THE WEDDING FLORIST PODCAST

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Episode 15 | How to Create Flower Recipes  

When you go to flower school you are taught how to create designs using premade recipes by your tutors. You follow them through to create your aesthetic design because that is what you are learning - the design aspect of floristry and the placement of each bloom in the optimal space.

Then you want to start being creative and you delve into business and all of a sudden this becomes a huge challenge. Everything from types of flowers and species and then the stem counts themselves - this becomes a whole new learning curve leaving some crippled with analysis paralysis to take the next step with ease. This also left me in the early stages of my business not even being able to provide a quote and lost revenue in my business.  
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A very warm welcome to you for today’s episode of the Wedding Florist Podcast.

Today I am going to talk about recipe building and how I make building recipes easier so you stop procrastinating and become a pro.  

Floral recipes are very much like cooking recipes.  There are tons of books out there that showcase food recipes so we can go and replicate them with ease.  This is however not true with flowers and everytime you are faced with the same problem but you too can create your own go-to recipes for your own flower designs.

So you know when you go to a restaurant and you get a menu of the food they are serving, in the same way you can do the same thing for your flower business. This way you have full control over what you are designing and selling based on your style of floristry and the seasonal availability of flowers in your part of the world.  

In weddings and events, I have always found it challenging because a bride will send over some inspirational images for her wedding or even say I want this. And as a florist the first thought that would come into my mind is How much is that? Because the cost will be based on the type of flowers in the recipe and the quantity of flowers used. And the last thing you want to be doing is second guessing and getting it wrong.

So here is what I would do if given an inspirational photo by a bride and this photo can be of anything - bridal bouquet, bridesmaids bouquets, buttonholes, centrepieces, arches and anything else.

Step 1 

Dissect the flower arrangement photo you have in front of you. You need to  identify and make a list of all the ingredients you can see in the design.  This includes all the focal flowers, secondary flowers and fillers and also foliages.

Step 2 

Count how many of each type of flower you can see in the arrangement and list these numbers next to your ingredients. Start from the left to the right or from top to the bottom of the design photo.

Step 3 

The image is flat so you won’t be able to see all the flowers within the design so add on extra stems to account for the other half of the design eg - if its a round centrepiece you need to double the quantity you see and count at the front half of the arrangement for the back half.  This forms your recipe.

Step 4

Flowers vary season to season and also based on which part of the world you live in.  You know the flowers in the original design but you may not be able to get your hands on the same material used so this is when you need to be thinking of alternatives. So at this stage go back to your list of ingredients you listed in Step 1 and substitute with alternative and available flowers.  At this stage you may want to go and speak with your wholesaler too about availability and substituting flowers. Don’t be afraid to put in your own creativity and style in the design because that is probably the reason why you started your journey in floristry. You can change the recipe to add more roses if you want or more textures - the design is yours so get creative.

Step 5

Now you can go in and get this costed up with pricing from your wholesaler. Remember though that the price you get from the wholesaler now will be different from the price you eventually get when you purchase because flowers are sold in auction and prices fluctuate based on supply and demand.  Don’t forget to charge for the sundries and anything used for mechanics. To price up for the customer you need to be applying the industry formula and labour for your time and then finally VAT or tax.

You should be doing this process with various florists' work so you can get more confident with creating recipes and designing using your own creativity and style as well as seasonal availability.

Now to let you know that I normally do this in Excel or Googlesheets.  Then you can use the formula function to help you count up the totals and get the costs and pricing.

It’s really not hard when you follow it step by step and definitely takes away the overwhelm.
So lets recap -
Step 1 - dissect the image and identify the flowers used in the design or photo  
Step 2 - count the number of stems of each type of flowers  
Step 3 - account for flowers in the parts of the photo you cannot see  
Step 4 - Think about substitutes and alternatives and what works with your style of work  
Step 5 - Calculate and cost it up for yourself and then markup for your customer using the industry formula.  

So I hope you found this really helpful and you can now go away and do this for yourself for any arrangement.

I have created some epic designs in my career and can definitely help you. If you are just starting out in your floral design business and are looking to build your portfolio or you have been a florist for some time now and want a different approach to design, then I have just the thing for you.  I am launching a 2 day intensive wedding and event florals masterclass where you will learn the essential skills needed to kickstart your floristry career.

Each day will be broken down into 2 sections.

Day 1 will begin by talking about running a business, consultation process, social media and visibility in your industry and the use of silk and fresh flowers. Then we move on the fun designs with hands-on designing to create a drop dead gorgeous tablescape with tall and low flower designs and learning to incorporate different styling elements.  I will go through all the ways you can create a stunning tablescape that is a feast to the eyes.

Day 2 We will talk about larger scale designs and learn the theory and mechanics behind large scale designs. This will be followed by hands-on experience to create a ceremonial setup with a full and lush arch using chicken wire construction and beautiful flowers and lush foliages.

We know how important photography is for our industry and we will have a professional photographer on site for the whole 2 days so you can get professional photographs of the work you have created on both days for your portfolio with a headshot. You can use these images on your website, your socials and all printed marketing.

You will be given the recipes for each of the designs created in the 2 day masterclass so that you can get rid of that analysis paralysis and really feel confident with creating jaw dropping designs in your business. Continental breakfast and lunch is provided to restore energy levels. And not to forget the incredible group of like minded florist friends who can be a part of your journey.  

Now If you've enjoyed listening to my podcast please show me the love and give me a review on i-tunes. it would mean the world to me. Take a photo of this podcast and post it on your instagram stories tagging me in and I'll be sure to share some love back. If you think this podcast will help your biz bestie then be sure to share it with them too.

So, here are various ways you can work with me

I have free resources to help you in your business

Get your Complete Guide to Write Winning Proposals and The Ultimate Social Media Kit with a social media calendar, florist specific hashtags and strategies to grow your audience.

Watch the free training on how I went from hand ties to installations and grew my wedding flower business to a 6 figure profitable business.

I know how hard and time consuming it can be to have the right resources in your business and that's why I have created various digital templates and resources that you can use in your business and these are available for instant download in the Etsy Store

That’s it for now - if there's a topic you want covering in the future let me know and I'll get it sorted for you. So until next week, stay blooming and take care

Hey there Wedding Florist

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