Stupid Florist Question

PhiSigFly · May 2011

I have to start contacting some florists and setting up appointments. When you do that, do you send them pictures of what you're looking for and get a quote before you go in? I don't want to waste someone's time if they're way above my budget, ya know?

rxjen · May 2011

That's a tough one because you will have to speak to the florist and see what they can do for you....I wouldnt suggest just emailing pics and getting a quote.I think if you go to the florist personally they can discuss budget with you and give you a cost effective alternative...If you decide to not go with that Florist ,then you at least leave them with some knowledge for the next florist appoinment..HTH

cmp1986 · May 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_florida-south-florida_stupid-florist-question?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:67Discussion:7dc02674-3e12-4030-9318-bf8b8bbdfc6bPost:38dc93da-879c-43d9-bd02-2b483a6e3d5a">Re: Stupid Florist Question</a>:
[QUOTE]That's a tough one because you will have to speak to the florist and see what they can do for you....I wouldnt suggest just emailing pics and getting a quote.I think if you go to the florist personally they can discuss budget with you and give you a cost effective alternative...If you decide to not go with that Florist ,then you at least leave them with some knowledge for the next florist appoinment..HTH
Posted by rxjen[/QUOTE]

I agree with Jen! You should just bring all your pics with you to the meeting. Because they may be out of your price range, but once the florist see's what you want, they might be able to work with you. Plus a good florist should always give you ideas on how to save money on your flowers.

PhiSigFly · May 2011

Okay, that sounds easy enough! Thanks!

KimA85 · May 2011

Bring pictures of what you like, and come up with a list ahead of time of what you'll need (how many bouquets, corsages, boutonierres, centerpieces, etc.), as well as what type of decor you need/want (ceremony arch, aisle arrangements, cocktail hour flowers, etc). I just met with different florists armed with a list of what I'll need, the look I wanted, and from there we came up with ideas and a quote. Definitely know ahead of time what you want to spend, and if they want to do business with you, they'll find a way to make it work. It also helps if you let your florist do their job...don't give them a list of flowers you MUST have. If there's one or two you like, that's fine, but if you give them flexibility, they'll have the freedom to find things in season, within your budget, that'll go with your overall look.

Keep in mind there's ways to cut back on floral expenses. For examples, don't purchase candles through your florist...buy them wholesale yourself and supply your florist with them. Your florist may also be willing to repurpose flowers, in order to cut down on costs and keep from creating waste. My florist is repurposing the flowers from our aisle sprays into the arrangement for the sweetheart table, and the flowers used to decorate our arch will also be turned into an arrangement for the escort card table.

You can also just go in with an idea of the look you'd like to go after, which is what I did. I found a really creative guy who has an eye for design, and I gave him the freedom to do what he wanted in order to achieve the vintagey, beach theme I wanted.

quiggels219 · May 2011

I just went through this and I figured out it was easiest to really email a florist and ask a few questions before meeting with them - this way I found out who was way above my budget - a lot of them were. I ended up just asking what they would charge for a bridal bouquest of tulips and a tall centerpiece with calla lillies. While they still couldnt give me an exact number I got a broad spectrum of answers and chose from that. Some florists quoted me 3 times what others did for the same two items - I also sent a smaple pic with this email. That way i wasnt asking for an exact quote when there were a million factors to consider but I got a general idea. It helped me narrow down my original list of 15 to three.

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