Wedding planning should be a fun, exciting and enjoyable experience, not a stressful one! As a professional wedding photographer in Scotland I have the pleasure of working with some of the country’s best wedding suppliers and I’ve asked a few of my favourites to do some guest blogging in their area of expertise! These lovely folks have been kind enough to share tips on choosing the right wedding supplier for you, give advice on how to plan your wedding details and offer inspiration for your Scottish wedding to boot!
First up: Amanda of The Floral Design Boutique! You’ll have seen loads of Amanda’s work on my website, as we work together often and collaborate on some pretty cool projects together too. I have never met anyone as passionate about flowers as Amanda is; it is obvious to anyone who meets her that she lives, eats and breaths her business and her work really does speak for itself. Amanda has put together a great blog of tips for choosing the right wedding florist, and advice on how to choose the perfect flowers to transform your wedding venue too.
Finding the Perfect Florist for your Wedding in Scotland
Amanda Mulgrew, The Floral Design Boutique
Choosing your Florist is certainly something that should be given a bit of thought, your flowers are such an important part of your day! They form part of your outfit as you’ll be holding your bouquet for most the day, and will be in ALL the photographs. Your flowers should absolutely be given as much consideration as your dress, venue etc.
A big thing to consider is just how much floral design you would like to have. Flowers can truly transform a venue, bringing it to life! Floral arrangements can offer the wow factor for you and your guests as you walk through the door, the scent can provide memories that stay with everyone forever and the colours can bring a feeling of instant happiness. Lots of Brides don’t think past bouquets and buttonholes until we get chatting and I mention staircases and entrances, garland and archways! Their eyes quite often light up as they had simply never considered this as an option.
Have a good walk around your venue and look at each area, could that fireplace look much more inviting with flowers on top, could that dull corner as you walk in benefit from a tall and bright arrangement? Something to think about and your chosen Florist will have suggestions to offer you too, especially if they are familiar with your venue.
Where to start with choosing your Florist can be tricky, here are some tips:
- Make a rough note of what you need in terms of flowers i.e. bouquets, button holes, centrepieces, floral décor etc
- Have a think about the style of your wedding. How would you describe the overall style/feel/theme you want to achieve – relaxed, elegant, rustic, country, luxury, glam?
- Consider the budget allocated for your floral design. This is a really important part and also important to disclose this to the Florists you would like to provide you with a quote.
- Start to research Florists (this is perhaps the trickiest part) I would suggest to have a look on social media first off as most good Florists post their most up to date work there regularly. Hashtags like #Glasgowflorist #weddingflorist #scottishwedding etc can bring up lots of Florists – and ideas! Your favourite wedding magazines and blogs can also be a great resource as well as googling key words like Scottish Wedding Florist.
Also, don’t feel you necessarily need to find someone local to where your wedding will be held. Lots of wedding Florists like us are happy to travel to your destination. So, if you love their style but they’re not local, drop them a message to discuss or check their website and see if there is mention of areas covered.
Once you’ve found a few Florists who’s work you like: Have a good look through their social media accounts, website and google them. Read reviews wherever they are (FB page for example) and get a feel for whether this could be the right person for you based on all of the above. Is there any mention of guide prices or minimum spend on their website? If so, take this into consideration before contacting them.
Importantly, ask yourself if their work portrays the feel you want to achieve for your wedding that we mentioned above.
It may be that you now have two or three Florists to contact and that’s ok. When contacting them give them as much information as possible including all of the notes you’ll have made from your research (what you need, style, how many Bridesmaids/Groomsmen and budget etc.) I would suggest contacting your chosen Florist(s) around 9 – 12 months before the big day once you have chosen a venue for both ceremony and reception. This gives lots of time to build up a relationship, discuss ideas, what’s in season and lets your Florist visit the venue if they aren’t familiar.
The Florist you eventually hire should be VERY excited about your big day.
A wonderful design journey will begin and I hope you enjoy every part of it, especially that all important (and very real!) moment when your Bridal bouquet is placed into your hand on the morning of your wedding.
Thanks to Amanda for taking the time to put together these tips on choosing your wedding florist!
I hope this is helpful in your planning, and if you have any additional questions The Floral Design Boutique would love to hear from you! Get in touch here.
