Ultimate Checklist of Questions to Ask Your Florist

Selecting the right florist for your vow renewal is a critical step in your planning process. Each florist has their own policies and design style, so you want to make sure they are a good match for you. With a seemingly endless amount of options when it comes to flowers for your vow renewal, you want someone who can understand your vision and help you narrow them down. Once you’ve taken a look at their website to get a feel for whether or not that could be a good match, you’ll want to have an in-person meeting with your potential florist. To facilitate that discussion, we’ve put together this ultimate checklist of essential questions to ask your florist, so you don’t miss any critical details.

Print this list out and bring it with you to your first meeting with potential florists!

Background

• How long have you been in business here?
• How many vow renewals and weddings have you done?
• Do you have a vow renewal portfolio of the celebrations you’ve recently done that we can see?

Floral Budget

• Do you require a minimum floral budget? If so, what is it?
• What kind of flowers could we expect with our budget?
• What recommendations do you have to help maximize our floral budget?
• Do you have floral packages? Or are all orders custom?

Vow Renewal Date

• Are you available on our vow renewal date?
• How many other special events will you schedule on the same day?
• Have you done the flowers for events at the venues for our ceremony and reception before? If not, are you familiar with them?
• Do you do venue walk-throughs before the event date? If so, how far in advance do you prefer to do them? Do you charge a fee for this?
• Would you be making our arrangements personally, or would another florist be doing them?
• How far in advance of the vow renewal would you create the bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, and other flowers we ordered? How are they stored?

Floral Design

• How would you describe the design style you personally prefer? (for example, modern, organic, rustic, traditional)
• Based on our vow renewal style and budget, what set of floral elements would you recommend?
• What kinds of flowers would you recommend for our color palette, date, and budget?
• Can you provide organic, pesticide-free, or sustainably grown flowers? (Ask, if these factors are important to you!)
• If we have a picture of a bouquet and/or centerpiece that we adore, can you recreate it?
• We were thinking that X flowers would be lovely. Are there similar flowers that can be substituted to fit our budget better?
• What types of containers do you suggest for centerpieces and arrangements? Do we rent these from you and return them? Or are we purchasing them and can keep them?
• Do you have other décor elements that you can provide (aisle runner, candelabras, trees, votives, mirrors, etc.)? Which of these are rental items? How would these items affect the overall cost?
• Can you create a sample bouquet and centerpiece before we sign the contract? If so, is there an additional fee for this?
• If we decide to add flowers to our vow renewal cake, will you work with our cake designer to ensure everything looks perfect? If so, is there an additional setup fee for this?
• What color lighting would you recommend based on the flowers and color scheme we’ve discussed?

Logistics

• How long would you need to set up the flowers?
• If our ceremony starts at X, what time will you arrive to deliver flowers and set up arrangements?
• Do you charge an extra fee for the setup and breakdown of the floral décor at the ceremony and reception sites?
• Is there an extra fee if we need you to move arrangements to the reception site after the vow renewal ceremony?
• Do you charge a delivery fee?

Payment

• How do you price your floral arrangements?
• Are there any additional fees that have not already been taken into account?
• How far in advance do we need to secure your services?
• How much would the deposit be and when is it due?
• When is the final payment due?
• What is your refund policy if we need to cancel our order?
• How far in advance would we need to finalize the order?
• When can we expect to receive a contract from you?
• When will you provide me with a detailed proposal of all the floral and other elements we’ve discussed today, along with itemized prices?