High end florists/designers? Help!

[Carats]

HI everyone!

I''m wondering if anyone has any good websites/books/resources that show beautiful, high end floral work and general wedding design work? I''m really picky and haven''t found many websites that have the type of centerpieces and overall look that I am trying to achieve. I found one design floral center that had some beautiful pictures but their prices for turning over a room are really high (the lady told me something on the order of 15k) - I would like to achieve a beautiful look but I''m thinking that with a bit of extra time and work, I can try to do some of the stuff on my own to cut costs. I just need good pictures and resources to direct my vision...i really don''t know what I want exactly (and of course working with these high end designers is beneficial because they have the artistic vision and experience, but it doesn''t come for free!!)

Anyone else going through the same thing? I''m in Philly if anyone has any specific florist/designer recommendations.

I was also thinking of maybe trying to buy the flowers from a wholesaler and then having a florist (privately hired) arrange them for me at a discounted price - I know it sounds revolutionary but I''m trying to save $$ Just a thought...

Thanks!

 

[House Cat]

What type of high end florist look are you going for? Here in Northern California, it is common to see very natural looking arrangements created by our high end florists, but in other parts of the country, high end florists are known to create grand arrangements that are very structured.

It might be helpful to share with us a little bit of your vision, structured or natural, wine country or ballroom, things of that nature.

 

[NakedFinger]

http://www.prestonbailey.com

Or

http://www.davidtutera.com

What you need to look for are "Event Designers" not florists. Florists do bouquets, centerpieces etc. Event Designers come up with design concepts. The whole room decor, tablescapes, etc. Preston is a flower genius. He will be doing my flowers more than likely I hope.

Keep in mind, with event designers come the higher prices. They are more expensive than a florist. You are paying for their creative vision. David Tutera doesnt take a job less than $20k usually, and Preston doesnt do anything less than $50k (may be more actually?). But if you want to just use someone for inspiration, they are the best place to start.

They have books out actually, so you may want to buy the book for the pictures to show your florist.

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 2/26/2010 5:19:48 PM
Author:Carats
I''m thinking that with a bit of extra time and work, I can try to do some of the stuff on my own to cut costs.

Abort!!! Abort!!! Do you REALLY want to be spending the day before your wedding tied up supervising floral arranging? No! You don''t!! Time = Money. You won''t have the time to spare. The stress will eat you alive and ruin your day.

Listen, I did my own flowers and they COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE SIMPLE. Single stems of gerber daisies in glass soda bottles + a hand gathered bunch of calla lilies as my bouquet -- AND I STILL wouldn''t do it again. Because what was I doing the morning of the wedding? Running around town picking up flowers -- paying for flowers -- taping up flowers. It impacted the time I had for hair, makeup, relaxing, visiting with out of town guests, and generally just experiencing the day. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE how much those things are of value vs. cash $$$$.

 

[NakedFinger]

Date: 2/27/2010 1:04:26 PM
Author: decodelighted

Date: 2/26/2010 5:19:48 PM

Author:Carats

I'm thinking that with a bit of extra time and work, I can try to do some of the stuff on my own to cut costs.

Abort!!! Abort!!! Do you REALLY want to be spending the day before your wedding tied up supervising floral arranging? No! You don't!! Time = Money. You won't have the time to spare. The stress will eat you alive and ruin your day.


Listen, I did my own flowers and they COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE SIMPLE. Single stems of gerber daisies in glass soda bottles + a hand gathered bunch of calla lilies as my bouquet -- AND I STILL wouldn't do it again. Because what was I doing the morning of the wedding? Running around town picking up flowers -- paying for flowers -- taping up flowers. It impacted the time I had for hair, makeup, relaxing, visiting with out of town guests, and generally just experiencing the day. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE how much those things are of value vs. cash $$$$.

Big DIIIITTTTTOOOO on that one. Meant to mention it. If there is one piece of advice I could tell every bride in the world, it would be DO NOT DO YOUR OWN FLOWERS. Its never a good idea.

