Wedding flower planning timeline: what is the wedding florist planning process?

A question I get asked all the time from my engaged couples and wedding enquiries is ‘What is your planning process and when do I book my florist?’ All suppliers work to different timelines, however I want to share with you my process and some background information on how this can help you feel prepared and confident to book your wedding florist.

Congratulations! If you are reading this then it must be the most exciting time for you both, going through that engagement bubble of excitement can sometimes lead to overwhelm once the wedding planning kicks in. Once you have your date and wedding venue booked, I thoroughly recommend reaching out to other wedding suppliers to further your wedding planning even more. Great suppliers can get booked up in advance, and as wedding florists we only work on one wedding per weekend, we cannot be in two places at a time unfortunately!

The Enquiry Stage:

As a wedding florist it is crucial for me that you have your wedding date and venue secured, this means that I can not only check my availability, but make sure that all of my ideas I am proposing work well with your chosen venue. In the South West we are spoilt for choice from large country houses, to rustic barns, to coastal venues and lots of at home marquee weddings: all of which may require different florals or requirements. When enquiring with florists do spend time getting to know their style and portfolio, it is imperative that your style aligns with theirs and you feel confident in the real lifer weddings that they create. To read more about specifically ‘How to find your wedding florist’ then please do take a look at this blog post here.

Once you have enquired I will ask for some more information about your wedding day. It his super useful for me to see any floral inspiration images you love, hear about any other vendors you have booked and get a little bit of background into how you want your day to look and feel. By sending through your inspiration images beforehand such as your Pinterest board, or key images you love I can really get a feel for the look and vision you are wishing for your big day, preparing me for our call. If you have ideas on guest numbers this is also helpful too. After I have received this, we schedule a consultation which can be done over the phone/zoom where we will discuss all of your flower preferences and requirements in detail.

Defining your vision:

After our initial consultation, I will prepare your floral design proposal and fully itemised quote for your wedding day. This is completely bespoke and will give you a great deal of information regarding flower choice. Upon securing the date floral mock ups can be provided and further floral mood boards to give you that completely bespoke and detailed proposal that will leave you feeling not only hugely inspired, but completely confident. Any reworks to the proposal can be tweaked at this stage, including discussions about on the day logistics such as set up information and clear down requirements. A booking fee of £500 is subsequently required to secure the date and ensure us moving forwards in the planning process together.

What happens In the months leading up to your wedding:

Each couple have a different timeline to work towards, and typically wedding planners do enquire with florists a lot later down the line these days. Once your wedding date is secured, I am on hand and available via email/phone throughout your wedding planning process to answer any queries you may have, or to make any potential tweaks to your requirements throughout. When booking me as your wedding florist, you really do get a high level of personal service and advice and you can rely on me throughout. A site visit is often required, particularly when working on large marquee weddings held at the family home, or at venues that I have not worked at before. This ensures that all aspects of the day are covered and allows me to view the space, take any measurements and check all the logistics beforehand, eliminating any issues at this stage. For more detailed information about ‘Do I need a site visit for my wedding flowers?’ do look at this previous post here.

Confirming your floral requirements & final communications:

8 weeks before your wedding I will need all your final numbers, typically buttonholes and table decorations are finalised here, whereas all the larger ceremony florals, installation work are determined and confirmed at the start of the process. You tend to have to let your caterers and venues know your final numbers around this time, so it works well for us as florists too. I shall then send your final invoice for payment 4 weeks before your wedding date. This ensures as little tweaks as possible are made at the point, however I do completely understand that a buttonhole may need to be added on, or an extra table!

Your wedding week:

I order your wedding flowers from my various suppliers a few weeks in advance, quite often I get certain flowers from certain growers or suppliers, so this involves a lot of admin and correspondence! Your wedding flowers are delivered or collected a few days before your wedding, to ensure they are conditioned and open to perfection for the big day itself! For multi day weddings we often arrive onsite the day before to begin setting up and can then be onsite to set up for your rehearsal dinner, before heading back first thing on the wedding morning itself. We shall arrive early to expertly install and set up your chosen wedding flowers, and stay onsite throughout the day to repurpose your florals where necessary. I will then manage the pack down and clear up the next day, making sure flowers such as your table decorations are allocated so you can fully enjoy the flowers after your wedding day. It is so important that your flowers can be enjoyed after the wedding itself, and any installations that need to be broken down will be removed and taken away responsibly.

I hope this has been helpful in answering any queries you may have when it comes to when you should book your wedding florist and the timeline of the studio process. If you do have any questions at all then I would love to hear from you my instagram messages are always open for a quick reply or of course do feel free to email. Equally if you are getting married in the south west and look for wedding flowers I would love to hear from you, listen to your initial ideas and set up a flower consultation! You can get in touch regarding your wedding flowers via the contact page.

Last minute wedding flowers: Can it be Done?

A noticed trend within the wedding industry is that many couples are leaving planning their weddings a little later than perhaps previously done. If we are of course free on your wedding date then of course we will always try and accommodate last minute weddings. Last year we planned a huge winter wedding full of florals at Hotel Endsleigh and Tavistock church in the timescale of around 6 weeks. If we have the date free, and your requirements we can definitely push ahead and prioritise making sure that you get the most beautiful wedding flowers, with no compromise on style or quality.