Guides
The whole reference, chapter by chapter
Written to be read in order, and to be searched when a specific question comes up mid week. Every chapter is free and ungated.
Status
Every chapter is the finished text, written and sourced. One chapter is held for legal review because contract terms vary by state and country.
What a recipe costs, what to charge for it, and where the margin goes. Markup, margin, cost of goods, and the arithmetic behind a quote you can defend.
01The 3:5:8 rule and florist pricing methodNo citable authority states 3:5:8, so this chapter gives the arithmetic instead: what every markup multiple does to your margin, and how to find your own.6 sections / companion calculator02Floral pricing formula: recipe cost to quoted priceThe whole path from a written recipe to a number you can say out loud, with every step of the arithmetic shown and nothing folded in silently.6 sections / companion calculator03Cost of goods percentage for floristsWhat cost of goods means in a flower business, how to compute your own percentage from invoices you already have, and what actually moves it.4 sections / companion calculator04Gross margin, net margin, and what sits between themWhy the margin on the quote is not the margin in your bank account, and the arithmetic that connects the two.4 sections05Pricing a bridal bouquet, end to endOne recipe followed all the way from a stem list to a number you can put on a proposal, written for the florist setting the price.5 sections / companion calculator
Buying wholesale, conditioning what arrives, holding it in condition, and keeping the design together when a flower is not going to show up.
01When a flower is not available: substituting wellHow to substitute without breaking the design or the budget, and how to set the expectation long before you need it.4 sections02Cold storage for cut flowers: temperaturesUMass Extension gives three storage bands: most cut flowers near 33F, some at 41F to 43F, tropicals above 50F. Which flowers cold damages instead.5 sections / 1 sourced03Where florists buy, and what each channel costs youThe buying channels open to a florist, what each one is good at, and the arithmetic of minimums, freight, and standing orders.3 sections04Stem counts: how many stems to orderCount stems from the recipe, not the photograph. Total per variety, round up to whole bunches, then divide by one minus your own loss rate. Formulas shown.4 sections / companion calculator05Conditioning and processing: the bench work nobody photographsWhat happens between the box arriving and the stem being usable, why each step exists, and the sanitation that decides whether any of it worked.6 sections / 1 sourced
Contracts, deposits, cancellation, planning, and the paperwork that keeps a flower business standing between weddings.
01Deposits and cancellation: what the law actually turns onThe questions a deposit and cancellation policy has to answer, the general rule on sums fixed in advance, and evidence that the answer differs from state to state.Jurisdiction notice / varies by state / 2 sourced02A business plan for a floral studio, minus the templateThe decisions a floral business plan has to actually make, kept to the flower trade, with the legally sensitive parts pointed where they belong.5 sections03Starting a wedding flower business, in sequenceThe order the pieces have to arrive in, from the first paid job to a studio that can take a full season, and what each step actually unlocks.5 sections04Becoming a wedding florist: the paths inThe routes into the trade, what each one teaches that the others do not, and an honest description of what the work is actually like.4 sections
The job itself, from the first consultation through the proposal, the build, the day of the wedding, and the strike.
01Consultation questions that settle scope and budgetThe questions that have to be answered before a recipe can be written, and how to ask about money without flinching.4 sections02The proposal and what goes in itWhat a floral proposal has to communicate, how itemized to make it, and how it becomes the agreement everyone is working from.4 sections03Building the day of timeline backwardWorking back from a fixed ceremony time to the hour you have to start, and the parts of the day that reliably eat the buffer.4 sections04Installation mechanics: what actually holds it upThe structure under the flowers, where installations fail, and why an overhead piece is a different category of decision.5 sections