I was exchanging a conversation with another well known florist here in Nashville and we begin to discuss our "pet peeves' and believe it or not we had some of the same peeves so I thought I would blog about my pet peeves. Understanding as a floral designer that each designer has their own special tips and tricks of the trade, these are merely my personal pet peeves and by way is no indication or representation of all florist.
My top 10 Floral pet peeves are as follows:
1. I absolutely hate to see green floral tape at the end of a boutonniare. This is equivalent to seeing a slip hanging from underneath a ladies dress/skirt. There are many ways to dress the stem of a boutonniere. Most florist cover the stem in floral tape however, I just think it's tacky when the tape is left exposed.
2. It drives me crazy to see a bouquet that is dinner plate size (all you can eat) and extremely larger than the bride. I like to meet my brides in person so I can make sure the bouquet is proportionate to the bride's size. The bouquet should compliment the bride and the bride's dress and never overshadow the bride.
3. At a recent wedding, a planner that I was working with pinned on the boutonniere with the bout pin on the outer garmet. I couldn't believe it!!! That's a big "no, no" The bout pin goes behind the lapel or garmet and should not be exposed.
4. I cringe when the bridesmaid bouquet is the same color of the bridesmaid dress. It looks absolutely horrible in pictures!
5. If I see baby's breath in a bouquet then I'll scream!!!!
6. I always think of a bouquet or design in terms of a picture. When I design my bouquets, I stand in the mirror. The mirror serves as my audience and as we all know, the mirror doesn't lie and catches every single flaw. I totally dislike it when bouquet stems are left too long. Especially if it's a nosegay, hand-tied bouquet. My rule of thumb is 4-6" from the end of the ribbon. Of course this is contigent upon the bouquet design.
7. This is slowly becoming a pet peeve on mine. Boutonnieres that contain no foliage or greenery or no personality at all. If the bride request no foliage or greenery then I will honor her request but otherwise, I'll dress the bout with a nice foliage/greenary to compliment. Notice... I said "to compliment" Not every foliage/greenary goes with every flower.
8. I'm completely done if I see floral tape left on the stem of the bouquet. The bouquet should always be dressed with ribbon/fabric. Floral tape is a little sticky so therefore the bride's hand will be sticky if no ribbon/fabric is used to dress the bouquet stem.
9. A formal bouquet with a non formal dress or vice versa. It's important for me to see a picture or to get a brief explanation of the dress so I can create the bouquet to accent.
10. Everybody's defination of the color red is different. It's key for me to see the color palette. A great, inexpensive way to capture this is by visiting a local paint store and selecting paint samples....they are free.99!!!! Get plenty for your florist, caterer, planner, etc. Now, everyone is on the same page in regards to color. For a florist, there are a plethora of flower colors to choose from. A rose for example may come in 20 or more shades of red. Define your color palette (3-4) colors and go get those paint swatches.... while there free.
....they'll probably get priced to .25 each after the CEO of Home Depot reads this blog.... LOL!!!!
thanks for reading...
