Find Your Dream Floral Team by Asking the Right Questions

Written by Curator Paula Jimenez, co-owner of Cresco Stems

You’re engaged, you’ve set the date, and you’ve booked the venue that feels like the perfect backdrop to your wedding day.  The whirlwind of saving Instagram Reels or Posts and creating mood boards on Pinterest begins. You might go through a rabbit hole of different ideas, color stories and styles for your wedding flowers. That’s a great beginning - save the photos that best fit your style, color story and overall ambiance. Gathering inspiration for your vision is an important part of the process. But finding the perfect floral vendor for you is even more important. You need someone who understands what you envision and has the capacity to transform your wedding day into a beautiful floral dream.

First things first, determine your needs.  This will help you hire with confidence and will result in a less stressful design experience. Let’s dive into the questions that will lead you to the perfect floral team.

What are you looking for in a floral team?

This question is the foundation for your search. It will help you determine who you need or want to hire. If you have a set vision – you’ve pinned down the exact centerpieces, the bridal bouquet that you must have, the ceremony florals that you can’t live without and don’t want modifications a florist might be your best choice. Florists typically work retail and focus on every day, ready to go floral pieces. They might welcome the already laid out designs on your mood board which they can replicate in the specific colors and quantities you need. 

However, if you are looking for a custom, one-of-a-kind design created specifically for your special day – a floral design team might be the best choice. Floral design teams focus on event florals and the tailored needs of making the event come together with custom and unique designs. Floral designers value and appreciate creative freedom. A floral design team will work with you on choosing a color story and creating florals that come together with the rest of the tablescape. Making the distinction between wanting to place a flower order or wanting a collaborative and creative design experience will make all the difference in how you and your floral team work together.

Do you love all their previous work?

Browse the floral team’s website thoroughly. Look at their photo gallery, determine if their minimum spend fits your budget, make sure that they offer all the services that you need such as set up, breakdown, rentals, etc. If so, spend some time on their social media pages. Look at the content they post but most importantly, look over the content that they are tagged in. This will give you an idea of how their work looks from the eye of past couples, other vendors or wedding guests. Focus on their design styles and how it adapts to each wedding. Decide if you feel comfortable and confident that they can deliver the florals that you envision. 

What is your budget?

This is crucial. Not only because it will help narrow down your search but because it will allow the floral design team to determine where the budget is best allocated. Keep in mind that many floral designers have a minimum spend on full service designs so that they can guarantee consistency and design quality.   Most importantly, it will help the designer to not create a proposal that exceeds what you are willing or able to spend. Much like with bridal gown shopping, we want to avoid overwhelming you or showing you things that are far out of budget.

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you narrow down your search. Quoting with 2-3 floral teams will likely save you a lot of time and back and forth. Remember, you can’t compare apples to apples when it comes to floral teams. Each floral team has their own style, floral preference, services and experience – these are all things that contribute to their pricing. It’s difficult to have quotes match. The purpose of inquiring with different vendors is so that you can get a feel of who understands you and your vision best within budget. If you choose a vendor whose work you love, you will not regret your decision. 

If you’ve decided that a florist is the right fit for you because you want very specific items and don’t need much guidance or creative input, create a mood board and submit the quote request for the specific items that you need. Ask the florist about their set up and breakdown services, if available. This process should be transactional and quick. A lot of the retail flower shops allow you to choose from items a la carte straight on their website. All you need to do is add to cart and pay!

However, if you prefer a bespoke floral design experience, you’ll benefit from the guidance, creativity and overall process of a floral designer team. Your event florals will be designed with YOU in mind. A floral designer will browse your mood board and immediately see the components that you gravitate towards, the style that your photos have in common and the overall feel.  When reaching out to a floral design team, you’ll get the best result by answering the questions on the design teams inquiry form and asking one question:

“Based on the inspiration photos, my budget and guest count, what do you envision will have the most impact for my wedding florals”

        This one question tells your floral designer that creativity is welcomed, that you value a collaborative design experience and most importantly – that they have freedom to create something special for you. Although you might be tempted to get specific about how you want things on each table or for your ceremony, let your floral design team do its job – design!  Keep in mind that this might be your only wedding, but your floral team has likely worked on hundreds of events and knows what works best in different spaces, seasons and occasions. 

Deciding on the right florist can be a tough decision and a pretty significant one, too.  In the end, a clue that you’re making the right choice lies in the conversation itself. If the designer addressed most concerns without you having to ask the questions, if you feel understood and if the conversation flowed organically – you might have found the perfect floral design team. Act fast and don’t wait too long to book!

Wedding Pro’s:
Photographer: Laree Photo
Wedding Coordinator: Cresco Events
Venue: Chicago Winery
Florals: Cresco Stems
Beauty: Hairs to the Bride
Couple: @areleneey_7 and @meetphill