 

[decodelighted]

You can always make more money .... you will NEVER get those days back. And the stress of creating a "high end" look on a warehouse club flower budget??

Consider that this might be a control issue rather than an issue of budget. You say you''re "picky" and nothing you''ve seen pleases you yet. Maybe your expectations are too high? And too high for your budget?

Re: it being "revolutionary" to want to buy the flowers yourself but hire someone to arrange them?

I guess every bride goes through this at some point. But TRUST: every idea has been thought of before. And if it isn''t common practice, there''s probably a reason why. Florists make their money by marking up the flowers. Good luck finding someone to do the messy work without the main profit center. Also: they''ll be DECIDING what flowers to buy, right? So be prepared to pay them for that planning & prep in addition to the hands on work after you buy the discounted flowers yourself (w/o their additional discount for buying in bulk). By the time you piecemeal it all together I''m not sure how much you''d be saving vs. the hassle & stress along the way. I think you''re underestimating how much ELSE you''ll be doing at the same time.

 

[Carats]

I totally agree - I was just hoping that I could hire someone that wouldn''t have such high prices that would coordinate the flowers? Maybe I''m dreaming. I know my aunt did this - she had someone do the flower arrangements and she bought them all from a wholesaler (she wasn''t running around and doing anything herself though before the wedding). But I guess when it comes to other details, like linens, candles, lighting, yes it all gets confusing - but honestly I don''t have 20k to spend JUST on design. We are having our wedding at a beautiful center city location but I wasn''t prepared to spend that much to dress up the room - unfortunately my taste and budget are not in accordance and I''m trying to come up with a creative way for them to meet.

In terms of style, I don''t know exactly how to describe what I like. I LOVE preston bailey''s work (and want the room to look beautiful like his but obviously not on that scale I like grand, dramatic but a little traditional in the mix.

 

[sba771]

Maybe you want to talk to Beautiful Blooms, Eclatante, Evantine or Innove. They are all in Philly and made do consults, I also have no idea what their prices are so I don''t know if they are affordable, I just know they are the higher end design companies locally.

 

[marlie]

I''m in NYC and am using Tantawan. http://www.tantawanbloom.com/

he does a lot of unique pieces and he also does the traditional stuff. i loved that his work looks like art, not just flowers in a vase. he works with your budget (to a degree) and he is extremely creative.

 

[Carats]

I know there are definitely event planners/designers that will take care of this sort of thing but I don''t have that type of budget.

In terms of flowers, I like roses, peonies, hydrangeas, and orchids but more importantly I like a really "full" grand look - are there any flowers that are more economical that would allow me to fill or take up space while being really beautiful still? I''m trying to come up with all kinds of ways to be creative to fit my budget.

 

[Gypsy]

What style to you want? http://www.philippatarrant.com/ is one of my favorite florists, but she''s quite contemporary. DC has a LOT of amazing florists and so does NYC. I''d call a couple of REALLY high end hotels in each city, ask to speak to their catering departments, then ask them for florist recommendations. They will know who the most exclusive are and will tell you. You can also do this in your own town.

I have worked at florists and I can tell you... if you have, you wouldn''t even consider doing your own unless you had access to a lot of things (extra hands, refrigerators, floral supply wholesalers and rentals, etc.).

My favorite place to browse for wedding florals is projectwedding though.

 

[onvacation]

For my wedding, my mother's friend did the arrangements as a wedding gift. She was close enough to me that I felt comfortable letting her do her thing, since I know the lady has the best taste, and yet not one of the main people involved in the wedding so wouldn't mind spending the time before the wedding on flowers. Is there anyone you know that could take that role? I think she had fun doing it because she got an opportunity to be involved in the wedding in a way that most non-family members can't.

What month will your wedding be? Depending on the season, to bulk up your floral arrangements I'd suggest:

flowers that get you more bang for your $: gladiolas, sunflowers, lilies, hydrangeas, dahlias, chrysanthemums

fruit - apples, pears

mixing fake flowers with real ones, especially with ceiling decor

tree branches/blossoms - lilacs, for example, will look and smell fantastic.

