Six Things Every Couple Should Know Before Attending Their First Wedding Floral Meeting

Attending your first floral meeting is exciting. It's the first chance you get to really explore the design elements that'll make up your wedding day, and you'll have the opportunity to brainstorm ideas with someone who sees a lot of great design. Before you start gathering images and creating mood boards to discuss at the meeting, here are six things you should know.

Your florist will need to know the basics.

Prior to your first floral meeting, you'll want to at least selected your wedding date; having booked a wedding venue is helpful, too. This helps give the florist a chance to reserve the date and gives a sense of what the wedding will be like both seasonally and with the design cues of the venue.

You'll want to go in with a budget in mind.

While your first floral meeting can be a helpful way to flush out your budget and see how the money will be allocated, it's often best to go in with an idea of what you're willing to spend so you can have realistic conversations about pricing. This is an important factor for florists so they can quote elements that are within budget and address design concepts you like that may be more costly.

You don't have to have every last detail picked out.

There's a common misnomer among couples that they have to go to their design meetings with a binder full of printed images or loaded up Pinterest boards, but that's often unnecessary to the overall process. Floral designer Natalie Bowen Brookshire of Natalie Bowen Designs says, "I can tell a lot from one inspiration image. If clients have a lot of inspiration photos, I think they all start to look the same and it becomes redundant. Instead, focus on what you love most and explain why. It's okay if you don't love the entire image, but it's helpful to identify what you love, such as the color, texture, shape, or vase."

Do your research before meeting with any florist.

"I suggest meeting with florists whose work you love—someone you'd trust to bring your vision to life," Bowen says. "Before meeting a florist, do enough research to familiarize yourself with their work so they don't feel like they have to prove themselves to you in the meeting. If you don't trust them before you meet them, they're probably not the best fit for you."

Have a sense of your priorities.

Bowen says, "I appreciate when I meet with a client and they know what they need to see and what they don't care about as much. Knowing what their must-haves are allows me to ensure that they get the most important aspects met on the wedding day. There are a lot of moving parts behind the scenes of a wedding, and if a quick decision has to be made, knowing what's most important to the couple will help inform our decisions."

Take this time to ask questions.

Your first floral meeting is a great opportunity to learn about the designer's process. Will your florist do a design meeting with you? Will you need to attend site visits together? Will you communicate directly with each other or through a wedding planner? Does your florist have clear working hours? How often will you need to communicate? Setting up a strategy for how you'll work best together can be beneficial for both you and your florist.