The main reason we hear as to why couples find it hard to pick a florist is because they don’t know where to begin. Maybe they don’t know how much things cost, or what colours they want or they don’t feel confident knowing how to style a venue. Hopefully, if you find yourself in that position or are at the beginning of your wedding planning journey, then this guide will help you.

1.       Use Instagram to find florists. No Instagram are not paying us to say this, but it is one of the best places to find florists. Searching through venues tagged photos is usually the best place to start and when you see a florist you like the look of, follow them. See which other florists have liked their work or commented and follow them too! The algorithm will begin to kick in and suggest other people to you. Lots of florists mainly use Instagram to show off their work and that leads us to point two.

2.       Go for florists whose style you like. We repeat, whose style you like. They can do any colour palette, but they can’t really change their style. An Instagram profile or their website will showcase what they want to make more of, so if you don’t really like that or it doesn’t match up with what you’ve seen on Pinterest for example, they’re not for you.

Some questions to ask yourself when looking at their work…

·        Do you like the flowers they use? Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a flower connoisseur, just consider if you like the shapes, the way they’re put together, how many flowers there are to foliage etc.

·        Do you like the shapes of their bouquets or arrangements, e.g how wild and loose is it or neat and more traditional?

·        Do they have anything unusual that draws you in, e.g colour combinations, arrangements you haven’t seen before, maybe minimal use of foliage?

3.       Be careful of highly edited photos and what Pinterest shows you. Sometime when searching for ideas, there can be a world of creative styling out there that the algorithm won’t show you until it knows you want to look for it, so use these tools as guides only or mix up your search terms to explore further. Highly edited photos are often given away by how muted the green is, keep an eye out for this as inevitably on the day your arrangements will be much more vivid than you had planned.

4.       Have a conversation as a couple about how much you want to spend. A florist will be able to work with your budget and advise you on how to get the most out of it. Some florists work with set costs, and some produce bespoke quotes (like us) so you’ll find, through engaging in conversations, which works for you, what you really want and can afford and what you’re happy to let go of.

5.       Once you have found a florist, they can advise you on ideas around venue styling. They will take into account logistics such as when they can access the venue, whether items need to be moved after the ceremony and then factor that into the design so you don’t need to know it all up front.

6.       To get the most out of your flowers, let your florists be creative and offer up ideas that maybe you haven’t thought of. This can be a great way to get something different that truly reflects yourselves as a couple.

We hope this gives you some starting points to consider and help you make your search more effective.

Happy planning.

Rose and Alice