questions for florists

sgdc2011

Going to see my first florist tomorrow!  What questions should I ask?

jgido

I my florist He is great. We had two initial meetings before signing our contract

He invited me and my MOH to come back and see 2 different weddings he was doing before the meeting so we could see 2 different styles and his work. One thing I found from interviewing was to ask if there was a transportation fee. (Sounds silly but most of them had it) Not to mention a second fee if you wanted it transported back from church to reception.  You will want to ask the florist for flower recommendations for flowers that are in season (otherwise you will be paying a premium for imports -- such as orchids) That will keep your cost down.  You will want to find out their delivery policy (such as what time they delivery on your big day and such). The biggest rec I can make is to do your homework, read reviews online before signing and don't feel pressured to make a decision unless you are ready

Best of luck!

uppereastgirl

I think it is helpful to have some baseline of centerpieces and bouquets in mind.  You can definitely change you mind later, but telling them that you want x number of centerpieces that are y size and have a, b, c, and d flowers in them will make the estimates you receive more consistent, so you can compare them better.  (Of course, you can always come up with those ideas at the first meeting and then use that info at other meetings.)

With florists for me it wasn't so much about the questions to ask than about learning their style and whether I thought they'd be able to make my ideas reality.  So I wanted to see lots of pictures of their work, and I wanted to get to know their personalities.  We didn't end up going with the lowest estimate we got, because I felt that a different florist *got* us better and was more creative (and had a style that was much more us).  I'm very happy with how that turned out.

I would definitely ask how many weddings the florist does a weekend.  You may not want to be one of six weddings they're handling that weekend.