Everything You Need to Know About Hiring a Florist for Your Wedding
Planner: Amorology / Photo: Diane Sotero
A Collaboration with Native Poppy
When it comes to planning a wedding, flowers play a huge role in bringing the design to life. But booking a florist is about more than just picking pretty blooms. It’s about finding a professional who understands your vision, your budget, and the logistics of executing flawless floral installations. To dive deeper, we teamed up with our friends Natalie Gill and Meg Blancato, owners of Native Poppy, to answer all your burning questions about wedding florals.
Meg Blancato & Natalie Gill, Owners of Native Poppy / Photo: Nila Buchanan
Lessons from the Field: Why Experience Matters
Every wedding pro has a story of a near disaster—one of those unforgettable learning moments that shape how they work today. Natalie shared one of hers:
“Early in my career, I booked my first big wedding, and the couple wanted a dramatic hanging floral installation. I spent months planning, doing walkthroughs, and mapping out every detail. The day before the wedding, we installed it. It was perfect. Then, late that night, after everyone had left, it collapsed. Flowers everywhere.
We had to rework the entire piece on the wedding day, turning what was supposed to be a six-hour setup into a grueling twelve-hour scramble. Thankfully, no one knew—but my team and I will never forget the lesson: You can plan everything, but you must always be ready for anything.”
Natalie’s story is why working with seasoned vendors is so important. Weddings are live events, and experience makes all the difference in ensuring everything runs smoothly.
What You Need to Know About Booking a Wedding Florist
Photo: Sadie Mak
How much of your wedding budget should go to florals?
Industry standard suggests allocating 8-10% of your total wedding budget to flowers. However, this depends on your priorities. If florals are the focal point of your décor, you may want to invest more in lush arrangements, dramatic arches, or hanging installations. If you’re more focused on an incredible food experience, you can shift your budget accordingly while still making a floral impact in key areas.
Photography: Bauman Photographers
What are the biggest misconceptions about wedding florals?
It’s surprising how much goes into wedding florals—especially because most people only see flowers at a grocery store and don’t realize the behind-the-scenes logistics. There’s so much more than just placing flowers in a vase.
From planning detailed floral recipes to sourcing candles, storing, and properly prepping each bloom, every step is carefully orchestrated to ensure everything meets expectations. We create renderings, map out recipes, and plan meticulously to minimize surprises. And even once the flowers arrive, it takes a full team—just like in catering—to clean, organize and design the flowers so they open perfectly on the wedding day. After that, there’s post-event cleanup, vase washing, and more.
Floristry is an art, not just a job. People don’t go into it for the money—it’s about passion and artistry. With the realities of loss, damage, and slim margins, you truly have to love what you do.
Photography: Rebecca Yale
When should couples book their florist?
For most weddings, we suggest booking your florist 9-12 months in advance. Because these events tend to be larger in scope, this allows us to have time to specialty order flowers, vessels, candles, etc. It also gives us time to have mockup meetings (the fun stuff), attend walk-throughs and design renderings to our clients.
For those intimate events with just a small online order, 3-6 week minimum suggested.
However, there are those days we find ourselves making bouquets same day in store all the time for couples who are eloping on a whim!
Photography: Redamancy Photo Film
How much inspiration should I provide my florist?
There are so many wildly talented floral designers, and like any artist, each has their own unique style. We love inspiration—knowing what flowers, colors, and aesthetics you’re drawn to—but ultimately, we hope you’re coming to us because you love our particular style and trust us as professionals to bring your vision to life. Our goal is to create stunning florals that feel authentically you while allowing us the creative freedom to make the best choices for your big day.
That being said, inspiration photos are SO helpful to set expectations and align on the vision. They’re especially helpful when it comes to colors, shapes, sizes and what you’re envisioning.
After you share the inspiration, let go a little. The best results come from collaboration rather than strict replication.
Planner: Amorology / Photo:
Does seasonality matter?
Discussing seasonality is important, but something that’s typically in season can still not be available due to a major shift in weather, or an issue with the grower’s farm or shipping, etc. What’s super helpful is having preferences on colors, size, and shape so if a specific flower is unavailable, we can pivot as experts and find something similar!
Photography: C & C Photography
Does guest count impact floral budget?
Absolutely! A larger guest count requires a longer aisle, more table centerpieces, bigger seat assignment display, more décor elements, candles, etc.
Photo: Rebecca Yale
Do florists provide décor beyond flowers?
Many do! Native Poppy offers candles, props, and custom installations. Your florist is an artist—lean on them to bring your vision to life.
What happens to the flowers after the event?
That’s up to you! You can keep them, donate them or gift them to guests. Just be sure to chat through that with your florist. This decision impacts the vessels and if we need to come back after the event.
Photography: Mary Costa Photography
How can I be sure my florals are sustainable?
The floral industry is undergoing a major shift, with many designers reevaluating outdated practices that aren’t the most eco-friendly. Traditionally, floral foam has been a go-to tool for hydrating and sculpting arrangements, but it’s essentially microplastics—great for structure, but terrible for the environment.
It’s worth asking your florist about their sustainability practices. Do they use foam-free techniques? Do they compost flowers after events? If sustainability is a priority for you, you can also request locally grown blooms to reduce your event’s environmental footprint.
What details am I likely to forget?
Often, clients don’t think about the small things: flower crowns, petals for the aisle, floral cake accents. Your photographer will likely ask for extra flowers to style detail shots—things like shoes, rings, perfume, and invitations. Also, including a floral mock-up (if it’s not already included) is a smart move to ensure everything aligns with your vision before the big day.
If you take anything away from this article, it’s to trust your florist’s expertise. They are artists. Let them work their magic. With clear communication, a flexible mindset and experienced floral team, your wedding florals will be unforgettable.
And as a bonus, we’ve made a Wedding Floral Checklist for your big day!
Native Poppy is a beloved San Diego floral studio known for its artful, garden-inspired arrangements and fresh, modern approach to wedding florals. With a passion for seasonal blooms and whimsical, nature-driven designs, Native Poppy creates breathtaking floral installations, bouquets, and tablescapes that bring wedding visions to life. Their expert team works closely with couples to craft unique, heartfelt florals that capture the essence of each celebration. They have multiple locations including Solana Beach and South Park.
