Spring is right around the corner, which means wedding season is about to take over your schedule. If you have been in the business long enough, you know the bridal inquiries that trickle in during January turn into a flood by March, and by April your cooler is packed tight with ceremony prep.
After more than two decades of running install days for weddings of every size, I finally sat down and built the resource I kept wishing existed: The Hidden Garden's Floral Design Wedding Guide.
We have just launched the guide and it's available now! It was created specifically for fellow florists and floral teams.
Get the Floral Design Wedding Guide
Why We Built This
Every florist has had that install day where the flowers looked great but the behind-the-scenes operation could have gone smoother. Maybe the truck was packed in the wrong order or nobody knew who was leading strike.
Over the years, I've developed internal checklists that my team and I rely on after working on wedding after wedding. This guide is the cheat sheet version of all those lessons.
What the Guide Covers
The checklist walks through three phases of a wedding install day:
- Pre-Departure
- Install and Execution
- Strike and Wrap-Up.
Each phase breaks down into specific categories with actionable items your team can check off as they go.
In the Pre-Departure section, you will find everything from travel logistics and per diem distribution to truck packing strategy and tool kit inventories. I included notes throughout based on real scenarios we have dealt with so your team can avoid the same pitfalls.
The Install and Execution section covers venue access and floor plans alongside internal timelines your crew can follow hour by hour. The guide also includes a step for walking the property with the full team before anyone starts unloading, which is one of the most overlooked parts of any install.
Strike and Wrap-Up is where most teams fall apart, usually because everyone is exhausted and ready to leave. This section assigns clear roles and tracks hard goods coming back to the shop. It also includes a turn-in accountability system that actually motivates your strike lead to close out the job properly.
Who This Is For
This guide was designed for florists and floral studios who handle wedding flowers on a regular basis. It is not a consumer-facing product. If you are a shop owner training new staff or a freelance designer taking on your first big wedding, this was made for you.
I also included a sample Hidden Garden Staff Timeline and a Strike Sheet template so you can see how we organize assignments and hold our team accountable from load-in to load-out.
Grab It Before Your Next Wedding
Spring weddings are already booking, and the summer rush follows right behind. If your current system lives on sticky notes and group texts, this guide gives you a real framework to lean on.
