Can you book a florist before knowing exactly what you want?

We booked our florist probably 6-8 months before we sat down and made selections, which was about 6 months before the wedding. I think this is pretty typical.

I booked my florist 10 months in advance, then postponed, so really a year and 10 months. I chose one of our venue's recommended florists so I could be confident they were familiar with the space. We haven't finalized the details and my fiancé isn't totally sure what he wants. If they know your season, your colors, and your venue, that should be enough for them. You can always adjust later since all it takes is a deposit. I'm sure with so many people having to change their wedding plans lately, any vendor is used to being flexible.

We booked our florist about 10 months in advance, but we were also only engaged for 11 months. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted, but we did make slight adjustments as the wedding got closer. I think florists are probably used to brides not knowing exactly what they want, but as time gets closer you can definitely give them a better idea. Plus they don't really need to know every single detail so far in advance. With your concerns about booking, I would definitely book a florist sooner rather than later this way you don't end up having to just settle because your ideal florist is already booked.

You can book your florist at any time, but some things to keep in mind would be do you want to start thinking about what floor looks you like for the time of year of your wedding date, your venue, and any sort of feel that you’re trying to go for for the day. For example, you wouldn’t want to do tropical floral and sunflowers or pampas I. The dead winter. Your wedding is in fall so you could even incorporate more of the trendy or dried floral look, or more darker fall colors like burnt oranges ect. Also, do you want to think about where your venue is. If you live in a warmer climate, and you’re having it by a beach area, then you may want to incorporate some of the natural floral that surrounds that venue.

We booked our florist last November for our January 2022 wedding! I just told her the budget and what look we were going for, what flowers I liked, etc.

You don't have to have every single detail nailed down because that's what your florist is for! They take all of your wants and ideas into account, and come up with floral designs that will work the best for your wedding! Our actually created a pinterest board to share with me so that I can add inspo to it for her to see!

I would say though, when you first talk to them, make sure you know what your budget is for florals, let them know what season you're getting married in, the venue type also helps! If there are any flowers you really like a lot and would like to incorporate, don't be afraid to let them know that!

I would not worry about knowing exactly what you want. I think it is more important to see the florists past work. Make sure it is a style you like. Meet with them and discuss the style of your wedding and make sure it is something they can/will help you with.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I personally wouldn't book a full-service florist without knowing at least a general idea of what you want. Knowing what we wanted and seeing how each florist was able to take our vision (from our pinterest inspo board) into a formal proposal was crucial in deciding which florist to select. In the end, we selected our florist based on which proposal most closely matched our vision. That being said, even if you're unsure of the details of what you want, I would definitely start meeting with florists--you don't have to book anyone just yet! We met with way too many florists and we learned more and more about flowers each time. I don't think we knew exactly which types of flowers we wanted until we met with our 3rd or 4th florist. You'll likely need to nail down details in order to officially book when the time comes, but definitely not in order to set up a consultation! So my advice is start setting up meetings: the meetings will probably help in giving you an idea of what you want.

I also say this because many floral quotes are binding. For example, we booked our florist saying we'd need centerpieces for 15 tables. In the end, we got more declines than expected and we only needed centerpieces for 10 tables. We were still on the hook to pay that money for the extra 5 tables we no longer needed, but luckily our florist allowed us to allocate it elsewhere so we upgraded some flowers in other places.

We booked our florist and gave a deposit super early with a rough idea on our vision because our original date was super popular (10.10.2020). We've changed our vision a handful of times and she has, without hesitation, updated/revised our invoice as needed. We can make changes up to 2 weeks before our wedding. I think with all postponements and endless websites for ideas, most will be willing to make changes and work with you. You may want to have a general idea and/or photo inspo to make sure your vision is something that particular florist can accomplish.

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Gotcha, thank you so much!

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You're right, I'm sure after this past year they are very used to being flexible! Thank you!

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Thank you for the advice!!

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Ah yes I already have a Pinterest board with some preliminary ideas! Thank you so much!

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Yes that is a good point, if their past work is good I'm sure whatever they can do for me will be great as well! Thanks!

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That's a good point, when I meet with the florists I'll have to see how flexible they are about changes to what's needed closer to the wedding. Thank you!

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Thank you for the advice!!

My wedding is in May and I still don't know exactly what I want! My florist has created a vision board like proposal for the wedding, but nothing is really set in stone.

It's normal procedure for most. Because you want to get that vendor booked when you can but also take a look at their work first.