Wedding Florists – Everything You Never Needed to Know

Before you started planning a wedding, there were probably tons of things you never needed to know about.  What should a great caterer provide? What does a DJ really do? How is wedding cake different than other cake?  It’s a lot to try and become an “expert” in very quickly.

Today, we are going to talk some about Wedding Florists. This one probably intimidates me the most to talk to you about because we get to work with so many AMAZING florists, and they know way more than me.  But, hey, florist friends feel free to add in the comments!!

Photo Capture Thirteen Photography; Florals Stems Atlanta

There are a couple categories of florists that I’ll focus on.  Floral Shops and Studio Florists.

Floral Shops

These are the storefronts you can walk into to order flowers for all kinds of occasions – birthday flowers, funeral arrangements, valentines bouquets, get well flowers and wedding flowers.  Some of the perks of working with a floral shop is they can handle smaller orders more easily.  They have large amounts of flowers coming in that they use for all the types of orders mentioned above.  So, if you want to just do a bouquet or two, they can usually work with you at a good price point.  Some floral shops have a large wedding team and they can do multiple weddings in a day – that way you have a better chance of booking your dream floral team.

Studio Florists

These florists often focus on weddings.  They do not have a storefront, but rather work in rented studio space or have studio space at their home.  Since they specialize in weddings, you can get more unique designs.  They also order the flowers specifically for your wedding, which means you have more control over what goes into your overall floral package.  They often keep smaller design teams to ensure high quality, so book them quickly!

Photo Camille Wilson Photography, Florals Stems Atlanta

What about DIY?

My first question to you would be, what is your goal in choosing DIY?  Save money? You love the idea of creating the flowers yourself?

If it’s saving money, I would recommend you really look into what the total cost will be.  There are websites that advertise wholesale flowers to the public – but their pricing is not wholesale.  You are spending just as much on the flowers (if not more) than you would pay a florist for their materials. So then it comes down to design cost and time.  Flowers need to be put together no earlier than a day before the wedding and then kept in a cooler (with no fruit in it!).  Otherwise, you need to put them together on the day of the wedding. (When you also need to have hair and makeup done, photos and so much more).  There is also the issue of transporting them to the venue (spilled flowers in your car are not an added stress you want on your wedding day) and the time to set them out on the tables.

If you really love the idea of creating the flowers yourself and you  know what you can handle, then look carefully into where you can get flowers.  As I mentioned the “wholesale websites” are not really a great deal.  Instead, look into local flower farms or Farmers Markets for locally grown flowers.  Keep your plan simple on what you are creating, when you are putting the flowers together and who is placing them for you on your wedding day.

To be completely transparent, I did a lot of my own wedding flowers along with the help of family.  I am extremely laid back on a lot of things.  I didn’t have a professional do my hair and makeup, we were hanging out in shorts and t-shirts that morning putting together flowers and I kept it simple.  We had a connection to a real wholesale flower shop so the flowers were affordable.  And, one of my family members had worked as a florist for a while and she put together the bouquets for me.

DIY can work, just make sure you are honest with yourself on what you can handle.

Photo Kaptured Photography, Florals Stems Atlanta

Where do the flowers come from?

This is another question that a lot of couples don’t even know to ask (or why it matters).  Flowers are grown all over the world in different climates, seasons and methods.  The great thing about that is it gives you access to flowers that might be out of season locally – like peonies that grown in Alaska for a large portion of the year.  However, those come with a higher cost due to shipping.  Flowers that are shipped in also have a shorter life span (they’ve already spent some time in shipping since they were fresh cut).

Locally grown and US grown flowers is another great option.  Locally grown flowers can give you blooms that aren’t able to ship – they are just too fragile.  They also tend to have more scent to them than ones that are shipped.

US grown can be shipped, but at a much shorter distance so they tend to last a little longer.

And, if you choose our farm for your wedding venue, you may even have some flowers that are grown at our farm!  You can’t get much more local than that!

Find out more about weddings at Pleasant Union Farm!