Carmen Bright Photography 2014
Here's another Mother-of-the-Bride petal of wisdom: Choose your florist very carefully. It pains me to admit that we had to depart with our intitial florist 6 weeks before our daughter's wedding. Read the fine print! This can be an incredibly costly exercise! Most florists' contracts will say they are entitled to retain their entire portion of the deposit, which can be 50% of the floral bill. Additionally, chances are the flowers, depending on the size of the wedding, will be one of the biggest ticket items. (Remember the headcount precaution? This translates to the number of tables; therefore, the number of tables dictates the number of floral arrangements.) In our case, florals were the second largest expense next to the venue. (When I speak of "the venue," I am including the space, the food, and alcohol.) Here are some flower power pointers when dealing with the floral portion of your daughter's wedding:
1.) Tell the florist (or floral designer, which they may prefer to be called) your budget. Don't be coy. This way if they are way off the mark (in our first case, 100%), then perhaps you are not the right client for the floral designer and they are not the right designer for you.
2.) Share your pinterest, every magazine tear sheet, etc. that best describes your daughter's wedding vision.
3.) Get to know flowers by name. Don't just say, "I want yellow flowers or a pink flowers, etc." This way you can "talk shop" with your floral designer. Many, many interesting varietes of flowers exist. It would have been very easy for my daughter to say she wanted white flowers, and not be more specific. For her winter wedding, Holly chose paper whites, white amaryllis, white calla lillies, and white tulips, along with white roses. We tried to keep the white hydrangeas to a minimum . . . In fact, I don't think we used them at all. (Hydrangeas are perfectly fine and offer large impact for not very much money, but I personally feel they are being overly used.)
4.) Think about keeping the church florals at a minimum. Chances are you will a.) Not remember them, and b.) They will only be used for 30 minutes to an hour for the wedding before the reception.
5.) Try to pre-purpose and re-purpose as many of the arrangements as possible. We used some of the Friday bridal luncheon florals for the reception cocktail hour. Some of the table arrangements were used the next day at the hotel wedding brunch. (It helped that all of these events were at the same hotel.) Also, consider re-purposing the rehearsal dinner florals for guests' rooms or the bridal suite.
6.) Encourage your floral designer to "think out-side-the-wedding-box" and maybe take a few creative risks. Your daughter wants her wedding to be unique to her. It is very easy for even the best floral designer to do what he or she has done in the past. Challenge them. They will appreciate your openness to new ideas, and it's ultimately good for their business. But most of all, it's good for your daughter, you, and the designer to be able to communicate. The designer truly needs to realize the excitement and individuality of your daughter's wedding. Remember it's her wedding, not yours OR the florist's (or your wedding planners, if you have one)!
7.) Ask for a prototype EARLY! Don't just rely on photos. It may cost you the price of a floral arrangement, but it is worth its money in understanding whether or not everyone is on the same page, and you will get to enjoy it at home!
8.) Go over the floral budget and know it like the the back of your hand.
9.) My recommendation for the bridal bouquet: Smaller is better.
10.) Wake up and smell the roses, as well as the freesia, gardenias, lilac, stephanotis, etc. --- every day! Your daughter is getting married!
Carmen Bright Photography 2014. Headpiece and Florals of Nerine Lilies and Bouvardia by Avant Garden, Dallas, Texas. Custom gown by Emanuel Tobias, Dallas, Texas.