The holidays and the months immediately after are huge in the floral industry. Christmas and New Year’s Eve are two of the most popular holidays to pop the question. That means floral designers are deluged with brides-to-be come January 2nd!  TV reality shows like “Say Yes to the Dress,” “Cake Boss,” and wedding guru, David Tutera, have newly engaged women knocking down the doors of bakers, venues, and florists as much as two years before their big day.

The challenge, then, for the floral designer is how to detail a bride’s desires, provide a concise quote based on market price forecasts, and deliver the goods as promised, regardless of how many changes she may make along the way. How can you expect to recall what pricing you discussed, the color scheme, and the venue layout for every bride, unless you put it all in writing? You can’t, and the only way to be sure the bride and her family understand exactly how you plan to meet their expectations is to provide them a copy of your quote and later, their order.

Computers have certainly made many areas of business easier. The fact that you’re reading this blog post on our firm’s website is proof, but there are just some items that require your personal touch. Handwritten floral forms with carbonless copies are a perfect example.

Whether you’re providing a quote, or securing a full contract, using our floral order forms allows you to track your quotes to brides, their wedding dates, venues, initial order, and all changes in a snap. When you provide your quote, have the bride initial and date the price of your bid. Once the quote moves into an order, you can add another form, including the mapped out venue on the reverse side and add it to her file—the same can be done with every change she requests as the process unfolds. You’ll have her OK in writing on each form, documenting every step of the way.

Chances are good that you won’t encounter a true Bridezilla, but documentation which requires the client to sign off as changes are made is priceless should a dispute arise.