A guide to choosing your wedding florist

Firstly congratulations on your recent engagement.

Let me tell you a bit about myself, my name is Anya and I am the floral designer and owner of Flowers by Anya based in Carhampton, Somerset. I have been in the floristry business for over 25 years, originally I am from Hampshire by the sea and moved to a lovely village in beautiful Exmoor in Somerset nearly two years ago and my partner and I love it here, there’s plenty of inspiration for my work.

Now enough about me, over the years I have seen lots of different styles and designs go in and out of fashion, but there have been certain styles that have stayed the test the time, the flowing cascade bouquet, which compliments a princess style wedding dress perfectly, the teardrop bouquet which has more structure will compliment the more fitted and shaped wedding gowns or more petite bride. There is also a style that has been the most popular in the last 10 years plus which is the hand tied bouquet with the rustic and country feel which is more flowing and also can be put in water at your reception by your venue to keep fresh throughout the day. This style is popular for the feel of freshly picked flowers from the garden or meadow. You can also have a very contemporary structured design which is very original and can incorporate distinctive large leaves, feathers, fresh and dried fruits and spices, beads and jewellery to remember a loved one you have lost to make it unique to you, the ideas are endless.

Here are some colour schemes that are very popular at the moment:

Pastels

Pastel colour designs gravitate to the spring/summer couple who like a classic traditional subtle style wedding with soft linens, pinks, peaches & whites, flowing tall centrepieces or small, long or short stem vases to go in the centre so guests can still interact with each other throughout your wedding breakfast/lunch/dinner and become a talking point for your guests whilst dining.

Vibrant and Bold

Vibrant and bold designs are for a more dramatic effect, the stand out from the crowd type of couple that want to make a statement with their wedding with outside of the box alternative designs, from the bright colours of gerbera, roses, lillies, ranunculus and many others this palette can be for anytime of the year and one of my favourite to work with.

Dark and Rich

This is also another palette I enjoy working with as you have such a large array of wonderful different designs whilst adding eye catching additions like feathers, berries, dried fruits and spices; a feast for the senses which is perfect for an autumn and especially an advent, Christmas or new year wedding with the autumn leaves falling on the ground.

This is also a style for a couple who like designs that feed the senses from sight to smell, this colour scheme does tend to lean towards autumn and winter weddings.

Let me now give you some top tips for choosing your florist. 

• From a florists’ point of view when you’re deciding on your wedding flowers, we need as much notice as possible to ensure that the flowers wanted will be available and can be confirmed with the growers/wholesalers. I know myself couples have contacted me as early as two and sometime three years in advance whereas sometimes I have only had a month’s notice or less.
• Recommendation from friends and family that have recently married is always helpful.
• Having a good rapport with your florist is a great indicator too as you will both gel well to what type of wedding style you want to go for and also you will also see the passion from the florist as your consultations progress to your special day.
• Have a look at the florist’s portfolio on their social media pages and website to see if their style of floristry is what you are looking for and have envisaged to have for your day.
• Remember this is your day, which some of you I expect have been planning since you were young children, marrying the most important person in your life and building a lifetime together, so it has to be perfect and your florist will know this and respect this and want everything to be perfect for you, so leave the stress to us, if like me your florist thrives from the passion of his or her work and the absolute buzz of seeing your bride/groom so happy when you have turned their vision into reality.
• Something I always request is a colour palette swatch of the wedding gown, bridesmaid’s dresses, if possible the grooms, grooms men, fathers and mothers of bride and groom suits and dresses so we can get the flowers as the colour of the flowers as exact or as close the material as we can.
• Sign a wedding flower contract with your florist once you have paid a deposit, this holds your wedding date until all has been paid and confirmed. All professional florists will draw one of these up so both yourselves and the florist know exactly what is going to be in the complete wedding flower package you have ordered and there will also be a terms and conditions of contract which you keep a copy for your records, this is all in a black and white hard copy. The florist will advise you in the contract when they require the full amount to be paid as they will need to order your flowers well in advance with their growers, flower wholesalers etc.
• Get lots of wedding magazines for inspiration and ideas, Pinterest is also a very good source too and if you have an idea of what you want take a picture or show your florist the design you’ve seen that you love, it will all help to get the final design absolutely spot on.
• Also in regards to the venue you choose ask your florist if they can meet you there at one of your consultations so they can get a feel of the area they will be working with and get inspiration themselves.
• Most florists will also ask what time the wedding and reception is and what the locations are for delivering your flowers to the bride and groom parties and dressing venues.
• Actively speak to your florist with updates or any changes you want to make but be mindful there will be a cut-off date for this, as I explained earlier the florist will need to order flowers in advance to make sure all flowers and foliage are available or if changes need to be made, this will be explained in your contract with them.

Here is a guide to some of the flowers of the month for the year and also the lovely meanings they represent. 

• January - Carnation, Snowdrop - Admiration, Love, Hope, Rebirth.
• February - Violet, Primrose - Modesty, faithfulness, Young Love.
• March - Daffodil - New beginnings, Prosperity.
• April - Daisy, Sweet pea - Purity, Innocence, Blissful pleasure.
• May - Lily of the valley, Hawthorn - Sweetness, Motherhood, Hope.
• June - Rose, Honeysuckle - Romance, Happiness.
• July - Larkspur, Water lily - Positivity, Dignity, Purity.
• August - Gladiolus, Poppy - Strength of character, Imagination.
• September - Aster, Morning glory - Love, Affection, Unrequited love, Mortality.
• October - Marigold, Cosmos - Creativity, Passion, Peace, Tranquility.
• November - Chrysanthemum - Loyalty, Honesty.
• December - Narcissus, Holly - Hope, Wealth, Protection, Defense.