What To Do When Your Event Floral Plans Don't Work Out
Occasionally, you can be unfortunate enough to have a floral supplier cancel on you in the leadup to your special event.
They might cancel due to sudden illness (their own, a vital staff member or a close family member), stock unavailability, a bereavement, an accident or, less commonly, because they have been double-booked.
In my case, my requested pink amaryllis became unexpectedly unavailable - and I was informed only the day prior.
In the end, it didn't matter. Like most hosts we never shared in advance with our guests what we had planned.
Therefore, they had no idea the replacement orchids, hyacinths and roses were never the look intended and they had fun regardless.
So here are some options when your event floristry plans falls through:
- If you have a stylist or event designer, they should handle it for you
- If you don't have a stylist, do a callout for help on your local Facebook community group - you'll get help very quickly
- If your florist cannot get the flowers you wanted, ask about flowers that look similar in colour, shape and size - the Teleflora flower glossary guide shows you a range of the best-known flowers. It's easy to see that for example, delphiniums look similar in appearance to hyacinths, larkspur, stock and snapdragon
- If your florist cannot get the centrepiece structure, plinths or vases you want, contact event hire companies like My Event Decor for help
- If you're running out of time, options or patience, consider simplifying your floristry order with a less elaborate and/or available floral item
- You could hire a foliage wall or 3D photographic backdrop, table garland, set of plinths, floral chandelier, or differently shaped or sized vases to make visual impact
- Remember - your guests will have no idea what your original decor vision was, and won't realise your emergency replacement is not what you intended all along.
Do you know what flowers look just like peonies?