This link has some helpful hints in case you're really going to DIY:

http://www.countryliving.com/cooking/entertaining/arrange-flowers-0809

I love the tulip flip-over idea - way to maximize flower real estate!


The image was taken from this website:

http://www.drummondislandfudge.com/index.php?page=Island_Flower_Gift_and_Garden_Center

 

[Clairitek]

I just wanted to chime in and tell you about the experience I had with my friend''s wedding. She got married in Western CT in a really nice country club and wanted lots of fresh flowers as part of her decor. Like you, she also wanted a full grand look with her centerpieces. Lucky for her, we have a friend who can get flowers at wholesale cost through a flower wholesaler (as well as glassware and the other materials we needed to do the centerpieces). I think this, along wtih the fact that there were 6 people on hand to help with the flowers the day before the wedding, made it all work.

Basically we put together two kind of centerpieces (one had 3 different sized gathering vases and another was a large square glass container) for 20 tables, the escort card table, and cocktail hour decor in the span of 6 hours. This included delivering the centerpieces to the florist who was taking care of the ceremony decor, bouquets, and bouts for storage. I don''t think that the bride even touched the flowers, she was just on hand to answer questions if we had any.

I''ll post some pictures but I guess I''ll summarize with some handy bullet points what made this all go smoothly:

- access to flower wholesaler (you can certainly buy online for a great discount too)
- a few capable people on hand to clean and divide up the flowers for arranging
- proper flower storage overnight
- someone to put everything in its place the next day (turned out to be the wife and girlfriend of two of the groomsmen)
- willingness to let things happen as they do. Not everything turned out EXACTLY like the bride intended, but it was all still very beautiful, in my opinion.
- know where to draw the line- she made things easier by finding a florist to do the bouquets and other things while we took care of the centerpieces
- plan accordingly so that taking 5+ hours out of the your day just before the wedding won''t be stressful. As I said, the bride didn''t even tough the flowers- she worked on other tasks, but she spent the week leading up to the wedding preparing so that we could happily take half of that day to work on the flowers.

In all, I believe my friend spent $1500 on flowers, glassware, and supplies. She had quotes from florists to do the same thing that were $3500+ (not including her bouquets, etc.)

After we were done with the flowers, we did all go get manicures, which was wonderful. Then we had a couple of hours to relax before the rehearsal dinner.

Since I know you''re in Philly I would recommend going to a Produce Junction and getting some flowers to play with, if you do decide to try the DIY route. That way you can get a feeling for how many you would need to order. Glassware there or at a craft store shouldn''t be too expensive to get a couple for experimenting. Also, the dollar store often has smaller glassware pieces. I recently did some small centerpieces for my grandfather''s 100th birthday using dollar store pieces. They turned out pretty cute and were so cheap!

A few photos from my friend''s wedding...

Her larger square centerpiece- roses (regular and tea roses), hydrangea, and freesia.

 

[Clairitek]

Escort card table- totally DIY.

Escort cards were purchased from Michael''s. They were placed on a plate of glass while was on top of 4 glasses filled with stones (we used stoned to hide the green foam that held the flowers in the centerpieces... stones were collected from a local beach). The orchids were purchased from the wholesaler and the same orchids were cascading down their cake.

 

[Clairitek]

Date: 3/1/2010 11:43:11 AM
Author: Clairitek
Escort card table- totally DIY.

Escort cards were purchased from Michael''s. They were placed on a plate of glass while was on top of 4 glasses filled with stones (we used stoned to hide the green foam that held the flowers in the centerpieces... stones were collected from a local beach). The orchids were purchased from the wholesaler and the same orchids were cascading down their cake.

Pic didn''t attach before.

At a second glance at the stones in the little cups, those were purchased, not collected.

 

[Clairitek]

The other centerpieces- 3 gathering vases with roses and hydrangea (roses in two, hydrangea in the smallest) in colors that coordinated with the larger centerpiece.

