Retail Florist VS Wedding Florist career comparison, What are the differences?

Hello fellow florists and newbies! My name is Alexis Christine and I have been a florist for the last 6 years! Welcome to my florist blog/youtube channel!

If you love flowers like I do and have a passion to become a floral designer, then go follow my flower Instagram @flowersbyalexis

Now you may not have known this, but there are two main types of florists out there;

RETAIL AND WEDDING FLORIST

Today we are going to talk about the differences between a Retail Florist and a Wedding Florist.

click the link below to watch the full video!

But for those of you who prefer to read,

Let me break it down for you, lets start with retail florists!

RETAIL FLORIST

THE JOB

Retail florists typically run flower shops!

Flower shops are good for gift finding and typically sell more than just flowers.

For example:

Plants

Gift baskets

Chocolates

Candles

+more!

Flower shops typically offer stuff like same day delivery.

People can usually walk into these stores and leave with flowers.

They rely heavily on the holiday season profits to cary them through the off season.

These florists arrange flowers for orders that come in online or over the phone.

Retail florists design flower arrangements for all sorts of occasions such as,

Birthdays

Anniversries

Get well

Thank you

Sympathy

And many more!

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A RETAIL FLORIST

As a retail florist employee from my experience your work schedule would be Monday-Friday and the occasional weekend ( Depending on the holiday or a prom weekend etc,..)

If you are interested in knowing what a florits does a day to day basis I recommend checking out this article right here,

A day in the life of a florist,

I walk you through a day in my life and show you all what a retail florist does on a every day basis.

THE BUSY HOLIDAY SEASON

As a retail florist you will work most, if not all the major holidays.

Valentines Day

Mothers Day

Thanksgiving

Christmas,

Not to mention,...

Proms

Church events

During the holidays and the whole month leading up that holiday is spent preordering vases, securing staff to help meet the crazy influx of flower orders just waiting to pour in. Checking vendor prices for flowers, you name it, we are doing it!

If you are interested in landing a job at a flower shop so that way you can jumpstart your career in floral design then read this article "how to land a job at a flower shop"

This article will help you increase your chances at landing a job at flower shop so that way you can jumpstart your florist career!

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WEDDING FLORIST

THE JOB

Wedding/Events Florist focus on you guessed it,... weddings and events!

In the off season January- March, These florists are busy meeting brides, consulting and drawing up there dream wedding/event.

May- December, We are running around like chickens without a head!

This is prime time season for people who are getting married and hosting events.

During wedding season depending on how much each wedding is, your volume, and your own personal visions of "success", you could be doing 5-12 weddings a weekend!

Again this all depends on what you are willing to handle, just remember you do not have to do everything yourself. Hire employees and take the edge off yourself!

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A WEDDING FLORIST

A day for a wedding florist or any florist really usually starts early in morning.

Flower markets open at the crack of dawn, like 6:00 am kinda early,... you want to be the FIRST THERE!!

You want to make sure you get the good stuff.

Some flower markets allow you to preorder blooms and they will pick them for you,

- (but I am crazy I like to pick my own flowers and pick them myself)

Once you get your flowers you come home and condition and clean your flowers and store them in a cold place until use.

TIP: I recommend buying your flowers 2-3 days in advance of your event so that way it can give the flowers time to open and time for you to get any last minute blooms

If your event is the same day then get to making!

Store all your flowers in a cold room once you are finished.

If you are starting out and do not have the money for a cooler, then dedicate one of the rooms in your house and turn on the AC on the lowest setting, mine is 60 degrees.

There is the cool little gadget COOLBOT you can use to make your air conditioner get colder than 60 degrees.

Here is the link!

Make the dream work!

PRO TIP: Get all your vessels ready and packed in the car the night before your event.

- I recommend creating a checklist of everything needed for the events so you are sure you don't miss a thing!

DAY OF THE EVENT

Set up days can be kind of intense, my best advice to you, get there when the catering companies and linen guys get to the venue.

This way you get can a head start on setting up and insure you have maximum time to set up and make the event look fabulous!

Depending on the event you may need to go back at the end of it and collect your vases or flower installations.

-You can always hire someone to do this for you!

Sundays are typically spent cleaning vases and preparing for the next weeks event!

"I love being a florist because I love having a creative job and moving around all day" -Alexis Christine

Sitting at a desk all day is what I hated most about my last job as a graphic designer.

I loved the creative artsy portion of the job, but sitting all day at a desk and answer to a boss didn’t seem like the job for me.

I love owning my own business and being my own boss for my flower business. @flowersbyalexis

Which florist do you want to be?

Tell me in the comments!

Thank you for reading!

Don't forget to check out these articles as well to

JUMPSTART your floral design career!

WHAT IS A FLORIST?

HOW TO BECOME A FLORIST IN 2021 WITH NO EXPERIENCE

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FLORIST

HOW TO START A FLOWER BUSINESS FROM SCRATCH!