Your Day ~ Your Dream ~ Our Pleasure ~ Wedding Flowers 101 ~ The Consultation

You have the ring, you've set the date, the dress has been fitted & the planning is underway, it's time to accessorize the evening with the beauty of....... Flowers!

Below you will find a list of things to think about when choosing a florist for your special day & some vital things to know before you schedule your wedding consultation to discuss flowers for your wedding.
There can never be too much information, as far as I am concerned, when planning all of the details of your wedding flowers. Flowers will set the mood for the overall ambiance you are trying to capture on your special evening.

Let's begin:


1. Schedule a consultation...this way the florist will have uninterrupted time just for you. (I do charge a small fee for my consultations...... when the wedding is booked with me I deduct it from the total cost of the wedding flowers, if the bride chooses not to use my services, I retain that fee as compensation for my time & ideas. If a Bride is not ready to schedule her consultation, we do offer a "Save the Date" deposit to insure that her wedding gets on our calender. Again that deposit is deducted from her total balance, but if the wedding is canceled or she decides to go with another florist, we retain that deposit.)

2. Bring a photo of your bridal gown. (This helps to determine the style of the Bridal Bouquet.)

3. Bring a photo of the bridesmaid's dresses (Again the style is very important, as well as color)

4. Bring swatches of fabric in the colors of dresses & accent colors. (If you cannot keep the swatches, I suggest that you take them to a Home Depot, Menards, etc. & find paint chip samples that match them. They are free, small & will fit in your purse easily for you to have on hand at all times.)

5. Bring photos of style of tuxes (if possible)

6. Bring photos of styles of bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, centerpieces, etc. that you love (This is helpful in choosing the style of arrangements)

7. Bring in photos of kinds of flowers you love (Again helpful to know what you love...also a lot of people know what kinds of flowers appeal to them but do not know the names of the flowers. I can help you identify them.)

8. Bring a photo of the site of the ceremony, number of pews, alter, entrance, front entrance, candelabras, length of aisle, etc. (This is very helpful when trying to determine where & what types of arrangements are needed.)


9. Photos of the reception site
(Again for the same reason as for the church. You will need to know the number of tables, style of table, how they will be arranged, & location of cake table, etc.)

10. Make a list of everyone you will want flowers for (Bridal party, special family members, vocalists, instrument players, registers, servers, etc. This helps speed up the consultation, remember you might be paying for it. We provide a worksheet to our Brides to help aid in this process.)

11. Bring any special containers, etc you will want to be used (It is very fashionable for brides & grooms to personalize their ceremonies, so many are using family heirloom vases etc. We also design using rented containers from other rental vendors & we also rent vases from our shop.)

12. Bring a photo of you wedding cake. (If you decide you would like flowers on it, being able to see a photo is very helpful.)

I would encourage you to start a folder or binder to compile all of the information that you need. Start tearing out pictures from magazines, print them off the computer, etc. Carry this with you to all of your appointments regarding your wedding. Also invest in a small note pad to write down things that you may need to check up on at a later time. In all of the excitement, you can easily forget things that were discussed.
It is never too early to start preparing. The sooner all of the details are taken care of the more you will be able to relax & enjoy this very special time in your life.
If you have any questions about things that I did not cover here, please leave them in the comment box or email me at whiteirisdesigns@yahoo.com

To see more of our designs you may find us on Facebook

Brandy & Troy's ~ Winter Wedding

What a delight it was to work with Brandy on her wedding flowers. She knew what flowers she liked & disliked, what containers she wanted to use & the rest was left pretty much in our hands.

The flowers were Antique red hydrangea, Belles of Ireland, Freedom red roses, Black Beauty roses, hypericum berries, safari sunset, green mini Cymbidium orchids, & winter greenery. Her colors were Ivory, Claret red, & chocolate. Here is her wedding...

Registration bouquet & candles in memory of lost loved ones. The cylinders with the candles had a red rose nestled in coffee beans.

Her unity candle was placed in an altar arrangement of roses, safari sunset, curly willow, hypericum berries, & mixed winter greenery. This bouquet was then transported to the reception venue to be used on the Bridal table.

Cake & Candy table was created by the Bride's Sister & Mother, who own Mammaw's Sweet Shoppe, in Brookston.

Tall cube vases were filled with coffee beans wrapped with a cream sash of satin ribbon & held in place with a rhinestone buckle. The bouquet was then placed on the top of the vase. Another style of centerpiece was a 5"cube vase with coffee beans & then filled with hydrangea, roses, hypericum berries. We placed green mini cymbidium orchids at the base of the silver candelabras.

Small cube votive cups were filled with a red rose or a green cymbidium orchid to add a splash of color to the tables that held the silver 5 arm branched candleabras. Another centerpiece was a 5"cube with coffee beans & a floating candle nestled in the beans instead of floating. We placed a ring of red rose petals around the base & placed a green mini cymbidium orchid on each side.

This table was for the kids, it had a bubble bowl with Christmas ornaments in the bottom & a pillar candle in a bell holder. We again placed red roses around the base & accented it with green mini cymbidium orchids. The Birdcage was used to hold cards & is an item that can be rented from Mammaw's Sweet Shoppe. We accented it with flowers & greenery with ribbons. I love how this turned out.

Pomander of silk red hydrangea & ribbon with an accent of wired green pearls.

The Bridal bouquet was designed using Antique red hydrangea, green hypericum berries, plum mini calla lilies, red roses, & mini cymbidium orchids. The bridesmaids bouquets on the right were designed same as the brides, but without mini calla lilies.