 

[Clairitek]

Date: 3/1/2010 11:49:20 AM
Author: Clairitek
The other centerpieces- 3 gathering vases with roses and hydrangea (roses in two, hydrangea in the smallest) in colors that coordinated with the larger centerpiece.

ETA: I wanted to also say that I do agree with what a bunch of people have said, that this isn''t an easy thing to do and that you do need to line up a few things (ESPECIALLY proper storage). Sorry if I''m repeating myself, I have a head cold and am not thinking straight.

I''m also attaching a picture of my bouquet. Not the best picture but it was three kinds of roses and pink peonies. Had I bought it, I would have never gotten peonies like I so badly wanted. These flowers came from the same person who was able to buy my friend''s stock for her wedding. I''ll agree that a professional could have made it look a lot neater and polished, but for my budget I was really happy with what I got.

 

[Clairitek]

Last picture... here you can see the top of my bouquet better. Darn was thing was massive. If I could do it again, I would go smaller. I think it was as wide as me!

 

[shertz1981]

These are the people recommended to me by the catering director at Mandarin Oriental in DC. They have some lovely stuff on their pages to give you ideas!

Our florist is Alison De Wit, and we just love her: Distinctive Floral

Taraneh Dadmarz: English Rose Garden

Amaryllis -- a caveat, though -- they wouldn't meet with me after work hours or on weekends: Amaryllis

Hope this helps!

 

[NovemberBride]

I used Amaryllis in DC for my wedding and I had the grand flower arrangements that I think you are thinking about. Our florist bill was in excess of $30,000 and we didn''t even use the really expensive flowers (peonies, orchids, etc). We were originally getting married in Philadelphia at the Four Seasons but ended up changing to DC. I had originally been planning to use Evantine Design in Philly and their costs were going to be similar.

My personal opinion is that it would be impossible to duplicate the really grand centerpieces unless you can find someone who is a florist or florist in training to do it for you. While the centerpieces that Claritek posted are very beautiful, I didn''t get the impression from your post that this is what you are thinking of (when you say grand, I am imagining huge towering centerpieces like the ones you see on Preston Bailey''s website). And those took several people several hours to do. The florists who put together the huge designer centerpieces have large, highly trained teams that do this on a regular basis and I don''t think non-professionals could do it.

I think that if you are willing to go for something simpler and have a lot of willing friends, you might be able to DIY for less money.

 

[NovemberBride]

Here''s a pic of our centerpieces. I just don''t think it''s realistic for a non-pro to duplicate something like this, particularly on a large scale.

 

[Clairitek]

Date: 3/1/2010 1:30:26 PM
Author: NovemberBride
I used Amaryllis in DC for my wedding and I had the grand flower arrangements that I think you are thinking about. Our florist bill was in excess of $30,000 and we didn''t even use the really expensive flowers (peonies, orchids, etc). We were originally getting married in Philadelphia at the Four Seasons but ended up changing to DC. I had originally been planning to use Evantine Design in Philly and their costs were going to be similar.

My personal opinion is that it would be impossible to duplicate the really grand centerpieces unless you can find someone who is a florist or florist in training to do it for you. While the centerpieces that Claritek posted are very beautiful, I didn''t get the impression from your post that this is what you are thinking of (when you say grand, I am imagining huge towering centerpieces like the ones you see on Preston Bailey''s website). And those took several people several hours to do. The florists who put together the huge designer centerpieces have large, highly trained teams that do this on a regular basis and I don''t think non-professionals could do it.

I think that if you are willing to go for something simpler and have a lot of willing friends, you might be able to DIY for less money.

I posted those pictures because she said she liked a fuller look and also some tradition mixed in. While the CPs I posted were not super tall or huge, the square glass container one was full and used some of the flowers she said she liked. Don''t worry, I''m not so crazy to encourage someone with no floral training to try and duplicate what you from your wedding.

The second highlighted part was the point I was trying to make by posting the pictures I did.

