It's your wedding day, the florist turns up with your beautiful bouquets, the venue is set up, the guys have their buttonholes, all sorted!
What isn't seen is what goes on behind the scenes, in the days, weeks, and months leading up to the big day.
So I thought I would shed a little bit of light on exactly what we do during the build up to a wedding/event!
1 year out:
-Bookings generally start coming in a year or so in advance, and that is when the planning begins!
When a bride & groom initially get in contact, some basic details are taken (date, venue, what they require, if they have any images or inspiration of what they have in mind).
From there, an outline of pricing is sent through from our end to give the couple a ballpark budget. This is relatively standard and is customised later on.
-Once happy with the pricing outlined, a proper quote is put together. This is based on scale, if there are any specific flower requirements (touch on that later!), and whether travel is required.
Once a basic quote is accepted, a deposit is paid and that is when the research and planning kicks in!
Every wedding requires a budget and a moodboard - this is what we base our ordering on and helps us ensure we cover all of the bases!
The moodboard is created to summarise the style we are going for, the colour theme, and anything we are taking inspiration from (from both us and the bride and groom).
We use this as a reference point through out the planning!
Example below:
We start by establishing some key flowers we want to use in the arrangements - for example, in November this may be peonies, February this may be dahlias etc etc.
If the bride has requested a specific flower, we make sure that is the first to be organised. We try to only use what is in season, and are focusing on using locally grown flowers.
Some flowers are not available full stop (eg. you can't have dahlias in winter!), so we do our best to find an alternative.
An estimate of how many of each flower we will need for each arrangement is done, and this can take some time!
We don't want to under order, but we don't want to over order and have wastage!
All the 'base' flowers are pre-ordered up to 6 months in advance. Reason being, flowers are a natural product (obviously!), and there is only so much to go around! Around 70% of the product we use is pre ordered, and the rest is left to what is available at the time, as you can get some goodies by chance!
The popular roses can sell out during wedding season, so pre-ordering is essential to get what we need!
This planning and ordering process can take a few days, and sometimes a lot of toing and froing is done between us and the suppliers (we can be in contact with up to 10+!).
With the flowers ordered, we figure out the logistics of the arrangements - this could be how to attach a garland from a wall, what we need to construct the archway etc!
This usually requires a few trips to Mitre 10, and lots of scribbly drawings and calculations!
The orders are done, logistics are figured out, and up until a week or so before the wedding we are talking to suppliers, talking to vendors and organising timing with the venue.
Approx 4 days out:
This is when the action happens! All the flowers are ordered to arrive at the perfect time for type of flower they are.
Roses arrive around 4 days before the wedding to ensure they are nice and fluffy for the day!
Other more precious blooms such as Dahlias, Cosmos, Scabiosa etc all arrive 1-2 days before hand to ensure they are super fresh and perky.
With the product delivered or picked up (sometimes from over 4 different locations!), it is prep time!
Each individual flower is unwrapped, stripped of excess leaves, and quality checked. Roses are reflexed (petals peeled back for extra fluffiness!), and any funky looking petals removed. Every stem is trimmed and put in fresh treated water. Foliage gets the same treatment!
With most weddings having over 500 stems, this can take a full day of work (or longer!)
Every now and then we have a small issue with a bunch and this is dealt with with the suppliers. This VERY rarely happens, but when it does we always have back ups and it's never an issue! We work with amazing suppliers who have our backs and are incredibly helpful!
With a long day under our belt, we're home for a good nights sleep for the next prep day tomorrow. This is when the magic happens - bouquets are arranged, table settings are done, buttonholes are whipped up!
This is done the day before the wedding, keeping everything ultra fresh, but still giving the flowers time to soften.
The day usually begins at around 6am (depending on the size of the wedding!), and we don't finish until late that evening. With it being such a perishable product, a lot of our work is jammed into 3 days!
The morning of the wedding, we are up and working bright and early, packing the van, packing the bouquets, making sure everything is secure for our drive and delivery.
We are at the venue as soon as we are allowed, and set up begins. Archways are assembled, table settings completed, and everything given final touches before we head off and drop the bouquets & buttonholes off (or this may be done pre set up, time depending!).
With all the prettiness done, we then deal with the aftermath. Buckets full of leaves, stems, cable tie ends, you name it. Our priority is making sure everything is in the right place at the right time, and the mess can be dealt with afterwards!
After that we sit back and relax, until prep begins for the next one! A few weeks later we are rewarded with getting professional photos back - here are some of our faves xx
Comments