There are several deciding factors that are key when deciding on a vendor. Personality, ability, and available schedules are just a few of those factors. In wedding planning, cost is also very important. But what happens when the you can’t decide between the lowest cost vendor and a vendor that just ‘gets’ you? People often say “go with your gut” when you ask about making vendor decisions. Turns out, going with my gut feeling was the deciding factor when picking our florist.

From a flowers standpoint, the Engineer and I weren’t feeling horribly picky. What I knew for sure was that I wanted to utilize the spring season flowers for our wedding (and our pocket book) and that I wanted to use color. The picture below gives you a good idea of the color pallet I was going for. I also knew that we were getting married during Mother’s Day weekend, which meant that we could potentially pay a premium for flowers, due to their popularity during that holiday.

I classify the ‘colors’ of our wedding as periwinkle, lavender, cream, mint green, lime green, and various shades of pink. (Hey.. I’m a big fan of the color pink and I knew I’d be pushing my luck if I pulled a ‘Steel Magnolias’ by making the wedding colors blush and bashful).

The first thing I learned when shopping for a florist was that there are actually people who specify in wedding flowers only. They buy flowers wholesale and are much more cost effective to work with than your typical florist or someone who does other types of events (commercial, funeral, etc). The second thing I learned was that many brides have no clue what they want in wedding flowers and often leave many/most of the planning to the florist (aka the professional). I was not that kinda of bride. I knew right off the bat that I wanted to use hydrangeas and gerbera daisies. I liked grape and pink hyacinth, the light shades of stock, viburnum, and tulips. I knew that I didn’t want stephanotis, calla lilies, or orchids. I was on the fence about roses.

My color pallet and flower preference took many of the vendors by surprise. I guess they are just use to dealing with brides who don’t do their research or who don’t have a vision.

The first vendor I met with is considered one of two “rock stars” in Knoxville wedding flowers. We sat down and talked color, logistics (what flowers could be delivered during the season and which would be out of season and therefore more expensive). By the end of the meeting, I felt she understood my vision, but she really pressured me to add more expensive flowers to my bouquet and to various table arrangements. The vendor was relieved that I wanted to use spring flowers that would be available at the time, and quoted me the cost of $alot for everything. Now, I know I don’t have a good poker face, so I’m sure when she said “$alot” I looked she had slapped me. I hadn’t budgeted nearly that amount, and felt that $alot was highly overpriced. We weren’t asking for expensive flowers, nor were we asking for tons of them.

The second vendor I met with reminded me of a friend from high school. She was very personable and obviously knew her stuff. When I would mention one of the various flowers that I wanted to use, she always seemed to have a picture of a wedding that she had done using that flower. She not only got my floral vision, but was able to add several ideas to bring the spring garden theme together. She was energetic and never once suggested flowers that I wasn’t interested in or that would be too expensive. She looked at the examples that I had cut out of various magazines and was quickly able to mix and match a scheme that would fit with the look I wanted. When she gave me her quote, I thought that I should sign her now before some other May 10th bride snatched up right up. Her quote was also over 1/3 less than the first quote.

Well, as you might imagine, I was fired up about getting a florist well within our price range. Maybe I was on a “budge high”. Instead of going with my gut and signing vendor #2 on the spot, I decided to go on one more florist meeting. I wanted to see if I could get the same flowers for even cheaper. Come on.. Big Bucks, No Whammies!

Vendor #3 meet with me late in the evening one week night. She had just finished up meeting with another bride before me, so she had all of her books out and ready to go. I guess I knew that I wasn’t really interested after the first 10 minutes. She started off not so much talking down to me, but speaking in ’simple’ terms and some times, slowly ??? She began to draft up what her vision was for my wedding. It was at this point that I had to stop her. I informed her that I didn’t really want her to design a vision for me, as I already had my own. This set her back a bit. When I told her the flowers I wanted to use, she was very resistant. The reasons ranged from the flower not being available to her lack of desire to use a particular flower. She actually told me that it had been 10 years since she had used grape hyacinth and that she would prefer to not bother with it, but would rather use delphinium! Don’t get me wrong, at no time was she ever mean or hateful. She wasn’t condescending in her tone, but sometimes what she said was patronizing. There was almost a hint of “I’m the professional here, not you” to the words. So at this point, I’m thinking that this is a waste of my time. But then she hits me with the invoice. $cheap. That was the cheapest quote we’d been give. Crap!

The only thing I could do would be to take it to the big man. I gave the Engineer a vote. He of course, didn’t care. He wanted us to be happy, but at the same time, didn’t want to go over on the budget. He left the choice up to me.

After about three weeks of deliberating and about 20 emails to vendor #2 and vendor #3 (to clarify if certain flowers would be available, and if not, why? Vendor #2 said she could get everything I asked for, no problems. But Vendor #3 was more hesitant. I had to remind myself that they had different wholesalers and this could be why I was getting two different answers.) I ended up choosing vendor #2. Something about her work really excited me. She was high energy and very enthusiastic, yet my gut feelings told me that dealing with her would be a stress-free experience. I had a distinct vision, and while the vision wasn’t complex or bizarre, she was the only one who just seemed to click with it.

In the end, it was the gut feeling that lead me to choose Mulberries Flowers and Design. You can see Samantha’s work on her website.