 

[Carats]

Clairitek, wow thats amazing that those were all hand done! Beautiful! Were the people helping out trained in floral arrangement? I love the color combination - I think thats the color combo i'd like to go with. Also, I love your bouquet. Do you have more pics - were they roses and peonies or anything else? Basically I would love to have something that looks pretty similar.

 

[Clairitek]

Date: 3/1/2010 5:50:49 PM
Author: Carats
Clairitek, wow thats amazing that those were all hand done! Beautiful! Were the people helping out trained in floral arrangement? I love the color combination - I think thats the color combo i''d like to go with. Also, I love your bouquet. Do you have more pics - were they roses and peonies or anything else? Basically I would love to have something that looks pretty similar.

No one really had any training in floral arrangement. The "Flower Captain", as we called her I think might have done a little bit of arranging with her mom before but nothing really formal. She would just make an example arrangement and then we could copy it. It helped that she had a spreadsheet with the exact list of how many flowers would go into each arrangement so we could just go around and get our bundle and then stick everything into the foam.

My bouquet was pink peonies, cream regular roses, and pink tea roses. The tea roses are cute but a little bit of a pain in the rear since a bunch come on a stem and are at different heights. If I could do it again I would just go with pink regular sized roses. I just love all shades of pink and I figured that color palate would work with my soft gown.

I managed to find one fairly detailed shot of my bouquet. Somehow my photographer didn''t get one deliberate shot. Sorry for the weird white stuff. In the full picture my friend was trying to get her little girl to come sniff my bouquet so she was demonstrating.

 

[tigerhearted]

It took me a long time to find a florist who I really loved. I have a bit of a passion for flowers, so it's important to me to have flowers that I adore. It was really a matter of surfing around, visiting links from places like weddingwire.com or theknot.com or mywedding.com, getting recommendations from other vendors, etc. My tastes for flowers run very different from contemporary styles, so it took a while to find a florist whose style meshed with mine.

Check out the galleries at this site. And the inspiration boards at this site are great.

For DIY, check out marthastewartweddings.com. This is a simple garland I'm considering doing myself.

 

[Carats]

apparently peonies aren''t available in august? thats what one florist told me - if thats true, thats unfortunate. I love peonies!!!!

 

[emeraldlover1]

Carats...anything is available if you are willing to pay for it. But typically, no peonies are not available in August. Check out cabage roses or garden roses. They have that ball shape.

ETA...it sounds like you are at the beginning stage of your flower process. I would call around and get some quotes from florists or event deisgners. You may even want to meet with them so they can show you examples of their work. You can also do a google search to see what flowers are available in what seasons in the US. Wholesalers give the best deals on local product.

 

[Carats]

okay so I think i''d like to do roses, maybe hydrangeas, and orchids for the centerpieces...little pink, cream, ivory colors. How does that sound? Anyone have any pics of centerpieces with these flowers or have any other modification suggestions for a nicer look? I like my color choices and am kind of "afraid" of more color but am also concerned that it may be boring or look washed out in pictures. Any thoughts? I do like a classic traditional look with a modern, creative twist....

 

[Clairitek]

Date: 3/2/2010 7:52:55 PM
Author: emeraldlover1
Carats...anything is available if you are willing to pay for it. But typically, no peonies are not available in August. Check out cabbage roses or garden roses. They have that ball shape.

ETA...it sounds like you are at the beginning stage of your flower process. I would call around and get some quotes from florists or event deisgners. You may even want to meet with them so they can show you examples of their work. You can also do a google search to see what flowers are available in what seasons in the US. Wholesalers give the best deals on local product.

I second these suggestions for peony alternatives. Also give ranunculus a look. All of these should be cheaper than peonies and in season longer. They are all high petal count flowers like a peony.


Roses, hydrangea, and orchids sound pretty to me! For my friend''s wedding we had roses and orchids in our bouquets with some other flowers. Orchids are much more expensive than the other flowers though. I think the colors you suggested sound lovely- very similar to the one I posted from my friend''s wedding. The only difference is that she had a tough of orange in there to liven things up.

If you troll around on Project Wedding andThe Knot long enough I bet you will come across an arrangement that looks similar to what you want.