How to Best Prepare for a Floral Wedding Consultation

Planning a wedding is an exciting time for engaged couples. But it can also be an extremely overwhelming process especially when it comes to choosing your flowers.  Each week I spend a lot of time meeting with clients and the one thing that I continually hear is “What should I do before coming in for my consultation.” The purpose of this blog is to give you some tips on the best way to prepare for your wedding consultation so that it can be as productive and stress free as possible.
1. Research the Florists that you Would like to Meet-Before even scheduling your consultation, I would recommend doing some research into a florist that would be a good match for you. Take a look at their work online to see if these are the types of arrangements that you are looking for.  Every florist is unique in their style and abilities so by doing some upfront research it can, alleviate some of the frustration of meeting with someone that does not do the type of arrangements that you are looking for.
2. Choose Your Wedding Colors By choosing your wedding colors before your consultation, it will be of great assistance to choosing the flowers that will best fit your affair. Most flowers only come in particular colors so without having a color scheme its quite difficult to choose specific flowers. The color scheme is an important element in choosing the appropriate flowers.
3. Do Preliminary Research on Types of Flowers or Designs That Appeal to You– Once you choose a color scheme, its a good idea to go online to check out some different flower options and designs that would coincide with your theme. There are plenty of online resources to help you look at different options.
4. Bring Photographs– Once you have found some photos of arrangements that you like, its a good idea to either print them out or save them online to bring to the consultation. Its important to remember that most people don’t find exact photos of what they want but by showing your florist examples of things you do like it will give them a better idea of your style and overall taste.
5. Make a Rough Draft List of the Arrangements That You Will Need– Before coming into the consultation, it helps to sit down and make a list of the flowers that you will need. Some things are obvious such as bouquets and centerpieces but others are often times not as obvious such as corsages/boutonnieres for godparents and other special guests or flowers for the cake. This doesn’t have to be a definitive list as your florist can help you figure out everywhere that you might need flowers but it will at least get the wheels turning as to what you may need. It may even create a new list of questions that you may want to ask during the consultation.
6. Choose Your “Consultation Team”– Before coming in, really think about who is going to be an asset in helping you choose your wedding flowers and who will be a hindrance.  Often times I find that brides bring family and friends with them for the consultation that may be causing more frustration and confusion then actual assistance. Its best to only bring someone that is going to bring a positive energy and is going to be supportive of helping you achieve your floral goals for your event.
7.Make a List of Questions to Ask Your Florist – And by this I mean absolutely DO NOT go onto any of the wedding websites (without mentioning names) and print out their “recommended questions to ask your florist”.  Most of them are completely irrelevant in the real world, not to mention offensive to a reputable florist. This means actually think about some questions that you would truly like to ask. Don’t be embarrassed by any real questions that you may have. Good florists understand that most people have very little knowledge about what we do and flowers in general and are glad to enlighten you in anyway we can. I find that this also opens up a really good line of communication which essential to getting the most out of your relationship with your florist. 8. Come with an Open Mind and Positive Attitude- I find that there are some brides that come to the consultation with a defeatist attitude perhaps due to prior consultations or other wedding stresses. This is only a block to really working with your florist and making good choices. If you are positive and open with your florist, you will find that it will be a much more pleasant and productive experience.