Hi there, I’m Tessa Manton, the owner of Tula Rose Floral & Event Design! Welcome to our floral and event design blog, where we talk about all things florals and the behind the scenes processes. We are a floral design studio that focuses the majority of our work on weddings and events. My favorite part about running a floral design studio is taking a theme or vision and bringing it to life! It’s fun to be able to search for different flowers, textures, and colors, translating them into an overall vision! Today we are gonna tell you our top 5 things that us florists, wish our clients knew about the floral world & design process! We hope you enjoy our first blog post.
Please have at least a ROUGH vision for your wedding flower desires – it doesn’t need to be perfect!
It’s okay to not have a completed floral vision before meeting with your florist for a consultation (or even after your meeting). But we do ask that you at least have a rough vision of what you’re looking for. We ask that our prospect clients create an updated and organized Pinterest board. Don’t worry about how expensive it might look – you can trust us as your florist to know what flowers would best suit your desired design based on: your vision board, what flowers are in season, your venue, as well as accenting decor. From there, a proposal is created as well as an estimate, based on the availability of certain flowers at the time of your event.
Reasons why flowers can be expensive (pstttt…we don’t like it either)
Flower-filled Pinterest-worthy weddings can fill you with inspiration, that is until you find out the level of investment they require. Contributing to the sticker shock you may feel upon receiving a proposal, is the increase of 10-35 percent in your florists’ wholesale costs in the last few years. Everything from flowers to supplies to truck rentals has gone up. In some cases, a lot!
YOUR FLORISTS’ SKILL, TIME, & EXPERIENCE – From the time of the first meeting to the final breakdown and clean-up from your event, your wedding florist will likely spend up to seventy hours on the design and execution of your wedding flowers. This does not include hours put in by additional designers to help. Nor does it include the continuing education and practice that the most sought-after florists invest in, to be at the top of their game with the latest floral sustainability techniques, trends, and design styles.
DESIGNING YOUR FLORALS – About five days before your wedding, your florist will coordinate the pick-up and or delivery of your wedding flowers and greenery. Depending on the scale of your wedding, this may be from multiple sources such as local farms, a wholesale market, and overnighted items from out of state growers. Once they have arrived at the studio, the processing begins; each flower stem is cleaned of leaves and thorns and a fresh cut is provided to the stem. Even with multiple people, this is a process that takes many hours, up to a full studio day. At this point, it is worth mentioning that whether your florist rents or owns that studio space, it is a big expense.
DELIVERY & SET UP OF YOUR FLOWERS – Designers are putting in long days to complete your floral designs. If your wedding has a large installation, such as a floral arch, these flowers are most often designed on-site a few hours before your ceremony. Depending on the scale of the installation and the time allotted for the set-up of your wedding, this often requires multiple designers to complete. On the day of your wedding, your florals are carefully loaded up, delivered, and set-up at your venue. When your event is over, a team will return to take down, pack up and clean up. Then it is back to the studio, where there is still plenty of work to be done, separating flowers for composting, cleaning and removing wax from candle holders, sanitizing all of the buckets and vessels, as well as returning rental pieces. It can add up to another full day of work.
Yes, you could arrange the flowers yourself … but here’s why you shouldn’t DIY and should hire a professional florist.
There are a number of reasons why we don’t recommend that anyone DIY their own wedding flowers. Florists have years of experience and knowledge about different flowers, what works well in different weather, and how to keep flowers fresh.
You may have trouble finding the exact flower and color you want. Florists have established working relationships with vendors, ensuring that we can call them up and find almost any bloom. These relationships help us immensely, especially when it comes to sourcing rare types of flowers that otherwise the normal person will be hard pressed to find.
Not all flowers are created equal. Some are not the most photogenic. Some are dead upon arrival. Florists purchase about 20% more product than they need, so that they can pick and choose the best and the brightest of the bunch.
Florists have the proper storage, transportation, and care that the florals will need before their big day. In our shop we have one standard cooler and one walk-in. The walk-in is where we store everything from large ceremony arrangements to bridesmaid bouquets. Everytime a special event arrangement is finished it goes directly into the walk-in cooler to prevent them from maturing too quickly especially in the hotter months. Without a cooler to store your flowers you run the risk of them maturing too fast.
Why we may not be able to get certain flowers for your wedding.
Seasonality plays a crucial role in floristry, dictating the availability, quality, and pricing of flowers. Understanding how different seasons affect floral offerings can enhance floral design choices and meet customer expectations.
Choosing seasonal flowers not only ensures freshness and quality but also supports local growers. Florists can build strong relationships with suppliers and select blooms that are at their peak in each season. Seasonal selections can lead to cost savings and minimize environmental impact, aligning with sustainable practices.
Seasonality influences more than just flower selection; it also impacts design trends. Florists can draw inspiration from seasonal themes, colour palettes, and textures. For example, spring arrangements may feature light, airy designs, while autumn displays can be more structured and robust. Understanding these transitions enables florists to remain relevant and appealing to their clientele.
How we can work with your financial *comfort zone.*
Your wedding flowers will probably make up a considerable portion of your budget. The cost of these lush decorations is relatively high because just one stem is delicate and high quality, so it requires careful handling and transportation. Multiply that by the hundreds that you’ll need for your affair, and you have a pretty hefty bill.
Though wedding flowers can be expensive, there are ways you can keep your floral costs (relatively) low and maximize your overall budget. Here are expert-approved ways to save money on these decorative items—without sacrificing style. (Mix big-budget blossoms with more affordable ones and filler foliage, highlight additional decorations to accent/fill space, opt for smaller arrangements such as bud vases, repurpose ceremony florals if possible, etc.)
Your floral designer will be able to offer alternatives that meet your visual expectations and are also more accessible for your date. We always find that brides who are more open-minded going into initial floral meetings can truly learn about flowers and options they didn’t know existed. In the end, the results can be beautiful and unexpected.
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