Flowers Section

Picking the Florist

How to make sure your flower pro selection is a blooming success

If you worried about whether the corsage you bought for Mother's Day would arrive safely or not, you can imagine the anxiety connected with ordering everything from the ushers' boutonnieres to the flowers decorating the altar. Experts say the answer is to pick a pro, and here, unlike other areas of the wedding industry where you might have been working in the dark, you've got a real plus. Chances are good you've already "developed relationships" with florists in your neighborhood.

Making the Pick

When should you start your quest? At least six months to a year in advance, as soon as you've established four basic points: where the ceremony will be held, what the location of the reception will be, what your gown will look like, and what are the style and color of the bridesmaids' dresses to determine the respective color and style of the flowers.

After you've narrowed the field down to two or three florists, says McClean, ask to see photographs of weddings they've actually done, as opposed to random shots or concepts. Study the "detail, design, color balance," and equally important, see if it's someone with whom you, again, "click." Remember, they're going to be interpreting, as the florist puts it, "your personality in flowers."

The Money Question

Once you've settled on the person you like comes the tricky question of cost, and sometimes it pays to spend "a couple of extra hundred" to get the quality and value you want. Insist, however, if not on a contract, then on a letter of agreement that spells out very clearly...

when the deposit is required (usually immediately)

when the balance is due (generally one to two weeks before the wedding)

what sales taxes will be included ("on everything," McClean quips)

whether there will be any setup and dismantling charges

what service charges will be involved if you plan to have the florist at the wedding to distribute the bouquets, make sure the candles are lit and oversee the cake- cutting in lieu of a wedding consultant;

any possible clauses that might be added regarding breakage or "replacement costs" in the event a valuable vase mysteriously disapppears.

Most agreements, moreover, will include an ambiguous statement about the right "to make reasonable substitution" to which you should pay special attention: This means that if the flowers you wanted aren't available due to seasonal fluxes or unforeseen calamities like a drought or an especially hot day at the airport that caused them to wilt, the florist has the right to switch over to something "comparable."

This also means that if you have your heart set on a particular type of flower, you'd better schedule your wedding for a season when it's in bloom, or else arrange for a backup plan with your florist, says McLean, in the event that it's no longer available—or it's outrageously expensive!