Five steps to your perfect wedding flowers

Step 1: Choose your Theme
This is the fun part, get out there and start gathering as many ideas as you can. Look on social media, Blogs, Vlogs, Wedding Shows, set up a few Pinterest boards, one for the venue, one for the outfits, one for the flowers etc. Have fun and enjoy! It might seam a little daunting at first but as you get out there and find lots of ideas you will soon discover there are things you’ve collected that you don’t like and ideas you do. Keep looking at all your ideas and clean out all the ones that you no longer like, over time you will see a clear theme coming through.

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Step 2: Choose your Venue
You know what your theme is, choosing that all-important venue is next. Work out what’s important, make a list, is it the food, the service, the location? Do you want lots of guests or an intimate affair? If you’re already in contact with a florist then ask them, they will have covered hundreds of different venues and have a good idea of the ones that work well. When you meet with the event planner have a list of questions ready, find out what’s included and what will cost extra. Read their reviews, take the same questions to all venues and weigh up your options.

Step 3: Choose your Dresses
This is where all your carefully laid plans could go out the window and, to be honest, when it comes down to your dress it probably should. All your ideas of the princess dress with diamond encrusted belt could change when you put it on for real. Just go with the flow, let your bridal assistant help guide you though, you will know when it’s the right dress.

Dressing the bridesmaids is a whole other story. Go in with a plan, the more bridesmaids, the more opinions, be strong. An upcoming trend this year is for printed bridesmaid dresses, check out some 1970’s weddings for inspiration. You could also go with one colour and different dress styles to suit all. If your doing one dress fits all then be firm, its your day, they should go with your vision.

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Step 4: Choose your Florist
Now you’re ready to choose your florist. You now have a clear idea on how you want your day to look, you know if it’s neat and elegant or wild and natural. You will have your venue and your colours. You will know your guest numbers (roughly) and you will have pinned till your hearts content on Pinterest.

Personally, as a florist, I think the best way to find the perfect florist for you is to go with your gut. The relationship you have with your florist needs to be a close one, you should be able to trust them to have all the little details covered. You can go down the route of getting a million quotes from every florist in town, you can ask the venue which is their preferred florist, you can even have a family friend create your flowers for you. Whichever way you choose to go just make sure you feel a connection with them. Check are out their customer reviews. Have they got images of other weddings with a similar theme to yours? Have they decorated your venue before? How many weddings do they take on in one weekend, how do they manage this? All these questions are important but, honestly, go with your gut.

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Step 5: Choose your Flowers
There are of course some things you do not need to worry about. You don’t need to know the name of every flower. You don’t need to provide all the vases, tea lights and all the other paraphernalia that goes with your flowers, that includes ribbon for your bouquets and pins for the buttonholes, your florist should have it covered.

Go to your florist with your ideas, give them your budget, this way your florist can do all the hard work for you. They should be able to come back to you with lots of ideas on different table centres and ceremony flowers. Trust their judgement with the flower choice. If you go in with a very set idea on the exact flowers you want then it could be a disappointment. It’s often best to see what’s in season, that way you are getting the best quality flower at the right price. Remember, your florist is the expert.

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Finally
Ask yourself what’s important, keep asking that question, weddings are expensive so spend money on things that are important to you. Trust the experts, they have helped many couple’s dreams come true and most important of all, enjoy yourselves, this should be fun, remember your wedding day is just the beginning!