The Diary of a florist – Part 2

Thanks for all the interest in the behind the scenes blog post I wrote! It seems you are all interested in what it is that goes on behind the beautiful blooms. Catch up here if you’d like to read part one.

We left of at Thursday where I have done the majority of the prep work including mossing and greening up four big old hoops which will be hung from the ceiling of the marquee. 

Friday

Today I have a lovely freelancer to help me, whilst I do a lot of my work myself there are logistical things during set up which you often need a second pair of hands for. If you are a couple getting married and are wondering why perhaps your delivery charge seems higher than expected it may be because of the nature of the set up and needing to pay someone to help. Freelancers are usually paid in the region of £15 – £20 per hour so this might well be added to your bill. All florists work differently and some might cover the cost of help in the price of the item – this is often why archways and hanging installations are higher in price due to the time it takes to make and install. 

So when my freelancer gets here I have to run off to collect the van I’ve hired as I need to transport more items than my vehicle will fit. Different sized jobs require different sized vans. 

wedding florist van packed full of flowers
The van is full!

Today we have to go to the venue and hang the hoops. This needs to be done before the tables are set up as moss and foliage tends to drop a little and creates a bit of mess which is no good if the tables are already set up beautifully for the wedding. The hoops go up on a pulley system which needs to people to operate – one to pull the rope and another to secure the hoops to the other end of the rope. Don’t be trying to do this on your own!

Before we head out to the venue the cake maker for this wedding (lovely Ellie from Bunston Bakes) swings by and collects flowers I’ve selected for her to put on the cake. She will do this first thing in the morning when she’s at the venue tomorrow.

hanging foliage hoops in a wedding marquee
The hanging of the hoops

After the hoops are hung we also drop off the two mantelpiece arrangements which have been made yesterday. These are in water so are happy to be sitting at the venue waiting for the wedding tomorrow. This isn’t always possible as some venues have very tight turnaround times and will only let you in on the morning of the wedding. This should be a serious consideration when choosing a wedding venue – how long can you be there?

Friday afternoon

We make the bridal flowers, bridesmaids bouquets, buttonholes, table decorations, ceremony arrangement, pew ends and the garland for the ceremony archway. Below we are organising vases, filling with fresh water and generally accumulating mess as we work!

Next stop once we’ve made all the arrangements is pack them up. This is the moment when you think you’re finished fir the day but actually have another hour of packing and organising the workspace ready to load the van first thing in the morning. Every little vase needs to be wrapped in paper or bubble wrap to keep it from moving around/spilling or breaking.

Sweeping the floor is a must or you’ll end up going flying from slipping on a wet leaf!

Also taking photos of your work is another thing to think of. It’s always best to do that the day before if you can – I’ve been guilty of leaving it until the morning only to realise I don’t have time and not getting any good shots to remember the wedding by and also to use on my website and social media. Its amazing if you can get some of the professional photos from the day but that’s not always possible.

Saturday

This is the day!! All systems go, everything needs to be delivered looking perfect and in time and if there are any problems you need to think FAST to fix them. Load the van again, first of all to deliver the bridal party flowers, this is sometimes at a separate address or hotel to the venue and sometimes if you are lucky it’s all at the venue. After this it’s onto the venue and first of all set up the ceremony room – I like to do things in the order they will happen on the day. It’s no use the reception being ready if you’ve not finished the ceremony room hen the wedding starts! Personally I am always aiming to be finished at least 1 hour before the ceremony time, I aim to be finished 2 hours before so I have plenty of leeway. After the ceremony room then it’s onto the reception room. This should all be ready to go with tables cloths and glassware etc – so be careful of the glasses when leaning over to put on table centres!

That’s it! You’re all set up and ready to go. Take some quick snaps of how gorgeous everything looks then get outta there and let your lovely couple have a great day!

Sunday

Did think you were all finished did you? Today we go back to the venue to dismantle everything and take back any hired items such as vases etc. I have to take down the 4 hanging hoops in order for the marquee company to dismantle the marquee too. Most of the time the clients take home their flowers but sometimes there are things left over that need to be removed as you don’t want the venue to be left with loads of mess you created. Below is the carnage I am left with and what my workshop looks like after I dump all the leftovers in it, then I shut the door and lie face down for the rest of the day! I then put off cleaning up until the threat of more flowers is near – in this case I have a couple of days before more flowers are arriving so I think I’ll shut the door and pretend there’s no mess! After a rest it’s back to cleaning buckets and ordering more flowers for next weekend’s wedding.

I hope you all enjoyed reading about what it is I actually do! Let me know if you’d like more behind the scenes posts.

Read up on the first part of the week here if you missed it