Questions to ask a wedding florist before booking

What to bring to a wedding florist consultation

A florist can answer your questions more exactly when they know the shape of the day. Before the first conversation, write down your date, your venue or venues, your estimated guest count, and the number of tables you expect. Add the people who will carry or wear flowers, since the size of the wedding party changes the order as much as the guest count does.

Bring a few photos of arrangements you like and a few you do not, along with your colors and a picture of what you plan to wear. Bring a budget figure too, even a rough one. A florist may send a consultation form that asks for all of this in advance, and filling it in gives you a record of what you told each florist, so that two proposals rest on the same facts.

• Date, venue addresses and start times
• Estimated guest count and table count
• Number of people who need personal flowers
• Photos you like and photos you do not
• Colors, and flowers you want or want to avoid
• Your flower budget, as one figure
• Any allergies or fragrance concerns

Are you available for our date, and who does the work?

Start with the question that can end the conversation. Ask whether your date is open, and whether the florist takes more than one wedding on the same day. A second event on your date is not a problem in itself, but it does change who is free to set up your flowers and how much time they have, so ask how the day is staffed.

Then ask who you will be dealing with. The person you meet may be the designer who makes your flowers, or may hand you to someone else after you book. Ask who will be on site on the day, who you call if something goes wrong that morning, and whether your date is held by a conversation or only by a signed contract and a deposit.

• Is our date open, and how long can you hold it?
• Do you take other weddings on the same day?
• Who will design our flowers?
• Who will be on site on the day?
• Who do we call on the morning of the wedding?
• What do we need to do to reserve the date?

Have you done a wedding like ours, and can we see it?

A portfolio shows what a florist is able to make, and it also shows what they choose to show. Ask to see full galleries from real weddings rather than only the favorite images, and ask for examples at a size close to yours. A florist who does beautiful small bouquets may or may not have built a large ceremony arch, and the reverse is also possible.

Ask how your idea will reach the page before it reaches the room. A proposal may include sketches, a mood board or photos of similar work, and a florist may offer a sample arrangement or a mock-up centerpiece. Find out what is available, whether it carries a charge, and at what point in the process it happens, so that you are not seeing the design for the first time on the day.

• Can we see full galleries from real weddings?
• Have you done a wedding of our size and style?
• Which of our photos could you make, and which would you change?
• Will we get sketches, a mood board or a sample?
• Is there a charge for a sample arrangement?
• Are there reviews from couples you have worked with?

What can our budget buy, and will the proposal be itemized?

Say your budget out loud and ask what it can realistically buy for your guest count. A florist can tell you where the money goes further and where it runs out, and whether reaching your photos would mean fewer arrangements, a different flower or a smaller installation. Ask whether the florist has a minimum order for your date, and whether that minimum includes the labor and delivery lines.

Then ask how the proposal will be written. An itemized proposal, with a quantity and price for each arrangement and separate lines for design, delivery, setup and tax, lets you take out one item and see what changes. A single total does not. The guide to florist proposal fees goes through those lines, and what each one is calculated on, once you have the document in hand.

• What does our budget buy at our guest count?
• Where would you spend more, and where less?
• Is there a minimum order for our date?
• Will each arrangement have its own quantity and price?
• Are design, delivery, setup and tax separate lines?
• How long do the quoted prices stand?
• Can prices change before the date, and how?

What happens if a flower we want is not available?

Flowers are a crop, so ask what is in season for your date and what would need to be shipped in. If a flower on your list is hard to get that month, you want to hear it in the first conversation, not a week before the wedding. Ask which of your choices worries the florist, and what they would use instead.

Ask how a replacement would be handled. A florist may need the freedom to swap a stem that arrives damaged or fails to arrive, and you may want a say in anything that changes the look. Find out whether you will be told first, and whether the price moves. The substitution guide covers the clause itself and how to describe your colors so that a replacement still fits.

• Which of our flowers are in season for our date?
• Which would be hardest to get?
• What would you use instead of each one?
• Will you tell us before making a change?
• Does the price change if a flower is replaced?
• How do you keep flowers fresh before the event?

Have you worked at our venue, and what are its rules?

Ask whether the florist has worked at your venue, and if not, whether they would visit before the wedding and whether that visit carries a charge. Someone who knows the building may already know the ceiling height, the loading door and the path from the van. Experience there is useful but not essential, since a florist can also get those facts from the venue.

Before you agree to a design, read what your venue allows. A venue may limit open flames, hanging items, fixings on walls, petals in the aisle or what can stay overnight, and the guide to venue decor restrictions lists what to look for. Check too that the florist’s setup time fits your venue’s access hours, and whether the venue keeps a preferred vendor list or charges a fee for a florist who is not on it.

• Have you worked at our venue before?
• Will you do a site visit, and is there a charge?
• Does this design fit the venue’s rules on candles and hanging?
• What time do you need access?
• Do you need anything from the venue, such as a ladder or a table?
• Do you carry the insurance the venue asks for?

Who delivers, sets up and takes everything down?

A bouquet handed over at a hotel and an installed ceremony arch are very different jobs, so ask what each part of your order needs. Find out where and when personal flowers are delivered, who pins the boutonnieres, who places the centerpieces and who checks the room before guests arrive. Ask how many people will be on site, because the answer may decide what can be built in the time you have.

Then ask about the end of the night. Large pieces, rented vases and arches may need to leave the venue by a set time, and someone has to come and get them. Ask whether that pickup is the same night or the next morning, whether it costs extra, and whether the venue permits it. Ask too what happens to the flowers themselves, and whether you or your guests may take them home.

