Bouquets

How to Describe your Dream Bouquet to your Florist

Your bouquet may be one of your biggest priorities when it comes to your flower budget, so how do you make sure to communicate with your florist what you are looking for, and how do you decide what you want in the first place? There are 5 things to consider when choosing your wedding bouquet: shape, style, color, size, and flower and greenery varieties.

First, let's go over what your options are as far as shape goes. There are two main categories for shape: upright, and cascading. In cascading bouquets, the flowers generally drape over your hand and waterfall towards the ground. Small cascades are called 'teardrop shaped' and large ones are generally called 'cathedral bouquets'. Make sure to communicate how long you would like your cascade bouquet to be, whether it's small or floor-length will change how the bouquet needs to be made and the price your florist gives you. The second, larger category is upright bouquets. In upright bouquets, you can have all sorts of shapes, including but not limited to round, ball, rectangle, heart, fan, boat, gathered, and pageant.

Now that you've got your shape, let's add some style words to make sure it fits the idea of what you have in your head. You of course have the style of your wedding in general: boho, romantic, vintage, chic, modern, etc. These are helpful, but you also need to know some bouquet styling words. Do you want your bouquet to be compact and tight or loose with some movement? Do you want lots of overflowing greenery or just blooms? Do you want it to be symmetrical and neat feeling, or do you want some funkiness to it with some flowers 'floating' above the rest to create great depth to the arrangement? Do you want it to be wild with seed pods and berries to provide texture, or do you want it to be tamer and only have roses and peonies?

Next is the color palette. This can be a tough one to decide. I would suggest looking through Pinterest, google, and Instagram and saving anything that sticks out to you. Then, notice if there are any patterns in colors that really catch your eye. Or consider your favorite colors, colors that look best with your skin tones, or any colors that have a personal significance to you. Once you have your general wedding color palette, keep in mind that flowers don't have to be stuck to those colors. You can have your flowers be different than the rest of your decor, perfectly matching, or a mix. Let your florist know if they have some wiggle room with the colors and you'll be surprised at how much better a bouquet can look when it doesn't have to stick to the 3 colors you've picked. In flowers as in art, it's good to have 'color grading'. For example, if your colors are blush and burgundy, rather than using only those two shades that you've picked, picking a few in between to blend them together will make the bouquet look much more artistic. There may even be some in-between colors that you wouldn't have thought of such as tan in an all-white and green bouquet. Either way, let your florist know if you want to be strict on your colors, or if they have the freedom to add in some shades you might not have thought of. Another aspect of color to consider is your color of greenery. Do you want true green, sage/grey-green, bright fall colors, or dark moody foliage?

• Size of the bouquet matters as well. These days you may have all your consultations via phone and never see your florist in person until the day of. I would suggest sending them a picture of yourself, and a picture for size reference if you're particular about how big you want your bouquet to be. Here's why. If you're a petite person and end up with a giant bouquet, it may dwarf you. If your dress is your favorite detail of your wedding, you might not want to hide it behind a big bouquet. On the other hand, if you're a bigger person, you might want a bigger bouquet. Or if the flowers are the favorite detail of your wedding and you want to go all out, let them know. Another aspect of size to consider is weight. The bigger a bouquet, the more of a workout it will be to hold it all day. The type of flowers you choose will affect the weight of the bouquet, so if you're going big, but don't want to have to put your bouquet down during the day, let your florist know it's important to choose more lightweight flowers- this may, however, change the overall look. Or if you're happy to hold the weight in order to get those fabulous pictures, go big! For size reference, check out these examples of big bouquets:
• large cascade
• long cascade
• large rectangle
• large round
  As well as these examples of small bouquets:
• small and funky
• small with greenery
• small with all blooms
  And these examples of medium sized boquets:
• regular with greenery
• regular all blooms
• regular compact
• regular cascade

The last thing to consider is the varieties you want in your bouquet, and here's where it gets easy. If you have a favorite flower that you absolutely must have no matter the cost, ask your florist if it's in season if they could make that a priority to have in your bouquet. If it's a high-priced item like a peony, you may want to only have it in your bouquet and not in every arrangement if you're on a smaller budget. If you have any flower varieties that you detest or are allergic to, also let your florist know not to include those. After that? Let your florist take care of the rest. You are paying them for a reason, they have years of experience choosing specific varieties and will most likely send you pictures and pass them off with you before ordering. There's no need for you to stress out over all the varieties going into your bouquet, indeed it often looks best if you let the florist choose the happiest blooms in the market rather than being stuck to a grocery list of flower types.

That's all there is to it! Now get dreaming.