and choose the right florist for your Indian wedding in Italy
Decor plays an important part in Indian weddings. And even if in Italy you are helped by the natural beauty to use as the frame of your celebrations (also thanks to the fantastic weather that allows you to hold your events outdoor), and don’t need to heavily decorate empty and impersonal indoor spaces as it could be the case for weddings held in your country, you need some decor anyway.
Also, being Indian celebrations made up of many different events, all with a specific type of decorations, even a small decor could come up to significant digits. Especially if we consider the centerpieces that are calculated per table (and with large weddings you easily come up to 15-20 tables and even more) and for each event. Plus different ceremonies setup, and maybe you also want to add a white dress ceremony…
Some flowers here and some flowers there and in no time you are having a heart attack for the digit coming out from your decor calculations. On one hand you want beautiful decor and on the other hand you are over budget. How to find a solution without cutting any decor out? That’s easy! You need a cheaper florist in Italy!
Today I want to talk about this delicate topic and lead your attention to some important aspects that are essential for a correct quotes’ comparison. Because it’s quite easy to take a proposal from one supplier, cancel the prices and send it to a different one asking to just put their quotes beside the pictures. But what is behind those proposals and how to compare them correctly? Because it’s never only about the price.
1. What is the main focus of that florist?
Not all the florists are the same and not all are focused on weddings. Actually most of the florists are mainly about selling flowers and plants at their shops. They can assemble a nice bunch of flowers that you can use to decorate your living room or help you choose the plants for your garden, but when it comes to weddings, they use the same old style decor as it was 20 years ago and even more. Because they do a few weddings and most of them are just about a bouquet and a buttonhole, and maybe a few other decor pieces. And their clients are mainly on the hunt for the lowest price and are happy with standard solutions as long as they save money. The most important point for such florists is being located in the center of their town, so that people can notice their shop and enter to buy flowers. And maybe some unpretentious foreign couples can ask them for some wedding decor as well. But it’s not their main business.
And then there are other florists who are all about weddings and special events. It’s their everyday job, their usual life, their main passion. Those people are passionate about what they do, they always aim to be beyond the expectations of their clients, they create true masterpieces of floral art. Actually, I can’t call them just florists as it would be belittling. The correct word for them is floral designer. As a stylist creates a lehenga, also a floral designer creates floral decor with personal touch and creativity that make it unique.
Such creative people don’t own a small plants and seeds shop on the main street, but they rather have their head quarter out of town where they can have a large exposition place which looks like an enchanting garden where you stop and admire their stunning work. They could even not have any shop at all as it’s just the smallest part of their business. And they surely don’t sell flowers directly but have a dedicated personnel for that. Even if they do have a shop, no matter where it’s located, their clients are willing to drive to reach them because they are not on the hunt for the cheapest solution but for the unique and creative one.
2. What is the background of that florist?
I mean how did they become florists and what’s behind their job. Some florists just inherit flower shops from their parents and continue to sell plants and seeds as their parents did before them. Praising a 50-year old activity as a flower shop could maybe guarantee you the quality of plants and flowers they sell but surely not the creativity and mastermind of their floral setups. Or maybe they just love flowers and plants and like being surrounded by greenery every day, and they opened their activity to bring more color to the life of people visiting their shop. They have a lovely exposition of colorful plants and their shop smells fresh, but when you ask such a florist to create the decor from your Pinterest board, the result you get is just a bad copy of what you were expecting to get.
Creative florists instead have studied in specialized floral schools, have taken part in many national and international workshops and masterclasses and have worked beside famous floral designers to learn special techniques and inspire themselves. They have spent years (and a lot of money) to study and to improve their style and their work that they now put at your disposal by creating amazing floral decorations. You can give the same flowers to two different florists and they will create two completely different decors. And just a quick look will be enough to understand what’s behind that decor. Of course all this experience has its weight in the price you pay. And since I’m sure it works the same way also with your job, you can judge if it’s correct by yourself.
3. What is their work method?
From your request to the wedding day: how do they bring to life the project of your wedding’s decoration? Every single detail can tell you a lot about how a florist works, how attentive he or she is to every small aspect, how much dedication there is behind each setup, and how professional their approach is. If you send some pictures asking for a quote and receive an email with just a few text saying “arch with red flowers X euros” and “arch with white drapes and red flowers Y euros” it’s just about the price and the florist sending such a proposal doesn’t care much about dedicating time and attention to your request.
