Gerry Rogers: My name is Gerry Rogers and I am Co-Owner of Petal's Edge Floral Design in Alexandria, Virginia. I am here today to answer several questions about how to choose the right florist for your wedding. Some other topics that we will address today include finding a florist, different kinds of florists that you might consider for your wedding, preparing for the consultation appointment, some budgeting issues, and finally how to choose the right florist. Before we get started let me tell you a little about myself. I am Co-Founder and Owner of Petal's Edge Floral Design. The company is about four years old and we specialize in weddings and special events. Prior to getting into floral design, I worked in art museums for many years and came to very good design background from that experience. But now we are putting it to use, to create people's very special day.

What should I know about meeting with a florist? It's not a typical when couples get engaged, they get very excited and want to book all of their vendors, all at once. But when you meet with the florist there is definitely something that you need to know, before going into that meeting. One, you need to know when you are getting married, the time of year will greatly impact the kinds of flowers that are available. You also need to know where you are getting married, as this might impact what sorts of things you order for the wedding. A florist can give you a lot of insight into types the flowers, but it is useful if you pulled out pictures of things that you like or dislike. So, they can get a sense of overall style that you like and what sorts of flowers you tend to like. A florist can pick out your color scheme for you. So, if you've chosen your bridesmaid's dresses, that's a very useful thing to know, as the flowers that you choose will correspond in some way to the color of the bridesmaid's dress, whether it is just for the ceremony or also extending to the reception. Lastly, you should have an idea of the amount of things that you will need. So how many bridesmaid's will you have? How large is your wedding? How many types of centerpieces you will need? The florist will need that information to create your estimate and put some numbers down with things that you're ordering.

1