I have a silly question, but I have my first consultation about a wedding cake coming up and am trying to be fully prepared. If a bride wants fresh flowers on her cake, for example, to fill the space between tiers, how does that work? Do I speak with her florist directly? If so, how do I know how many flowers I will need? And do I pick them up from her the morning of the wedding or meet the florist at the venue and finish the setup at the venue? This has always confused me. Thanks for any help!

I've heard of people doing it many different ways. I make sure the bride knows it is HER responsibility to order the flowers from her florist. Florsists do this all the time, so as long as they know what sized cakes have been ordered they will know how many the bride will be needing. Then the florist (or a person the bride has chosen, but never me)delivers them to the venue BEFORE I get there. IF the flowers aren't at the venue, it's no longer my problem and I won't arrange them on the cake. This has only happened once and it was fine, the florist arranged them quite nicely.

Some people stay out of it completely and let the florist arrange the flowers right from the get go. Others charge an additional fee for arranging the flowers.

I find it's helpful to touch base with the florist prior to the wedding just to make sure we're all on the same page. Don't take an order without the name and number of the florist! If the bride hasn't chosen a florist yet, have her phone you with that information when she does book her florist.

I love fresh flowers on a cake. It's always so pretty.

Good luck with your consultation!

Be sure your customer knows to avoid certain flowers on her cake. I have information about this on my website: http://www.freewebs.com/wsue1023/index.htm (click on Flower Safety Guide).
There are certain flowers that are known to be toxic and should never be placed on a cake. Chemicals used to preserve flowers are also an issue. If she's set on using flowers that you're not sure about... use some sort of barrier between the flowers and the cake to spare the guests! : )