Planning, styling and co-ordination
I don’t know where to start with my wedding planning! What is the best place to begin?
The easiest way to start your planning journey is to arrange a consult with us. We can sit down and chat through any questions or ideas you have, and discuss which services you might need from us. Talking face to face is the best way for us to get a picture of your wedding vision, and to work out what we need to do to make it become a reality! Call or email us to arrange a time at our Southport or Kingscliff offices.
My venue has its own co-ordinator but I’d prefer Ivy & Bleu to co-ordinate my wedding. What do I do?
This is normally fine, you will just need to notify your venue that we will be running the day. We work alongside venue co-ordinators all the time, as they have other tasks to look after like overseeing kitchen service and drinks etc. If you would like us to co-ordinate the wedding proceedings for you, that is absolutely doable; the venue co-ordinator can leave that side of things to us.
How far in advance of my wedding should I book with Ivy & Bleu?
We recommend 12 months out, or for planning 12-18 months. This allows us to secure your dream vendor team, and across styling & hire we can secure key hire items for you that book out quite far in advance. To ensure we keep a high quality of product offering we cap our floral services to a maximum amount per weekend, so ideally securing your services with us 9-12 months out allows us to avoid disappointment, especially across our busiest times. That doesn’t mean to say that we aren’t able to assist with shorter times frames – just email us to find out.
On the day setup and packdown
Will I need to be there the day after the wedding to pack up?
If you have hired items from our inventory and paid for setup & packdown, we will arrange our own staff to pack those items up and return them to the warehouse. You only need to be there (or someone on your behalf) if you have personal items to pick up from the venue, or if you would like to keep your wedding flowers. Centrepieces and arbour flowers especially are worth keeping or gifting to guests, as they can stay beautiful and fresh for a day or two after the wedding when kept in water.
Can you set up my wedding the day before?
Sometimes. Mostly we set up the morning of the wedding so that we can make sure everything is in place before guests arrive – and especially if we have floral components, it’s important that these are delivered fresh. However we can set up the day before in special circumstances, provided you have permission from your venue.
My venue says I need to have the wedding packed up at midnight. Is this normal, and will you arrange this for me?
Yes, a lot of venues prefer midnight packdowns, especially if they are a busy venue with weddings booked across multiple days. This makes it easier for them to get the space ready for the next day. And yes we can absolutely cater for this! We just charge a midnight bump out fee to cover our staff getting there on the night.
Florals
I see on your Instagram stories that you make bridal florals the day before the wedding. Won’t they die by the time it gets to my ceremony? Can you make them on the day of the wedding?
Yes, we usually make our wedding florals in advance of the wedding day – this is fairly standard practice. We like to arrange bridal florals the day before so that we can deliver them to you first thing on your wedding morning, so that they are there for photos as you are getting ready. And it honestly doesn’t make a difference to the life of the flowers – when they are stored correctly in specialised refrigerators like the ones we use, your flowers will come out fresh and ready for their big moment, and can even last a few days after your wedding if kept in water. The product we use is of the highest quality, sourced from trusted growers, so we can be confident in how they will perform in different conditions and seasons.
If I buy my own flowers, can you arrange them for me?
Sorry, but no. Some brides might convince themselves they can cut costs by sourcing flowers themselves, but it just wouldn’t be worth it! If you want your flowers to have the Ivy & Bleu look, we will need to use the tried and true, premium quality product that we source from our growers, which has been correctly stored and prepared so that it will last perfectly. We couldn’t achieve the elegance you see in our photos using Woolies carnations!
Do you work with other florists or do you prefer to do both styling & florals?
Absoutely we LOVEEEEE working with other talented florists and do so regularly. We originally added floral services to our business profile to ensure that the florals were as beautiful as the styling we created. We of course love the opportunity to provide that consistency across the board in addition to reducing the amount of vendors you need to liaise with, so combining our Ivy & Bleu Blooms with our Styling Concept & Creation has been designed to be beneficial across all aspects – not to mention being financially beneficial.
Socials
I love seeing Ivy & Bleu Instagram stories in the lead up to a wedding and on the day. Will my wedding be featured on your stories too?
We are so glad you love engaging with what we’re up to, and seeing the finished product on the day. We absolutely try our best to show glimpses of our brides’ floral preparations and wedding setups, because we know how exciting it can be. However we simply can’t guarantee that certain parts of your day will ‘feature’ on our stories, because we work in a busy industry and sometimes it’s just not possible. Posting is at the discretion of staff on the day.
I notice you post some brides’ bouquets before the day, and sometimes sneak peeks of setups on Instagram stories. I don’t want any spoilers before my wedding because I want it to be a surprise – is this OK?
Absolutely! If you’d like us to keep the secrets of your day until after your guests have been wowed, that is totally fine. Just be sure to mention this to your styling consultant so that we can make a note of it.