An enquiry arrives with a date, a photograph from a magazine and a question about price. The photograph shows an installation that took two people six hours and several hundred stems of something that is not in season on that date.
The couple are not being unrealistic. They have no reference point at all, and it is the florist's job to give them one.
What to capture
Wedding date, venue and any second venue, ceremony and reception times, the bridal party size, which items are wanted, colours, style, whether anything is needed for the venue itself, whether installation and collection are required, and a budget range.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a florist might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Couple: We love this look. How much would something like that cost? Assistant: Price depends on the flowers, the season and the scale, and the wedding page shows typical ranges for bouquets, buttonholes, table arrangements and larger installations. Could you tell me your date, the venue and roughly what you need, and I will pass it to the team so they can come back with a realistic range before a consultation?
Couple: Do you have our date available? Assistant: The team takes a limited number of weddings per date, so availability is the first thing to confirm. Could you give me your date and venue and a contact number? Someone will check and come back to you today.
Couple: We have a budget of around eight hundred. Is that workable? Assistant: The page explains what is typically achievable in different ranges, including which choices make the biggest difference. Eight hundred is a real budget and the team can suggest where to focus it. Would you like to arrange a consultation?
Publish ranges by item
Bridal bouquet, bridesmaid bouquets, buttonholes, table arrangements, ceremony pieces and installations. Couples cannot budget without any figures and a range is far better than silence.
Explain what moves the price
Season, flower choice, scale, installation labour, travel and whether items must be collected afterwards. Couples think the number of flowers is the driver and it is usually labour and specific varieties.
Be honest about season
A specific flower out of season is either unavailable or expensive. Saying so early, with alternatives, produces a better result than substituting quietly later.
Explain installation logistics
Access times, whether the venue allows early setup, whether pieces must be moved between ceremony and reception and who does that. This is real work and usually uncosted in a couple's imagination.
Publish how many weddings you take
Couples want to know they are not one of four that weekend. A limit, stated openly, is a selling point rather than a limitation.
Explain the consultation and booking process
Whether a consultation is charged, what happens at it, the deposit and when the balance is due. Couples are booking many suppliers and need to know how yours works.
Reuse and repurposing
Moving ceremony flowers to the reception, and what guests can take home. Couples love this and most florists never mention it.
Sympathy work needs different handling
It is covered in sympathy and funeral flower orders handled gently and funeral tribute enquiries handled with care.
Careful capture applies to all event work
It is the approach in bridal and event bookings that need careful capture, and venues handle the same couples as in an AI receptionist for wedding venues.
Getting started
Publish ranges by item, what moves the price and your booking process, then capture date, venue and requirements at any hour. SpideyChat for retailers answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about capture on the features page.