Which Wedding Floral Service Levels Are Right for Your Floral Business?
It’s no secret that adding wedding and event services to your floral offerings is a fundamental way to increase revenue.
But don’t let the idea of weddings make you too starry-eyed: They’re also a lot of work! Luckily, there’s a service level appropriate for almost any kind of flower operation, whether you’re a beginning flower farmer or an accomplished florist.
Let’s look at the different options available and what kind of skills, experience, and resources are needed for each.
Full-Service Weddings
This is the floral design service level most people are familiar with: It’s what they think of when they hear “wedding florist.” As a floral designer for a full-service wedding, you will be actively involved in the planning process as it relates to overall event design. There may be an event planner to collaborate with, or the couple may be planning the celebration themselves. Either way, they’ll likely want to coordinate the flowers with other aesthetic elements such as linens and invitations.
As a full-service event florist, you will conduct a design consultation with your clients. You’ll be expected to provide suggestions for flower types, design style, vessel choices, and perhaps complementary decor such as candles. The florist creates a design proposal that includes images, color palette, and a breakdown of all the floral items, from bouquets to installations.
Your team (yes, you’ll need staff!) will be responsible for delivering, setting up, and possibly breaking down all of the florals on the day of the wedding. It’s a lot of work, with a price tag to match. This service level allows the client to be hands-off when it comes to the day of the wedding because they’ve hired a team to handle all the details.
You may want to consider a minimum amount you need your clients to spend to book your services. If you’re a small shop or a studio florist, you will likely only be able to book one wedding per weekend—at least when you’re first starting out.
Some Skills You’ll Need to Offer Full-Service Wedding Florals:
Exceptional floral design skills for personal flowers and arrangements
Excellent knowledge about flower varieties, seasonality, and color
Comfort working within a few styles that clients request (ex. classic, modern, garden-inspired)
Ability to write, follow, and instruct staff on design recipes
Ability to budget for and source flowers, including specialty items, based on those recipes
Confidence to lead a design consultation
A La Carte Wedding Floral Design
If you’re not quite ready to take on full-service wedding clients, an a la carte wedding floral service level is a great place to begin your foray into event work. With this offering, you’ll create a menu of items that couples can order from for their wedding. Some florists just offer personal flowers—no arrangements—at this level. Others might also choose to offer a few basic arrangements including centerpieces.
The best thing about a la carte is that you can tailor your menu to your level of experience and skills. If you’re not yet confident that your arranging skills are polished enough for a wedding, then stick to just personal flowers. You can also offer one “signature style” for all your designs, and even specify that clients must choose from suggested color palettes (such as pastels, brights, or moody tones).
If you have a studio space or even a farm stand at your flower farm, you can encourage customers to pick up their orders on the day of their event. This saves them on the delivery and set up fee, and it also means you don’t need to hire staff for those tasks. A drop off delivery (i.e., no set-up fee) could also be offered within a certain radius. Again, consider having a minimum order amount for this option and charge accordingly for your time.
By not holding a design consultation, not creating a proposal, and reducing the time spent exchanging lots of emails, you can offer a simplified version of designs in your signature style at a lower price point. You will likely need to do some market research and testing to figure out the ideal price point for both you and your clients.
Some Skills You’ll Need to Offer A La Carte Wedding Florals:
Sufficient design skills for the items on your menu
Capability to create economical versions of designs in your signature style
Ability to write and follow design recipes
Ability to budget for and source economical flowers
Confidence to enforce parameters of the service level
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Floral Design Offerings
For the budget-conscious couple and casual affairs (think backyard wedding), do-it-yourself (DIY) flowers are a great option. This service is especially suited to flower farms and is an excellent way for aspiring farmer-florists to enter into the world of weddings and events.
Typically, flower farms will offer a bucket of mixed flowers and foliage with a range of 75 to 100 stems. DIY couples can usually expect to design 6–8 simple Mason-jar style arrangements (or, alternatively, up to three bouquets) from a single bucket. Farms can offer an economical price for mixed colors, or charge more to work within a chosen color palette.
DIY clients will usually opt to pick up their flowers directly from the farm a day or two before their wedding. No studio or client meeting space is needed. The farm could elect to offer delivery for a fee as well.
Although perhaps best suited to farms, studio florists might consider some type of DIY offering, especially for varieties that are not grown locally. In addition, a DIY wedding service level can often be combined with an a la carte offering: Many couples will purchase buckets of blooms to make their own centerpieces but are happy to hire a professional to design their personal flowers.
Some Skills You Will Need for DIY Wedding Flower Offerings:
Knowledge of retail pricing for flowers by the stem/bunch
Ability to manage expectations (i.e., not promising varieties or overly specific colors)
Comfort communicating the possibility for necessary substitutions
Crop planning experience
Ultimately, there’s a wedding and event service option available for all floral business structures. Assess your skills and experience, your business resources, and research your market to decide what the best options are for your business.
By offering a variety of service levels, we can ensure beautiful flowers are available for almost all budgets, and that the floral professionals designing or growing them are profitable and can sustain their business.
