides with 2016 weddings, a number of trends have emerged. I have to say that I LOVE the direction that wedding flowers are moving. Winnipeg brides, youâre so awesome! These are some of the wedding flower trends for 2016 and 2017 weddings weâre seeing, and some of the things that I want to work with more, too!
Table Garlands:
Whether itâs all foliage, has neutral blooms tucked in here and there, or is a loosely placed strand of flowers, I am loving seeing so many brides incorporate garlands into their tables. A garland makes an EXCELLENT statement for a head table, by the way!
Brittany Mahood Photography
Local Flowers:
Luckily for me, I have access to a lovely local flower farm during the summer months (especially July and August) and this means that I get to play with the freshest blooms possible. It means a lot to me to be able to support a local farmer, whoâs out living her dream under the sun, at the same time as Iâm living mine. And, YAY for not having to kill our planet with crazy shipping of flowers from central America!
Holly Gilson Photography
More Colour!
I LOVE working with a wider colour palette, tucking in touches of pale sky blue, caramel, or raisin. If you are open to my help expanding on your hues, let me know and I will be ALL over that. In particular, I think we're going to start seeing a lot of different yellow tones.
Jeremy Hiebert Photography
Neutral Palettes:
On the other hand, a completely neutral palette of white and green is also very popular, especially among brides who are looking for a very organic, forest-y look. At these weddings, weâre doing a lot of mixed foliages and darker-toned greenery.
Victoria Anne Photography
Lush, Looser Bouquet Shapes:
Many of my brides are asking for a more interesting bouquet shape, which I am totally on board with. I love being able to place a flower so you can see the crazy way its stem grew, and allow the flowers to look a little more like how they grew naturally. Iâm also seeing a lot of brides asking for a BIG bouquet, which I will never say no to!
Kat Willson Photography
Creative Flower Installations:
Several brides have requested a unique spotlight of hanging flowers in some way, to create a focal point over their head table or the dance floor. There are so many possibilities hereâthe only thing that limits us is exactly how we can attach those flowers to the ceiling of your venue.
Simply Rosie Photography
Personal Style:
Over and above all other trends, one major component to wedding flower planning that I have seen from each of my brides is their desire to have their style really show through in their floral designs (and wedding as a whole!). Gone are the days of everyone having the same bouquet but in different colours. My brides are looking for something unique, something that feels more like them. And I know from wedding planning experience that actually figuring out how to make that happen is tricky, so my best advice for you here is: log off of pinterest, and consider the things that you love in your every day life. Do have a subscription to a certain fashion magazine, or have an obsession with home decor? Pick through what it is that you love, and consider how that can be brought into your wedding.