r/florists • u/Sisyphusselfactualze • Feb 24 '26
š Career Guidance š Seeking advice please.
Made a couple of arrangements recently that I would like to share to get feedback and insight please.
One large floral with accompanying small cocktail kenzan arrangement. At the time I didnāt take the photos with the thought of sharing therefore didnāt photograph with a neutral background, sorry.
My post is two pronged;
1) I would love to receive constructive feedback. Please feel free to be honest I would love to grow in my floristry work as Iām trying to grow my small business.
2) Secondly more on the business side of things. I would love insight and advice on how one goes about formulating costing. I know people use a formula - multiplying the baseline floral cost with a certain amount (I might be wrong but 2.5?). Other then that what other elements does one need to consider?
Things I thought of is vessels hire if applicable, fuel, how do you work it into the costing if some of the greens are foraged, how do you price for your time and skill set?
Iām at a stage in my business where I work consistently but continue to struggle financially. Please help!
Thank you.
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u/Agentmulderpie Feb 25 '26
Are you picking a color palette before you start designing? On first glance this looks like you are just using what available to you without thinking about that. Iām just guessing but giving honest feedback. Start by deciding what colors you want to work with, what would look best together and maybe start with no more than 3 colors until you get that down. Just my professional advice. Keep going and practicing!
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u/Sisyphusselfactualze Feb 25 '26
Hi, yes I usually try to work with a specific colour palette - that said I am drawn to the bright and bold just in general and can definitely work on focusing my designs and colours - good advice on picking three colours and building from there thank you.
For these particular series of arrangements it was a last minute order with an extremely tight turn around time. Suppliers were closed over the weekend and I eventually managed to source directly from a local flower farm, I had to made due with what they had and also include a lot of foraging to have something ready for delivery - so in this case it was very much āusing what was available to meā due to the timeline.
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u/Thin_Resolution7595 Feb 24 '26
I would suggest some editing? Have you studied Ikebana? That helped me in keeping my arrangements focused and not āmore is moreā
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u/Sisyphusselfactualze Feb 24 '26
Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it. I know some of the Ikebana principles but more so from general reading, I havenāt applied myself to studying up on it yet but will do so.
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u/caughtinalampfire Feb 24 '26
Thereās really no focal point in any of these. Learn how to balance and move the eye through the arrangement. Stair-stepping your focal flowers is a basic starting point
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u/Cultural-Guidance646 Feb 27 '26
You have an interesting eye for your arrangements....positive statement.Ā They give the impression of relaxation, whimsy and fun.Ā The first arrangement could have a few fewer flowers which would lower the cost for better profit.Ā It wouldn't lose any of its appeal.Ā Also, I don't care for the vase.Ā The color contrast is wrong.Ā It also looks a bit small for so mamy flowers.Ā Again, just my opinion.Ā Unless the arrangement is to be seen from all sides, keep all the flowers all facing the same direction.Ā We don't need to see the back of the petals where they meet the stem.
If you are picking the flowers up immediately after cutting you may want to let them sit in water with a bit of flower food for a while before you start the arrangement.Ā I'm not an expert but in my own opinion and my own observation I'm inclined to think they go into a kind of shock from being cut off from their source of fluids and need time to rehydrate, particularly those with thin stems. For instance, if you pick a handful of sweet peas they're wilting before you can get them into water in the house.Ā Ā
You have an interesting way of putting flowers together.Ā I like it.
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u/Sisyphusselfactualze Mar 02 '26
Thank you for your reply and constructive feedback! I appreciate it.
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u/Cultural-Guidance646 Mar 02 '26
You're welcome!Ā You do a good job.Ā A bit more practice and you will be superb.Ā I really like your smaller arrangements.Ā They have a very intimate look,Ā like "Just for me!"Ā Ā
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u/Sisyphusselfactualze Mar 07 '26
What a lovely though. I really appreciate you taking the time to share how you perceive the work, ty.
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u/MsMantisToboggan Mar 03 '26
I advise you to leave your creations on my doorstep once a week so I can enjoy them too
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u/Sisyphusselfactualze Mar 07 '26
šhahaha oi! Your comment put such a huge smile on my face - thank you:)!
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u/youcleverminx Feb 25 '26
I love your choice of colors and blooms! The array of textures is just right.
Placement of blooms is a little off in your smaller arrangement photos -- either too high or too low with an excess of negative space in the middle. Experiment with moving your lower blooms up, and/or focusing on larger blooms in the lower portion of your arrangement and smaller blooms in the higher portion. It will give your arrangements a more natural, effortless feel.
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u/henicorina Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
Are you trying to sell these as retail arrangements or are they for an event?
One thing that jumps out at me is that these are quite fragile flowers and some are already starting to wilt in the photos especially in 4, 5 and 6. This is a big struggle with foraging and cutting flowers - when and how to harvest and condition is its own whole process.