Wedding florist timeline: a template to adapt

1. Why start from the date and work backwards

A standard schedule moves forward from the first contact. A reverse timeline does the opposite: it fixes the wedding day, then calculates the latest possible date for each decision. That exposes the deadlines that are costly to miss: a table count still unclear three weeks out, a variety ordered too late, a van not booked.

For each stage, note three things: what must be decided or received, who is responsible (you, a client, a supplier) and what happens if the deadline slips. The last point helps you choose which dates are firm and which are flexible.

2. A template from 6 months out to the day after

In this example every deadline is an assumption. If a wedding is booked only three months ahead, compress the first rows: the stages stay the same, only the gaps between them change.

3. Lock what the client must confirm

The most useful date in the timeline is the one where the scope becomes final. Before it, a change is a conversation. After it, it is an order to redo, a price to recalculate, sometimes a variety no longer available. Tell the client this date at signature, for example in the quote or in the message that accompanies the proposal.

• Number of tables and guests, or at least a range to confirm by the set date.
• Spaces to dress: ceremony, drinks reception, dinner, entrance, staircase.
• Personal pieces: bouquet, boutonnieres, flower crowns or children’s pieces.
• Who is present at setup time and who collects pieces after dinner.

Price a complete wedding before fixing the calendar

4. Align purchasing and production with delivery dates

Purchasing follows two rhythms: items ordered in advance (delicate varieties, containers, equipment) and fresh stems that arrive a few days before. Ask your wholesaler or grower for their order and delivery days, then put them in the timeline before anything else: you cannot order on a Tuesday if the supplier delivers on Thursday.

1. 1

   Start from installation day

   Count backwards the time needed for loading, production and conditioning the flowers. That is your latest realistic delivery date.

2. 2

   Add the supplier’s order days

   If the supplier needs an order 48 hours before delivery, that is the deadline that counts, not the day you would like to order.

3. 3

   Combine when several events overlap

   When two weddings fall in the same week, check whether one order can cover both and what that changes for receiving and storage.

4. 4

   Leave a margin for surprises

   Keep a buffer day before the wedding for a late delivery or an unavailable variety. Its length depends on your suppliers and the season.

5. The event week, hour by hour

From three days out, the timeline works better as a schedule of people: who does what, at what time, with which vehicle. The last two days hold the most risk: flowers are worked, moved and stored between times that others have set.

• Departure time from the studio, travel included, with a margin for access.
• Time the venue is available, and who opens the door.
• Pieces to install first (arch, ceremony decor) and those to place last (table centrepieces).
• Contact for the couple or best man for personal pieces, with the handover time.
• Pickup time the next day if teardown is planned, and who returns the containers.

Send a one-page sheet to the venue and the client ten days before: times, access, number of team members, electricity or water needs, setup duration. It avoids most last-minute questions.

6. Do not forget the day after

Teardown, cleaning and returning rentals are work to schedule like the rest. If you collect equipment the next day, block the morning and the person. Then invoice the balance based on the final quote and the changes accepted along the way.

Also remember that for a contract concluded at a distance with a consumer in France, a 14-day withdrawal right may apply, with exceptions including services fully performed before the end of the period. Check how this fits with your signature date and production schedule.

7. Adapt the template to your studio

Keep the same rows from one wedding to the next and change only the dates. A 200-guest wedding probably needs more production time and more hands for installation, but the order of the stages is identical. After each event, note one thing to move or shorten in your template.

In Flolya, an event file brings together the client, date, venue and budget. You can add tasks, find the event in the calendar and reuse an event template to start from your usual method.

Organise your events, tasks and calendar in Flolya

Choose software to follow every event from start to finish

Then check that the time spent is covered by the price