Our Wedding Floral Design Process from Concept to Composition
At Ida Mayes, our wedding floral design services extend from concept to composition. We listen closely to your vision, create a concept rendering using our fourteen years of design experience, and then work tirelessly to transform it into a piece of living artwork that takes your special day from stunning to truly spectacular. While the bare bones of the process look similar for each client, we commit ourselves to providing unparalleled service tailored to your needs. Today, we’re taking you behind the scenes of the creative journey so you can envision your own Ida Mayes experience!
Our Wedding Floral Design Process
Inquiry
Every floral design journey begins with the initial inquiry. After hearing from a couple or their wedding planner, we check our calendar to see if we can accommodate their wedding date. If the answer is yes, we book a 30-minute virtual consultation! This allows us to hear the couple’s floral vision in their own words—especially if their planner initiated the referral—which we believe is imperative to capturing the essence of their design aesthetic and love story. Afterward, we get started on the couple’s initial custom design brief to ensure their comfort moving forward with us as their florist.
Concept
Creating a custom design brief begins with reviewing any inspiration the couple has shared with us, whether a single photo, Pinterest board, or verbal description. We then work to seamlessly combine that inspiration with our take on their wedding vision, often drawing from the couple’s unique way of describing their day. What kind of experience are they trying to create? How do they want their day to feel? The answers to these questions often say more than any Pin or color palette could!
Our concept rendering of the ceremony design for Shelly and Daniel’s garden wedding at The Grand Lady, inspired by Alice in Wonderland! This couple gave us so much freedom to run with their vision and create a design that dramatically transformed the space.
Over one week, we synthesize all of the above into an original mock-up giving the couple a glimpse into potential design directions we can take. We often pull individual flowers from separate images and recombine them into something new that captures the couple’s vision of their arrangements or their description of their day.
After we share a couple’s initial design brief with them, we always make clear that these are simply ideas! They are fluid and require the couple’s unique input and feedback to craft them into something perfectly aligned with their vision.
Moreover, we provide several design options at differing costs showing differing interpretations of their vision. We indicate the option that best represents their vision—in our professional opinion—and plug all the numbers into a quote for them to review alongside the visuals. From there, we keep their date on hold for one week and check in after seven days to receive questions and feedback.
Our rendering of the ceremony design for an outdoor wedding at The Arlo. The colorful orange and pink mandap with the aisle arrangements and whimsical hanging florals made for a magical scene.
Occasionally, a couple will require a second phone call to review the brief, and we are willing to accommodate this request for those serious about booking our services. For those who decide to book, we make it official with a 35% deposit and signed contract!
Feedback
Clients who decide to book with us typically schedule a call post-initial proposal review to discuss the designs: what they love, what they don’t love, their take on each design, and the coloring. I like asking open-ended questions during this call to encourage raw feedback. For example, what do you appreciate about this design? What does this color combination make you feel? Can you picture a design like this on your wedding day? Which design brings you the most joy?
Check-In
Our next check-in with the couple is 60-90 days before their wedding to allow time to make last-minute changes or updates, if necessary.
Between booking and this 60-day mark, we pour over our notes and the couple’s feedback, working to transform their vision from concept to composition. We consult with flower wholesalers about the flowers that will be available at the time of the wedding and continue interpreting our couple’s ideas into reality. This involves A LOT of inspiration research! We observe what textures and colors work well together, which flowers grow concurrently, what costs are involved with splurging in certain areas, and what mechanics the design requires to be successful.
We consider these factors before providing the couple with their initial quote, but we do so on a less involved scale. So, after booking, we begin our deep dive to ensure we’re as prepared as possible to design at that couple’s particular venue, and within any restrictions that may exist.
During this time, we’re also communicating consistently with the couple’s venue and wedding planners, double-checking colors and designs, and updating accordingly to ensure our floral designs complement the overall event. We don’t just plop our flowers down without insight into the rest of the wedding day!
For larger weddings, we may also schedule an additional virtual check-in before the 60-day mark to review the larger designs and make changes as needed.
Composition
When the wedding week finally arrives, we move to composition, the best part of all!
Our day-of design is all hands on deck. We prep as many designs as possible at our studio in advance (I’m extremely detail-oriented and like to have as much control as possible over each design!). I want the same people who work in my studio during the week to be the ones who assist me on-site, so there is continuity throughout the designs.
We will bring your mockups onsite so all involved can see every design and fully understand the overarching vision, movement, and color ratios. While delegation to other team members is a must, we communicate in depth to our team, providing feedback, and making tweaks if necessary to ensure everyone is executing the couple’s design exactly as they envisioned.
The wedding floral design process is a true transformation, beginning with a simple concept rendering and culminating in an artful, unique design with the power to create wedding day magic. At Ida Mayes, we love taking this journey with each client, partnering with them to bring the beauty of nature into their special day! Inquire today with your event details, and we’ll be in touch so you can determine if the Ida Mayes experience is right for you.
Vendors:
Alice in Wonderland Aisle:
Venue: The Grand Lady Planning and Design: Plan On It Events & Design Hair and Makeup: Think Brink Beauty Floral Design: Ida Mayes Floral Design House Invitations and Paper Goods: 26 Pressed
Rentals: BBJ La Tavola; Loot Rentals; Premiere Events; Bee Lavish Event Rentals; Party at the Moontower Event Rentals; Whim Hospitality
Photographer: Light as Gold; Lauren Nicole Photography; Julia Bonugli; Fyrelite Photography
Colorful Mandap Wedding:
Venue: The Arlo Planning and Design: Epoch Co Events Rentals: Moontower Events Photography: The Brothers Martens
