Wedding Floral | Not Just The Bouquet Anymore
Happy Monday everyone! We know Monday's have the potential to be a drag so here's a blog post, written by the amazing Kelly Dixon of Union Blooms Floral to brighten up your day :)
This will be Part 1, so be sure to check back to see more tips from Kelly!
Wedding floral is one of the items for any wedding that sets the tone, theme, colors, and what can be one of the most budget killing expenditures for any budget. As a floral designer, who specializes in weddings and events, here are tips for how to keep within budget while getting the look you want as well as what to ask your florist and my tips for making sure your day goes as seamlessly as possible.
1. Use Pinterest to find the overall look you want. But only use Pinterest as a guideline. That huge hydrangea and rose covered arch you’re looking at may be out of your budget, but it’s the general look you want. That cascading bouquet with Phalaenopsis orchids may be stunning but is it the flower or the overall look you like?
I tell all my clients to bring photos of ideas they like to a consultation. Why? It allows me to see what their overall vision is and how to tailor it for their particular budget.
2. Once you find the look you want and decide on colors, STEP AWAY from Pinterest. After you have made your final decision it can cloud the overall look with multiple new photos being sent to your floral designer, leaving he/she questioning the notes they took at your consults and culled from your emails and phone calls.
There will always be a new trend, a new color palette, but feeling confident in your final choice is important for the outcome to be as close to what you envisioned.
3. The MOST important part of your wedding floral is the bridal bouquet. Why? It will be in nearly every photo of the bride. A breakdown of your proposal per cost should show the bridal bouquet being a pretty hefty part of your proposal costs. A good designer will know that this is the “showstopper” piece and the most attention needs to be put on the bridal bouquet.
Many times, I have had clients who said they wanted a small bouquet. Happily, I will accommodate that request with varied responses on the day of the wedding as the bride wishes her bouquet was bigger and more elaborate. It is frustrating for a designer to spend hours if not days working on a wedding to find a client who is not as pleased with their decision.
4. Listen to your designer. It’s 100 degrees in August and you want tulips and hydrangea. You’re insisting on those two flowers, your designer is begging you to reconsider. There is a reason for this. Designers spend a lot of time designing your pieces, whether they be the personal floral, ceremony floral or reception floral. They know in August, tulips will be dead by the time the wedding starts and the hydrangea will look like something left over from the week before. Designers know what flowers will do well in what situations. Listen to their advice to help alleviate wedding day disappointment.
Case in point. One of my first weddings, yes, in August, and yes she insisted on red tulips. Not only was the cost higher as they are out of season, I knew her venue, which had no air conditioning, would not be a good fit for her desired tulips. I showed her red garden roses, dark red standard roses, and still, she held fast to the red tulips. While the assembly looked good, the outcome was a huge disappointment. Sitting in a church for 2 hours before the ceremony with no air conditioning the tulips were fully open and petals falling by the time the ceremony started. Her bouquet? It was nearly dead by the end of the ceremony. She was upset, she was angry. While I fully understood her disappointment, I only redirected her to the countless emails with the flower options and me as the designer begging her not to use the tulips and the reasons why.
Kelly Dixon | Union Blooms Floral
Info@unionbloomsfloralweddings.com | www.unionbloomsfloralweddings.com