8 Keys to Cultivating Success in Your Wedding Floral Business

Starting a wedding floral business can be a rewarding and profitable venture. It also requires careful planning, attention to detail and a deep understanding of what couples want on their special day.

To be successful in this industry, you'll need to develop a keen eye for design, cultivate strong relationships with suppliers and clients and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and styles.

So, where should you start?

 

1. Do Some Research and Find a Mentor

Beyond growing beautiful flowers, you must also know how to design floral arrangements. Find a mentor or a wedding floral professional who you can work with and learn floral design principles and techniques from. You can also attend events like design conventions or flower shows to get acquainted with people in the floral industry.

Lastly, Look for courses and subscribe to floral magazines. These will inspire you and help you keep up with trends and helpful tips. Although you will eventually have your own style, it helps to see how you can make the process easier for yourself or incorporate new ways of designing floral arrangements.

 

2. Develop a Personal Design Style

Once you know the basics of floral arrangements, you can start working with different principles to suit your design preferences. Wedding floral arrangements combine colors, texture and line compositions for aesthetically pleasing centerpieces and bouquets.

Having a niche will also help customers who want what you do to find you easily.

 

3. Set Up Your Brand

Your brand is one of the most important parts of your business. It’s how potential customers online will see what you offer. You will need a well-designed website and social media accounts.

To establish your brand, you must have:

• A company name and logo
• A website with a domain name
• Pinterest account with examples of your work.
• Your details on Google business
• Business cards

What’s Your Offer?

You deserve fair compensation for all your skill and effort to produce wonderful floral arrangements. So it’s essential that you know the going rate and charge your worth with confidence.

Here’s a guide that will help you charge fairly for your work.

• Mechanics. Consider how many wires or cable tires you need to create a floral arch or chandelier.
• Ingredients. Identify and make note of the quantities each type of flower you will use. Count each stem and add 20% of the amount.
• Use the Industry standard to calculate how much you will charge: Wholesale price (for the flowers) x 3.5/4 +30-50%.      
• Set-Up and Pack Down. This is one of the most forgotten parts of pricing regarding floral arrangements. You should charge a fee for the time you will spend making, transporting and setting up the flowers.
• If you decide to go the homegrown flowers route. Find ways to make the most of your money and invest in gardening techniques and tools and to enrich your cultivation room. Enriching your indoor cultivation room with CO2 can increase yield and growth by 20% which means more flowers to use in your arrangements in less time.

It’s up to you to raise prices or percentages where needed. It may seem wise to start low, however, you want to attract clients who understand the value of your hard work.

 

5. Obtain Necessary Licenses and Write Up Client Contracts

Get a resale and business license to stand out as a professional florist. These licenses also allow you to buy flowers and other decorative goods from wholesalers.

When you start working with clients, you will need a contract with information about your terms of service, cancellation policy and deposit requirements.

After the first consultation, make note of the client’s contact details, the date and time of the wedding and the delivery location.

In addition, establish boundaries with your clients. When you have the first meeting with a client, establish your preferred method of communication and business hours upfront. You won’t want to get a spontaneous call at 11 p.m. about changing the roses to peonies when your client can send a message later in the morning.

 

6. Practice your Craft

As with any skill or talent, you must practice regularly to hone your craft. You might be a pro at making centerpieces but need more practice with bouquets or flower chandeliers.

Invest in some synthetic practice flowers, find time to practice putting together arrangements, taking them down then trying other styles.

This will help you to keep personal time free to rest and relax so you have enough energy to keep the business running.

7. Network and Partner Up

Find other professionals you can work with like photographers, beauty salons and bridal shops to give your clients a great wedding package.

It’s easier for the client if they hire people who know each other and work together, which will help you get more exposure. Participate in events like weddings and bridal shows to create brand awareness.

 

8. Stay Organized

After establishing your business, you must keep up with orders, contact details, and event schedules. Whether digital or physical, a planner will help you stay on top.

While you may be your own accountant, designer and social media representative when you start out, it helps to get advice from professionals. Seek advice from a tax adviser and take social media courses to help you improve your skills.

 

9. Celebrate!

New restaurants have opening nights and people hold business showers when they start a company, why not do the same? If you prefer something small, gather friends and family for a picnic in your backyard with some flower arrangements for them to see.

You can also take flowers to different places you frequent like the hair salon or a local cafe. Next time they have clients or customers looking for wedding vendors, they could recommend your floral business.
 

 

Creating a Successful Wedding Floral Business

Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your existing business to the next level, these strategies will help you succeed.

 

Author Bio: Oscar Collins is the editor-in-chief at Modded, where he writes about a broad spectrum of topics. Follow him on Twitter @TModded for frequent updates on his work.

 

 

are you a bride or groom-to-be?

We'd love to plan with you on weddingday-online.com. Let's get started!

 
are you a wedding extraordinaire?

Join WeddingDay Magazine in inspiring brides by partnering with us! See how here.