We get asked about weddings most weeks, and the answer is always the same: we do not do them. Not “not at the moment” — as a matter of how the business is built. It seems worth explaining why, because the reasoning also tells you what we are good at.
What we are built for
Everything about our operation is arranged around one thing: a bouquet ordered this morning, in someone’s hands this afternoon. Three studios across the Westside so nothing is far from a driver. Stock bought for the week rather than for one event. A 1 PM cut-off that lets us design, pack and route in a single working day.
That machine is very good at same-day delivery and completely wrong for a wedding.
Why weddings are a different business
A wedding is not a large bouquet. It is a project that starts six to twelve months out and involves things we do not do:
- Consultation and mood-boarding — several meetings, sometimes over a year.
- Sourcing to a specification — an exact shade, an exact variety, on an exact date, booked with growers months ahead. If the crop fails there is no substituting.
- Installation — arches, aisles, table pieces built on site, often the night before, with a team and a van.
- Being there on the day — someone who owns the outcome from setup to breakdown.
A florist who does that work well has an entirely different structure: fewer, bigger jobs, planned far ahead. A florist who does same-day delivery well has ours. Trying to do both usually means doing one of them badly, and on a wedding day “badly” is not recoverable.
What we would rather do than take the booking
Tell you no in the first phone call, so you have time to find someone who does it properly. A florist who says yes to work they are not set up for is not doing you a favour.
How to choose a wedding florist
Since we cannot help directly, here is what we would look for:
- They ask about your venue before your budget. The space determines what is possible.
- They show you their own work, not a mood board of other people’s. Ask for photographs from weddings they actually did, at venues you can name.
- They talk about substitutions before you sign. A florist who guarantees an exact variety on an exact date twelve months out is either inexperienced or not being straight with you.
- Installation and breakdown are in the quote. If they are not, ask who is doing it.
- They will say no to something. Peonies in October, a specific shade that does not exist — a good florist pushes back.
What we can do around a wedding
Plenty, and it is worth knowing:
- Flowers for the people around it — a bouquet for the mother of the bride, a thank-you to whoever hosted, congratulations to the couple after. Same-day, any day.
- The engagement — romantic arrangements delivered to a restaurant with timed delivery.
- The anniversary, every year after — see our guide to anniversary flowers by year.
- Hotel deliveries for out-of-town guests — across Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and the rest of the Westside.
If you are planning a wedding, good luck with it — genuinely. And if you need flowers for any of the hundred other days, +1 (657) 427-7770, order before 1 PM.
