A few months after I launched DSE, I decided to experiment with florals and see if I would be interested in adding it to my wedding planning package. I had a few floral weddings my first wedding season and now that I’m in my second and working with more brides, I’m learning what works, what doesn’t and the best and most effective ways to serve my clients through floral design.

For those of you thinking about adding floral design to your wedding planning services, and you’re a little lost at where to start, here are three things I did in the first few months that made a BIG difference:

1. Invest in Education – Floral design is an art. There are SO MANY THINGS you have to know about types of flowers, wholesalers, when to order, how to oder, best ways to process.. this list goes on & on!!! While you can teach yourself to an extent, there are certain things you do NOT want to learn the hard way on wedding day!! Flowers are a product, not a service, and as a planner that adds a whole new level of responsibility and potential stress! Attending a workshop or going to a mentor session with a florist will provide you with more knowledge on the subject and someone you can send “freak-out-texts” too when the situation is dire!:) I know it can be hard to invest when you are slowly breaking into the market, but I promise you, by invested in my floral education, I was able to gain that investment back AND THEN SOME!!

Looking for a good workshop experience?! Two friends recently launched The Floral Gathering and it sounds amazing! My mentor Amanda Veronee also hosts multiple workshops in her studio each year.

2. Design Florals for Shoots BEFORE Wedding Day – This is a test-run for you!! Styling for a shoot is usually a smaller amount of flowers and will be a great way for you to order, process and design without the pressure of Wedding Day. I will order flowers for a shoot that I am THINKING about using on wedding day to see how fragile they are, how long they usually last and how well they work in bouquets/centerpieces. I decided last January that I wanted to experiment with floral design so I did 5 spring shoots to get my feet wet:)

3. Offer your floral services to a select number of brides – In the beginning, I did not advertise floral design on my website. I had a few planning brides who I knew were looking for a florist, so I reached out to them to see if they were interested! I explained that I was looking to broaden my packages into flowers and was wiling to offer a discounted rate since I did not have a large portfolio or very much experience. I was blessed to have a few brides agree to my proposal and therefore booked my first floral wedding clients!*

*This obviously worked well for me since I had already booked these clients for planning and I ONLY offer floral design for DSE planning brides!! I did not feel comfortable charging them a higher rate for florals since I was getting started, and used these ideal clients as portfolio builders!

Are you a planner looking to add florals to your packages? I’d love to hear what you’re doing and how the process is going for you!!

xo! kat

Photo by Jillian Michelle Photography | Bouquet designed by DSE