Managing what flowers we need can be a challenging task for us florists. Every customer’s desire for unique designs demands a diverse array of specific varieties, stem lengths and seasonal blooms coupled with, as we are all too aware, unexplained price rises. This can equal a nightmare, especially when creating quotes a year in advance. Creating effective flower buying lists is so important to making your wedding designs not only stunning, but profitable and as stress free as possible!
Why create a buying list for each wedding?
Creating a collated buying list for stems for each wedding is essential for several practical reasons. Think of it as the florist’s game plan for making money on the big day.
- Efficiency: A wedding florist typically deals with a wide variety of flowers and greenery. A collated buying list helps you stay organised and efficient. It ensures you know exactly how many stems of each type are required, preventing over-purchasing or running short.
- Budget Management: With a buying list, a florist can keep track of the costs and stick to the budget. This is crucial because going over budget can impact the overall profitability of each wedding.
- Inventory Management: Keeping track of how many stems you need is vital. Once your flowers have been bought and delivered knowing how many stems are to be used in each design means each member of your team can stay on track. You need to know how many stems you have in stock so you can reduce waste and ensure that no flower goes unused.
- Time Management: Designing a wedding is rarely completely stress-free. You have limited time to create your beautiful designs. Having a buying list allows the florist to prepare well in advance. You can order flowers, receive them, and start arranging without any last-minute rush.
The practicalities of creating effective Flower Buying Lists
Easier said than done I hear you say. Agreed. It is not an easy task. But it can be made easier!
- Don’t put it off: Sounds simple, but like all tasks we can find difficult, it is all too easy to put it off until later, and by later it can turn out to be as you’re ordering the stems to create your designs. At Flowers by Nattrass, we create stem counts during the proposal stage of each wedding. This means we know that each wedding is profitable and we’re charging enough.
- Create a stem count for each item: Start with each item and create a stem count. Not sure how? Take a look at our stem count free resource here.
- Use software: Don’t write it down! Use Strelitzia Wedding & Events to do the hard work for you. This means everything is saved securely & no bucket or cup of tea can fall on that ever-expanding & unorganised wedding file. Plus at the click of a button, it will collate your stem counts and create a buying list for you! That simple.
It might take you a good few hours after an appointment with a client to create a stem count on excel, then add everything up to create a buying list. But with Strelitzia, what you see on your stem count download is quick and easy to create for each wedding, with Strelitzia automatically creating a buying list for you.
It might take you a good few hours after an appointment with a client to create a stem count on excel, then add everything up to create a buying list. But with Strelitzia, what you see on your stem count download is quick and easy to create for each wedding, with Strelitzia automatically creating a buying list for you.
We’d love your opinion on how you create your buying lists so we can improve our Wedding and Events feature. if you’re interested in taking a look and giving us valuable feedback, fill out the form below and we will be in touch.