Advice From The Pros; Floral Design

Today we are launching a new blog series called "Advice From The Pros." And the best way to kick this off is with gorgeous flowers and advice from the very talented Kristen Brown with Vintage Soul Floral Deign...

Hi! I am Kristen Brown, owner of Vintage Soul Floral Design. I’ve been in the wedding industry for 12 years, and love what I do! I started Vintage Soul about 2 years ago because I very much wanted to work directly with couples to help bring about their wedding day vision and use my own creative ideas to do so! When I am working with new clients I hear a lot of the same questions and concerns, for most brides this is your first rodeo, err, wedding. So, every step is a learning process as much as a decision-making process, which can be understandably unnerving when planning the single most epically important day of your life! Ok kidding, but it is a really big deal, and a very special day that you don’t get a do over on. With that in mind, I’ve put together some advice for working with your wedding florist.

Trust your florist! 

Caroline has previously written a post about trusting your vendors, so you already know about doing your homework: checking out our Instagram and The Knot or Wedding Wire for reviews! Beyond that there are a few things that you can do to make sure you and your florist are on the same page - and knowing that they get your vision will help set your mind at ease and make it easier for you to trust them! 

It comes down to two things really: do you trust us with your style and your color story?

First step is to send us pictures! Swatches! You name it, this is very helpful to get an idea of your style and color story. Make a separate Pinterest page to share with your Florist, post only your favorite items from your wedding board (we both know you have a million pins on there!). Being able to see a board of your favorite things will help us pick up on the repeated themes and styles you like.

Creating Your Color Story

We can help with your color story! So many times, a bride comes to me with two colors for their wedding, and if I can open that up, and create a color story with different shades or complimenting colors, it really adds another level of sophistication to the overall look of the event. For example, a popular combination this year was blush and burgundy. The contrast of light and dark is lovely, but when you add a mid-tone, say peach, lavender, or mauve; it helps the colors transition better to the eye. 

In the picture below, you see where we added in pops of peachy coral, reds, and tiny hints of fuchsia to a blush and burgundy color scheme for Karen and Alex. In this case Karen trusted me with her vision which allowed me to create this gorgeous and unique look for their wedding. (Personal note: fuchsia is one of my favorite colors to help bring things together or make things pop. It never fails me!)

(Photo by: William Avery Photography | Venue: Circle M Farms)

Bride’s considering the Pantone color of the year, Living Coral, have a lot of options to add to that color story! Depending on if you are going for a spring look and pairing it with slate blue and blush with hints of yellow, or for summer with hot pink, blush, and navy, and fall I would take it moody and pair it with plums, fuchsia, and burgundy.  There really are a million combinations depending on your taste. Below Hannah and Ben’s late August wedding was one of my favorite color combo’s that we did this year that included pops of coral amongst other vibrant fun colors.

(Photo: Rob Plus Kristen Photography | Venue: Separk Mansion | Cake: Sky’s The Limit Bridal Sweets

Defining and Communicating Your Style.

When you decided to contact your florist, what were you excited about? The name of their company? Logo? Favorite coffee house? Nope! It was the beautiful pictures of the events they have designed and their style! 

Be open to going outside the lines or doing something different than replicating the inspiration picture you bring them. When you are open to allowing your floral designer to get creative with your flowers then it allows us to really wow you.  By putting a spin on an idea inspired by Pinterest but created by a designer YOU chose because of their unique style!

When I am helping a couple design their wedding, I often am told that, “I want to be able to look back in 20 years and still love how my wedding looked.” I personally think this concern was born from the picture of mom and dad’s wedding from the 80’s with the puff sleeves and David Bowe styled make up. But this is where you can turn to your florist, we see the trends come and go, and we know what styles will be looked back on with nostalgia and not nausea. If you need examples, or a good laugh, search “terrible wedding trends from the 80's” on Pinterest or google. (You are welcome!) 

Be sure to communicate clearly about what you do and do not like, if I suggest an idea you aren’t thrilled about that is ok, it won’t hurt my feelings if you tell me so! This is your day, not mine so make sure you speak up! 

I like to include a lot of detail and photographs with my proposals, and I would say most wedding florists do the same. If your florist doesn’t include pictures in your estimate, ask them to send you a mood board. This is basically our visual way of repeating back to you the style and feel you are going for, being able to see that we have chosen images that resonate with you will go a long way in building that trust that we will create the floral experience you are looking for, and then some! 

One last note…

After we spend all this time speaking, and putting together a beautiful proposal for you, with all the details, the last thing any florist likes to do is show up on wedding day to be faced with additional décor that was not part of the plan, and worse, does not match the style of your wedding!

Some couples have incredibly talented friends and family that want to contribute to the wedding, in these cases we have made plans to incorporate items they created. From custom macramé pot hangers for a boho mountain wedding, to a gorgeous arbor hand built by the groom!

Please don’t think of your wedding as a craft project – if you have a crafty family member that wants to help, but whose style won’t fit in with the wedding, then allow them to decorate the rehearsal or a shower, but please don’t hand your florist silk flowers on wedding day and ask us to make the white tulle and blue roses work with the gorgeous designs that were carefully planned out by you and your florist! 

I hope you found this helpful! 

Peace, love, and flowers!

Kristen