Wedding Flower Myths - BUSTED!
It seems that there is a conspiracy theory associated with ordering wedding flowers. If you do a search online you will find blogs that encourage you to do many strange things to receive a discount or save money on your wedding flower order. As a real Professional Florist I am going to debunk myths associated with ordering wedding flowers.
I decided to write this post after finding a recent blog over at The Offbeat Bride. The site looks pretty cool for brides who want to be different and not follow the beaten path. Honestly, I would have been a member if I would have found a similar site when I got married back in 06. However, I must say that a recent blog post got my attention and not in a good way.
Here’s why:
Firstly, the author claims she’s a “florist” but in the next sentence calls another florist “a big money sucking floral shop”. With all the options that brides have for wedding flowers today they no longer HAVE to use a flower shop for their big day. It’s our job to stand together and SHOW brides why it pays to use a professional florist and not bash each other for our own gain.
Some of the author’s suggestions are valid, and I’m not going to bash her opinions - just debunk the one’s that aren’t even remotely true!
The author suggests that you should tell a florist NOTHING when you are having a consultation with them. You could, I guess, but I would venture to say that it would be a very unproductive consultation!
Here’s the list of the items I ask the bride to bring along with her to the consultation:
*A basic budget. I don’t want to know exact figures but I do need to know if the three dozen mini calla bouquet that she’s dreaming of will fit into her real life budget.
*Dress colors, linen colors, color palette for the big day, theme/story ideas, etc.
*Number of people in bridal party
*Types of flowers needed (ie. reception centerpieces, altar pieces, or just bouquets)
*Photos of AT LEAST one bouquet that the bride likes so that I can get a feel for her flower-nality.
I expect the bride to ask ME questions as well, it just makes for a fluid consultation. After all, we are going to be working together throughout your entire wedding and it’s great to have a trusting relationship which leads me to the following…
Other myths debunked:
Myth #1 - “Over 75% of florists use a 5x mark up on weddings.”
Most florists do charge more for LABOR for a wedding because of all the hands-on work that must be done to create each piece. But that doesn’t change the markup of each individual item. It’s much more labor intensive to create a bridal bouquet than it is a $30.00 vase arrangement. Each flower must be faced perfectly for pictures, hand selected for perfection, and sometimes it must be created more than once or more flowers must be added than originally quoted just because it’s for a wedding and we want your day (and bouquet) to be picture perfect!
Myth #2 - “Bring in your own ribbons and other floral accessories…A 2x mark-up is typically used on hard goods (ribbons, pins, etc.) so see if you can supply your own. That way you only pay for them once.”
Most of the time a florist’s wholesale price is MUCH cheaper than what you can pay retail for any hard goods item even after any markup. I have had four brides in the last year who wanted to purchase vases out on their own. My price was 3.00…the cheapest they could find was over 5.00 per vase. Same with ribbon and other accessories. Most “hobby” stores sell ribbon by the 3 yard bolt, I buy mine in the 25 yard bolt and that usually results in a savings of OVER .50/yard.
Myth #3- ” It’s okay to lie to your florist.”
It’s okay to be honest with your florist! If you don’t want to pay $50.00 for a ring bearer pillow then say so. Most times the florist will, as I said before, work with you to come up with a creative solution to any budget walls you might run into. I guess no one will know if you do lie to your florist…I just don’t see how that will save you money.
Myth #4 - ” DO NOT bug the heck out of your florist.”
While I do agree that fifteen emails a day is a bit much I ENCOURAGE all my brides to have an open line of communication with me. If they find out in March that they need four more corsages for their May wedding I would rather find out about it then than at the end of April at the final consultation.
Myth #5 - The price of out of season flowers are “going to be any where between 3 and 5 times more expensive than when the flower is naturally in season!”
Tropical flowers are NEVER in season here in Ohio (and most other states in the Midwest). Flower pricing is very regional. They just don’t grow here so we’ve got to source them the same in December as we do in July. SOME flowers can be more expensive out of season if they are shipping from Holland but, that’s the exception and not the rule.
I feel like I am beating a dead horse with this blog post but, I also feel that it’s something that brides need to hear from a Professional Florist. We aren’t trying to “screw” (I hate that word) you. We are trying to work WITH you to create the wedding of your dreams.
Watch for my following blog post….
How to Choose the PERFECT Wedding Florist!
