Now that you are ready to find an amazing (and hopefully sustainably-minded) florist, what now? How do you go about searching for the best wedding florist in your area for your needs? Let's get the shameless self-promotion out of the way first: if you are looking for the best wedding florist in Seattle, I'd love to chat with you. You can go here to check your date! But no matter where you are, these tips are going to be super helpful in your search!
- Start searching early. Most florists book out 9-12 months in advance. If you are getting married in your area's typical wedding season, you will need to start searching early! In general, off-season weddings will have better luck booking someone with less notice. However, that is NOT the case for 2020. This pandemic has everyone rearranging plans. If you are getting married in 2021, please start searching as soon as possible. A lot of 2021 dates are getting snapped up by couples who have been forced to postpone!
- Use the Slow Flowers Directory. This is the best-kept secret for finding an amazing designer in your area who might also practice sustainable floristry! These are florists who pledge to use locally grown and seasonal flowers whenever possible. They also tend to care deeply about their clients, their art, and their sourcing.
- Ask people you know. Asking friends, family, and other vendors you click with for recommendations is a great way to find the best wedding florist. This is still true, even in the digital age!
- Tweak your internet searching. Google mostly lists aggregate sites and businesses with paid SEO. And aggregate sites are almost always pay-to-play. Tweak your strategy to make sure you are getting the whole picture in your market.
- Use social media to find artists. You are hiring an artist, so use a platform that allows photos. A great way to do this is by using hashtag searches on Instagram, like "#seattlefloraldesign" or "#seattleflorist." Hashtag searches are extremely granular and will give you immediate, visual, actionable results!
- View floral portfolios and make a short list. Look at designers' websites and portfolios, and make a short list. Start with your top 3 designers and submit requests for info, making sure you note your wedding date.
- Schedule consultations. Even if you don't know exactly what you want, go ahead and schedule consultations. (We will talk a lot more about consultations in the coming weeks.) The biggest thing is making sure you click with your wedding florist, which requires meeting with them!
I've tried to write this week's guide to be helpful to couples in any city. Wedding planning is so stressful, especially right now, and I want to help! You can read more in this week's full guide, which has a lot more detail about search strategies. It includes the truth about pay-to-play sites, plus a genius search strategy for Pinterest. To get the full article, just enter your e-mail below so I can send it to you!
Hope you all are staying safe and healthy, and hanging in there! If you have questions, please make sure to comment below!