What to Expect when Hiring MaryAnn Blooms

Dear Virginia Brides or Grooms,

I am here to debunk a myth about the floral design industry.  I’d like to explain what goes on behind the scenes to make your wedding florals perfect.   

~When I design a wedding, I first have a consultation with the couple or one of the persons marrying to ascertain their needs and their style.   To be able to do that, it has taken years of learning what questions need to be asked.  Learning to ask the right questions has taken years of experience and finding a system for figuring out the couple’s style.

 ~Next  comes the budget...many people do not realize how much flowers cost.  After being in the floral industry for almost 30 years, I have learned the basic range of the cost of flowers and greenery. Adding this knowledge of what is available at the time of year you are thinking about marrying helps to keep things affordable.

~Next comes the actual design ideas i.e. thinking not only what flowers to use, but how many stems need to go in each design.   

~After this planning, I can finally start writing the proposal.  A wedding takes hours and hours to create!  It sure would be so much easier to just have a cookie cutter wedding flower recipe but my clients get a proposal unique to them, one of a kind to make their wedding day unique! 

~The deposit covers all the work that takes place in order to provide the couple with a working contract.  Once the contract is signed, then an order must be created to secure the blooms and greenery needed for the day.

~A month before the wedding the final payment is due--this is when the flower order is submitted to see what the market prices of the items are for that date.  Flowers are a commodity.  The prices for each item change weekly.  There is an average that we work with for the proposal, but when it comes to the actual date,  we sometimes have to readjust the order because of unavailability or a huge increase in cost.  

~Finally, we get to the week of the wedding! My preparations begin Monday for a Saturday wedding as the greenery and flowers start coming in.  The flowers all come in boxes and must go through a process called processing.  This is to hydrate the flowers that have been without water for days getting here.  Then the flowers are checked on every day to be sure they  open up to perfection!    The beauty is not in the bud, but in the full blown open flower.  This takes time.  I have a watchful eye on all the blooms until the actual designing begins.   For a Saturday wedding, the designing begins on Thursday and continues until Saturday morning when the final designs and bouquets are made.   

~Then comes the trickiest part of the entire process: Delivering!  I have created these beautiful designs now I have to get them to the wedding. It has taken years to learn the best way for all the designs to arrive at the destination looking as beautiful as when it left the studio. 

I hope this explains more of the process and the work required to produce a beautiful floral display for your wedding. Lots of work but it brings me lots of joy!

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