• Where and when are personal flowers delivered?
• Who pins boutonnieres and corsages?
• Who places centerpieces and candles?
• How many people will be on site for setup?
• When do you take things down, and is it the same night?
• Is there a charge for late-night pickup?
• Can we keep the flowers, and who removes them?

Can ceremony flowers be used twice?

If your ceremony and reception are in different rooms, or at different addresses, ask which pieces could serve both. Aisle arrangements may be able to frame a sweetheart table, and bouquets may be able to sit on the head table. The practical question is who moves them, and when, because the flip may fall during the cocktail hour, when your other vendors are also working.

Ask whether the florist’s team stays for the move or whether your venue staff or planner would handle it, and whether that is a separate labor charge. If you have separate ceremony and reception venues, ask how the pieces travel and whether the timeline leaves room for it. Write the plan down so that the person doing the moving knows which piece goes where.

Which vases, arches and candleholders are rentals?

Your order may include items that you are borrowing. Vases, stands, arches, risers and candleholders may belong to the florist, and a proposal may price them as part of the arrangement or list them apart. Ask which items are rented, whether there is a deposit, and who is responsible for them between the end of the reception and pickup.

Then check for overlap. A venue or a rental company may already be supplying candleholders, tables or an arbor, and you do not want to pay for them twice. Set the florist’s list beside your venue’s list and your rental quote before you sign. If the florist’s rented items must be returned or collected, ask what happens if one is missing or broken when the team arrives.

• Which items on our order are rented?
• Is there a rental deposit?
• Do you provide candles and candleholders?
• Who is responsible for rented items after the reception?
• What is the charge if an item is broken or missing?
• Does anything overlap with what the venue supplies?

When are payments due, and when does the order lock?

Ask for the payment schedule before you commit: the deposit, any payments in between and the final balance, each with a date. Ask how the deposit relates to the total, how you can pay, and whether a card payment adds a charge. Add the dates to your payment schedule as soon as you sign, so that a florist’s final payment does not land on the same week as three others.

Then ask when your order stops being able to change. A florist has to buy flowers ahead of time, so there may be a date after which you cannot reduce quantities or swap items. Your guest count may still be moving at that point, so compare the florist’s date with your RSVP deadline and your caterer’s final count. Ask how a change is confirmed, and ask for a revised proposal each time.

• What is the deposit, and when is it due?
• When are the other payments due?
• Does paying by card add a charge?
• What date does the order lock?
• Can quantities go down after that date?
• Will you send a revised proposal for each change?

What happens if plans change or something goes wrong?

Ask what you would owe if you cancelled at different points before your date, and what happens if you move the date rather than cancel. Ask too about the opposite case: what the florist would do if they could not make it, whether through illness or a van that breaks down, and whether a backup person is in place. These are easier questions to ask before you have paid anything.

Ask whether the florist carries liability insurance, and whether they can send a certificate of insurance if your venue requires one. Ask what you can do if an arrangement arrives wrong on the day, and who has the authority to fix it. Your answers belong in the florist contract, not only in an email. If a clause is unclear, ask the florist to explain it in writing, and take any question about enforcing it to a lawyer.

• What do we owe if we cancel, at each stage?
• Can we move the date, and what does it cost?
• What is your backup plan if you cannot make it?
• Do you carry liability insurance?
• Can you send a certificate of insurance to the venue?
• What happens if an arrangement is wrong on the day?

How to compare two florists after the consultation

Ask each florist to price the same order: the same date, the same number of bouquets and tables, and the same ceremony pieces. If one proposal includes setup, breakdown and rented vases and another leaves them out, the lower total may not be the lower price. Put the two side by side, line by line, and note what you would still have to add to each one.

Then compare the answers that do not appear on a price sheet. Note how quickly each florist replied, whether they asked about your venue, whether they told you when an idea would not work, and whether they were willing to put their answers in writing. The log below keeps those answers in one place, with room to record where each one was stated.

When a florist may not fit your wedding

A florist may not fit if their past work looks nothing like what you want, or if they have not built anything at the scale of your design and do not explain how they would. It may also be a poor match if they cannot give you an itemized proposal, or if the answers you receive on delivery, rentals or changes keep shifting between conversations.

It can also be you who is not the fit. If your budget would not reach their minimum order, you may do better with a florist who works at your scale, a smaller order from a shop or a design that uses fewer pieces. A candid answer at the first consultation is useful either way, since it leaves you time to look elsewhere.

What each florist question protects

On a small screen, swipe the table sideways to see the remaining columns.

Wedding florist question log

Use one row for a decision or deliverable. Keep unanswered items visible. Download the blank worksheet to open in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets.

On a small screen, swipe the worksheet sideways to see the remaining columns.

A message you can make your own

Change the wording to suit you, fill in anything in brackets and keep the questions that apply. You decide what to send and send it yourself.

Hi [florist], we are getting married on [date] at [venue], with about [number] guests and a flower budget of [amount]. Before we book, could you tell us a few things in writing? Are you available that day, and do you take other weddings on the same date? Have you worked at our venue? Could you send an itemized proposal, with a quantity and price for each arrangement and separate lines for design, delivery, setup and breakdown? What happens if a flower we choose is not available? Which items are rented, when does the order lock, when are payments due, and what do we owe if we cancel or move the date?

Common questions

The next decisions

• Wedding florist proposal: design, delivery and setup fees
• Wedding florist contract: what to include, with a sample outline
• Florist substitution policy: what a wedding contract allows
• Wedding venue decor restrictions: candles, confetti, walls
• What are wedding venue access hours? When vendors can set up
• What is a certificate of insurance for a wedding vendor?
• All wedding planning guides