Is this customary?

DirtyWater

I had a consultation with a florist.  She didn't have portfolios to look at of past work.  She had books of different types of bouquets, altar pieces and centerpieces.  But nothing with color or anything to give you an idea.

Also, I'd only be seeing everything the day before the wedding. 

Do/Did you get to look at portfolios and do/did you get to see a sample of it before you actually booked or at least a few months before?

I also have sticker shock but that besides the point.

CrazyMary77

I actually haven't met our florist yet because we're in Florida, getting married in Boston, and she's in NH. She has a website with pictures from weddings she's done before, and I looked up reviews as well before I decided to book. I also emailied with her back and forth and she was very prompt and professional, and her prices are great.

JBs_Bride

The florist I worked with had a lot of photobooks of other work she had done, so it was easy to show her what I liked or what I didn't like. I was pretty sure I was going to work with her anyways, but the photos really impressed DH and the florist ended up being one of his favorite vendors through out the process (who knew boys cared about flowers? lol). After we booked, we had her make samples of both our tall and short CPs about a month before the wedding (so she could have similar flowers as what would be actually used on our wedding day).

I worked with Jen at The Tangled Web and I highly recommend her. HTH!

LyssaBella

The Florist I worked with also had books and photos. I also brought in photos of ideas I had. Like you, I had massive sticker shock lol but we worked it out to bring the cost down without "cheapening" the centerpieces. They also made a mock centerpiece for me because my venue offers their candelabras as part of my package and we were unsure of how full to make the flowers. The candelabras are VERY tall so it was nice to actually SEE something and decide if I liked that or wanted something less or something more. I would maybe consult elsewhere if you are that concerned. I know I wouldn't be comfortable not seeing a sample of my flowers before the big day.
GL!!

october010bride

Our florist had tons of books and sample pictures in her shop for us to look at. She also gave us a "bouquet for the road" (as she called it) of my favorite flowers.

I saw a very basic mock up of centerpieces and bouquets when I paid my remaining balace a week before my wedding.

eeyore4771

Our florist showed us samples of her past work and offered to do a sample for us if we wanted.  We had to pay for the sample, but it wasn't full price.  We only did one for the centerpieces since we kind of made up a new design.  If you're interested, we used Suzanne Bellanger at Bella Floral Design.  Very talented and reasonably priced, particularly for the quality of work and amount of flowers.  Review and pics of actual flowers in bio.

http://www.bellafloraldesign.com