If instead you receive an extended file with a color palette of your wedding, the names and pictures of flowers and greenery to use for your setup according to your wedding date, an accurate description of every single decor piece proposed with also measurements and details beside the pictures so that nothing is unclear, then you immediately notice a different approach. Those professionals will propose alternative solutions and not just price your pictures. And their quote will definitely indicate if taxes and transportation are included in the mentioned prices or if you have to add it on top – and there will be the quote for that, of course. They will check the timing of your events to understand the setup and dismantling time, as well as the number of the team members to bring to your venue to make sure your decor is ready in time.
It’s one thing when you have a one-person-florist trying to manage the shop and your wedding, and another thing when you have an experienced floral designer having a team of 10-15 people able to manage different events in different parts of Italy with the utmost attention and care to details. The team that won’t disappear when the setup is finished (and you have not yet seen it) but will be on site able to adjust anything in real time if needed, to make sure your decor is exactly how you were expecting it to be and even better.
4. What about the materials?
I mean all the vases, candle holders, candelabras and many different structures that can be used for your events. Does the florist you contacted in Italy own them or rent them? Because if those items are rented from a different supplier, then there will be an extra cost for you to pay. And if the florist considers the items he or she owns, would you have various types and sizes in large quantities to choose from? Or would you be limited to just two or three types? Because many florists don’t own such items and prefer selling centerpieces that don’t need any vase or goblet but which are put on a special floral sponge. Such centerpieces can be prepared in the shop in advance and can be transported to the venue and left there without the florist even coming to the venue. And of course they don’t collect them, and the cleaners of the venue will be the ones to put them in the rubbish.
Creative floral designers instead usually have a large storage with a lot of different items, that they often renovate to be always able to offer you new designs and latest trends’ structures. Working a lot on many different events they can easily invest in the structures and be able to offer good prices compared to the renting companies. And I’m not referring to plastic stuff or simple glass vases, but to elegant decor items that look beautiful and elegant.
5. What can you find online about that florist?
Yes, I’m talking about the reviews and feedback from other clients. And also about the photos of different wedding setups in Italy that a florist publishes on their accounts. It’s important that you attentively go through all their pages. Supposing they have them. Because it’s here that you can get the main help in understanding the basis of the florist’s quotes. If you just find an old style website with just a few pictures with no Facebook or Instagram accounts and just 2-3 “reviews” with 5 stars and no text, then you should attentively evaluate if it is worth contacting such a supplier. Of course, that counts if you care about the outcome of your wedding decor and not only about the price.
If instead you see a professional website with a lot of different setups, updated Facebook and Instagram accounts with new pictures every day and thousands of followers and hundreds of reviews of happy clients raving about their decor delivered by that florist and the team, then you can be sure that you are in the right hands for your Indian wedding in Italy.
In this technological era when everyone has a phone to take pictures, not publishing them means not having nothing to publish, that’s it! And if you want to take the risk to put your wedding’s setup in the hands of such suppliers because you just want to save money, you take your responsibility for such a decision. Fingers crossed, it won’t be as bad, but what if not? You won’t have a second chance to make it better, keep that in mind.
What are my criteria in the choice of the floral designer to work with?
Actually, all of the above and even more! Having to deal with Indian weddings in Italy full of events and different decor styles, I needed a partner in crime and not just a florist. I was looking for a highly professional and creative florist but also an easy to approach person whom I can contact on whatsapp in the evening or on a weekend if I have some questions. I wanted an experienced designer who has worked on different kinds of events to be able to understand the complexity and variety of Indian celebrations. I needed a supplier with a large choice of different structures to use for my Indian weddings and the possibility to create something from scratch specifically for my clients if needed. And I definitely wanted a flexible florist able to adjust the quotes, when needed, to find valid alternatives and willing to propose solutions for different budgets with the same attention to all my couples getting married in Italy. And I found him!
As an Indian weddings Specialist I always work on building a solid team of high level professionals. And one of the main points is offering the best price-quality ratio. I want to offer the best in the market and with the best prices compared to the suppliers of the same level. Because if you compare the quotes make sure you compare potatoes with potatoes, and not potatoes with beans. There is a reason why a Sabyasachi lehenga doesn’t cost as little as a similar one from a generic local shop and why a Dolce & Gabbana dress can’t be compared to a Chinese copy of that dress.
Because it’s never only about the price. And it’s always about what’s behind that price.
Looking for inspiration for your Indian wedding in Italy? Check out our decor page here!
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