How to show your wedding florist exactly what you want!

If you want your wedding day to look exactly how you imagine, then communication is key!

When booking a creative supplier, by that I mean someone who is required to be artistic when providing their service such as a florist, baker or venue stylist, it's advisable to create a vision board, otherwise known as a mood board.

If the supplier doesn't know what you want, or doesn't understand, then you could end up with something completely different to what you imaged.

I recently caught up with Chrissy Thornton from Bud and Flower who explained exactly how mood boards help her to create such amazing, and accurate floral displays.

1. Do you recommend couples create a mood board before approaching a florist?

Yes!

Its always a good Idea to gather some pictures to share with your florist, a picture speaks a thousand words and ensures that both parties are on the same page of the book right from the start.

The bride might say for example “I would like orange and white colours” but what she actually wants is peach and ivory. It’s always recommended to bring a picture to save confusion.

2. What do you suggest couples consider when creating a mood board? Is it more than just pictures of flowers you like?

I ask my brides to create 2 mood boards, the first mood board is for the style/theme of flowers they like, for example a compact and tight bouquet portrays a very different ambiance in comparison to a wispy and loose bouquet. The second mood board is to focus on the colour scheme, the board can comprise of different themes and styles/ designs of wedding flowers, but the main focus is on colour. Even pictures of something not flower related. Pictures of the bridesmaid’s dresses, grooms’ outfit, pictures.

3. Are you able to create a mood board electronically if you are not particularly crafty?

Absolutely, Pinterest is fantastic for this, you are able to share the board directly with your florist. Also typing into google images and emailing the pictures is another alternative. Instagram is great for inspiration also.

4. What do you as a florist do with the mood board?

Once I have a mood board it is analysed, I use the elements and principles of design to decipher why that picture has appealed to the couple.

The 5 elements of design include colour, form, texture, line and space.

The 7 principles of design are balance (actual and visual), proportion, scale, rhythm, contrast, dominance and harmony.

Then how the flowers are placed, scattered distribution, grouped etc…. for example...

A knowledgeable florist will know by eye what are the key elements and principles of the

pictures and will be able to base the quote on the couples tastes.

Dominant features in this design are

Colour- The red flowers catch the eye first

Dominance- The large anthurium is dominating the bouquet

Texture- the different textures from the foliage and flowers.

Anthurium is glossy, tulips are shiny, rosemary are spikey,

Amaranthus is velvety.

Placement of flowers – random scattered distribution

This is a good example of a Pinterest mood board I was given for a styled shoot. The theme was valentine’s day. The mood board includes dresses, floral arrangements, make up, hair styles, sweets, cakes etc… All the different elements of how they wanted the day to look. Colour was the obvious main element…. Red and pink. And the principles were texture, and dominance. With a scattered distribution and grouped placement

The photos used in this blog are from the final shoot!

7. Other than a mood board, is there anything else a couple can tell you or show you to make it easier to provide an accurate quote and an amazingly accurate final product?

At the consultation I will need to know a few key factors to give an accurate quote, for example how many bridesmaids, ushers, family corsages, how many tables, size of fireplace, the delivery address of the church and venue, where they will be getting ready the morning of the wedding (or a close guess if not finalised) Time of the wedding. This is so as I can budget accordingly and choose flowers that will meet their budget in keeping with the theme of the wedding. For example, a budget of £2000 with only one bridesmaid is different to a £2000 budget with 6 bridesmaids. The volume and variety of flowers have an impact of the quote.

8. How long have you been a florist and what do you love about it? Where are you based and what would you say your specialty is?

I was 14 when I first set foot into a florist, I was their little Saturday girl. My nan got me the job and she knew I would like it as I was always helping her in the garden tend to her petunias and roses in the summer months. From a toddler I loved nature, and watering the pot plants in the garden. As a child our entertainment with my mum and dad was arts and crafts, always having a pot of glitter and a glue stick to hand, the painting and crayons were in full swing by the time I was in my early years. From day 1 I absolutely fell in love with the trade. Admittedly my job was to clean and change the dirty water from the vases, wire up the gerberas for the next few days and make bows and cellophane wrapping papers for the bouquets. But it just filled me with joy and loved going to work every Saturday. From then I studied at Brinsbury college, Covent garden academy of flowers in London and finally gained my level 4 higher diploma at Merrist wood college with distinction. I’m based in Horsham west Sussex but cover the south east of England but happy to travel to wherever in needed to be.

The best part of my job is seeing the reaction of people’s faces when their flowers arrive. The look of happiness and excitement to finally see their dream turn into a reality. There is no dress rehearsal with flowers, at weddings and events clients can sample the cake, listen to the music playlist, try on the dresses, have a trial run of hair and make up but with flowers there is no rehearsal, to trust your florist is a must and the responsibility I have on my shoulders to deliver the final product to perfection on the most import day of someone’s life is huge, a good florist will take on a massive responsibility and it’s the relationship that has to be built between the bride and florist that is key.

I love to sit and make fiddly floral jewellery with a pot of glue and floristry wire for hours, but I also love to make grand designs from chicken wire and frames. The things that tie these two very different elements of floral design together is the creativity behind it. I love to push the boundaries, especially with actual balance. To define gravity and create a

floral sculpture that technically should never work, excites me!! To be given a roll of chicken wire, a bit of wood a few metal poles and a blank canvas and told to make something is my porn hahaha!! To be given a blank canvas is the best thing.

"My speciality is probably harmonious designs. Complimenting tints and tones in monochromatic colours with lots of texture included. Basically, whimsical weddings!"

I have had the pleasure of working with Chrissy before and she has the most amazing eye for creative and elaborate displays. Not only that, she is genuinely a lovely person. Sometimes when finding the right supplier it is about more than just what they can do, it is also about liking them as a person too, after all, you will be putting a big part of your wedding in their hands so you need to feel confident enough to be honest with them.

You can find out more about Chrissy and her business Bud and Flower - https://www.budandflower.co.uk

To read more wedding blogs click here, they're totally free and full of useful information when planning a wedding! Or, if you want to be at the top of the list when the newsletter is sent, the blogs are released or when I am feeling generous with giving away free wedding planning advice, then subscribe here .

I couldn't write this blog without crediting the extremely talented group of suppliers that created what you see in these images!