How can I tell if a florist is competent and professional
The first thing you need to know is not all florist are florist and not all florist are floral designers. Anyone can start a "flower" business and sell floral arrangements with some basic arranging skills obtained from books and a bit of practice designing arrangements for some friends, family and of course one's own home. However this does not in any way qualify one as a professional designer in the floral industry. According to the occupational requirements at MyFuture.Com a florist is expected to know the following;
design appropriate floral arrangements based on discussions with clients about their requirements, including type of occasion and budget available
select flowers and greenery, taking into account the expected life of each flower, and trim flowers to a suitable length.
arrange flowers and greenery in vases or secure them to a wire or plastic base, finishing the arrangement with ribbons or other trimmings
make sure that flowers remain in good condition by taking into account the temperature, watering requirements and storage needs
arrange local delivery of flowers and relay interstate and overseas orders
arrange dried, paper, silk or latex flowers and fruits and other materials
decorate churches and halls for weddings and other special occasions
take part in management and administration, such as working out costs of floral arrangements, maintaining financial records and supervising staff.
This is what a professional florist/floral designer is capable of doing. Not being able to fullful the knowledge required above constitutes an amateur.
These are not the only requirements however...a professional florist should also be able to perform as a professional wedding floral designer. By this I mean not designing funeral arrangements or using flowers that are used for the most part in funeral arrangements and selling them or providing them for one's wedding day. There are specific flowers that are used mostly for funeral work and are not accepted as wedding day floral's in the industry, albeit the more refined, stylized and sophisticated wedding industry. This is not to say that they are not used at all. The flowers that come under this category are Spray Mums, Gladiolas, Pom Poms and Carnations and Alstromeria. Flowers that are traditionally wedding flowers are Roses, various species of Lilies ( Calla, Star Gazer, Casa Blanca...) Orchids, Stephanotis, Hydrangea, Peonies, Statice, Dahlias and Tulips to mention a few. We have seen on more occasions, than we care to mention, especially in the Maryland area... funeral flowers popping up unbeknownst to the bride and used as filler since they are relatively cheap. Watch out for this bait and switch technique.
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How do I go about finding and choosing a skilled wedding photographer?
I don't mean to be cute, but shopping for and choosing a Maryland Wedding Photographer or Washington D.C. Wedding Photographer is akin to shopping for wallpaper. Today with the advent of digital photography..."professional" wedding photographers are popping up like weeds. Finding one who is not only HIGHLY skilled... but knowledgeable of all the timing and routine of a wedding day, is daunting at best and frustrating at worst. So many photographers on wedding web sites, with so many packages is a challenge. So the best way for me to answer this question is with a do's and don't's list.
So let's start with the Don't List first
- Don't hire someone without seeing their portfolio of a full wedding shoot...preferably at a studio or store.
- Don't hire someone who still ONLY shoots film. Film is history ladies...a photographer who only shoots in film in 2006 is either to cheap or can't afford a DSLR ( digital single lens reflex camera) If a Pro Wedding Photographer can't afford a DSLR than there may be a problem (hello???) If they are to cheap to invest in the latest equipment than why would you want to trust them with your wedding pictures. Digital is the cutting edge of photography technology and is here to stay. Its far superior to film with all that it is capable of doing for your images.
- Don't hire a photographer based on a fancy website...this is a HUGE MISTAKE, for several reasons. One; You would be aghast at the amount of images that are on websites that don't belong to the photographer...I see this more than I care to mention and it's all rationalized to "marketing" a site. So many of those " Beautiful model like brides and their beautiful model like grooms" that looked like they just popped out of Modern Bride Magazine...are just that...MODELS on a set. It's a staged shot for a commercial promotion and can be bought as stock photography anywhere on the web. This is not to say that the image is not a real wedding image shot by the photographer who's site you happen to be surfing...but you can't tell for sure. GO AND LOOK AT THE PICTURES IN PERSON! and ask for references.
- Don't hire a photographer who is not personable, responsive, reliable ( remember references) on time for your appointment, clean shaven, well dressed and articulate. This is your wedding day...not your backyard barbeque.
- Don't hire a photographer who drives a wreck, has only one camera, works for another photographer part time, has a computer that's older than 3 years and doesn't use a professional imaging editor like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro.
- Don't hire any family members that are "photographers" unless they want to do it as a gift and they are a "PROFESSIONAL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER," Several reasons; they will miss good shots simply because they may be engaged in conversation with Aunt Clara who they haven't seen in ages. They will probably want to enjoy themselves at your wedding and they will not be responsible if they miss something, screw up an important shot or are to busy having fun with the family.
- Don't hire Landscape Photographers, Sport Photographers, Press Photographers, Fashion Photographers, Animal Photographers or your buddy who just graduated from photography school. WHY?....because wedding photographers are called wedding photographers for a reason...they KNOW HOW TO SHOOT A WEDDING. The quick changing environment of light, background, moving people and potential mishaps are too much for an inexperienced photographer to cope with.This doesn't mean that all of the above are not wedding photographers too...if they are than OK no problem...I am just referring to the above photographers who have little or no experience at shooting weddings and just shoot nature scenes, football games and models in a studio environment. Want good wedding pictures? Hire a good wedding photographer...it's that simple.
Now for the Do List;
- Do hire any photographer that isn't in the above list of don'ts and has great chemistry with the two of you OR has a reputation that is BEYOND REPROACH.
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Why hire a professional wedding planner?
This is a great question with a great answer...and it's relatively short. But let me say that I will always be amazed at someone who cast their fate to the wind and wants to organize an event at some point in the next 365 days ( or sooner) and co-ordinate a half a dozen professional vendors to show up and work in unison on the most special day of their lives...and have never in their lives done it before.
Ladies...this is your wedding day and, if your budget allows, please leave this most important day to someone who does it for a living. Far to many wedding day horror stories have come to fruition by doing self planning. It's a sure recipe for something to go wrong. Contract negotiations, vendor reliability, facility managers, banquet managers, limo service, music vendors, photographers, videographers, florist, gown selection and tailoring, church selection, officiate selection, cost and budget concerns, hidden charges, avoiding extra billing surprises on the day of, time lines, invitations, programs, equipment, table cloths and chair rentals, tents, outside dance floors, wedding party rentals and purchases, elderly guest considerations, menus, weather, rules and regulations....do you really want to do all this stuff and carry on your busy life and HOPE it all comes together "perfectly?"
Now if budget constraints won't allow it and your confident that you can make it all happen by yourself with your friends and family and have at least a little experience...that give it a shot. This is a lot of money to take a chance with. But if you have it in the budget, professional planning may make the difference between success and disaster.
Let us help you to help yourself. We know how to get the job done right...the first time. Pam will help you plan it right....after wedding number 3000....she has got it down to a science. For those of you who simply can't afford it....get some good books, read some good advice on the web or find a friend who has some experience.
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