Why Choose Us As Your Wedding Florist?
Firstly, if you are reading this, it probably means you are engaged, congratulations!!!
We have written this guide to try and help you decide if we are the right florist for you without getting totally overwhelmed. You may also find this information useful when choosing other creative parts of your wedding like the cake or invitations.
Let’s start with what not to do when choosing a florist - We suggest you don’t send out a list of what you want, and ask a selection of florists to give you a price. It is not liking buying an often mass produced item like bridesmaids dresses. It is very difficult to compare flower quotes from different florists, unless you have a complete flower list with stem counts and varieties listed, it is virtually impossible to compare quotes based on price. Where one florist may use 20 expensive, scented, top notch roses in your bouquet, another may be quoting to use just one or two, with 15 cheap/ poorer quality varieties, and hence appear to be better value, but in reality it won’t look how you have envisioned it to do. The item descriptions may appear similar, but the actual content of your bouquet can vary wildly.
We get told by our customers that our prices are not the cheapest, but they are always so glad they went with us as the quality of flowers and design exceeds their expectations.
What we suggest is to go with recommendations, have you been to a wedding and thought I like those flowers! Hopefully we will have been the florist that created them, but if not, find out who did and get in touch.
Head over to their website to get a real feel for their business. Look at their photos, does their style match what you want? Have you fallen in love with their vibe? Find out if they are a qualified florist, or if they have oodles of experience, read their reviews on social media or google. Try and build up a good idea of how the business operates. Don’t worry too much about distance, don’t think you need to use the nearest florist, as most will happily travel for you. We will head out all over the North West and have even ventured over to Yorkshire!
Be a little cautious of newly established businesses, will they still be trading by your wedding date? have they got the skills and experience to pull off the flowers as you imagine them to be? I am not saying to avoid new businesses as they would never get a chance to become established, just be wary of paying large deposits, or the final balance months ahead of your big day. Also if you are considering a one person operation check that they have some back up plan if they become ill or have some sort of emergency on your wedding day, this has never been so important, in light of Covid. We have been established since 2007, we have no shop overheads, we don’t pay to advertise at bridal fairs or anywhere else, we rely on our amazing brides telling others, and we certainly have no plans of changing career, so we won’t be disappearing anytime soon.
Next you need to get in touch with your first choice of florist, we suggest you do this in writing, rather than over the phone, so there can be no crossed wires. Email them, or fill in the contact form on their website. Let them know your wedding date, you don’t want to suddenly find out they haven’t got your date free later down the line.
Let them know as much detail as you can, venue address, time of your wedding, number of bridesmaids, ushers, guests etc, plus a rough idea of your flower budget as this all has an impact on wether they are able to say yes to your enquiry or not.
Next have a good look on the internet, gather together a collection of pictures of florals that you love, from all sorts of sites and social media. Have a good think about your colour choices and varieties (although your florist will be able to guide you on what is available for your chosen date) it is very difficult to have a successful consultation without having a bit of a plan in you mind beforehand.
Once your favourite florist has confirmed they do have availability, book in a consultation as soon as you can, this allows you to a get a better feel for them and see if they get your vibe, and are both thinking of similar styles, colours etc. It is important that you’re both a good fit for each other.
Be very wary of florists who talk but don’t listen. Make sure they have listened to what you want, its your special day and you should be able to have what you want, do not be pushed into having a certain style because its fashionable, or easy to mass produce, don’t let them talk you out of having your favourite flower, that is unless its something out of season then sadly it probably wont be available from anyone. Also don’t be shy of saying what you particularly dislike, or cannot stand and wouldn’t choose in a million years, its just as important as talking about what you love.
A good florist will then put together an itemised quote especially for you, spend some time carefully reading it, as well as their terms and conditions to check you are happy with everything. If you are pleased and your gut says yes, then pay your booking fee as soon as you can, then you know your date is saved and you can relax a little. If you aren’t happy, or something just doesn’t sit well with you, then maybe its time to consider your second choice of florist.
