Flower markets?

I do mention this quite often on here as a lot of people think that all wholesalers will let you in but not all of them do. The fresh flower markets in London do tend to allow the public in but the ones in my area which is West Yorkshire the same as yourself, do ask for proof of business before they will let you in. Basically, if it is listed in the phone book as Trade Wholesalers, then they won't let you in.

If they will allow you in, you will have to buy in bulk and they tend to come in bunches of 25 or 50 of each individual flower so with the addition of VAT and all the florists sundries you will need to do the job, it may not work out as cheap as you think. Plus if you intend to do a dummy run as well as the real run, it may well work out more expensive than a florist!

Have you got quotes from florists already? If you are on a limited budget, then why not go for a modern, minimalistic design which work out much cheaper than hand-tieds etc. A lot of brides go for hand-tieds because they think they are the cheapest design. They aren't because they need a lot more flowers than other designs to make. Every florist will work to your budget. I can put you in touch with some very good reliable fresh florists in the Leeds/Wakefield area if you like.

My mum had a shop so has all the business entrance abilities so it doing my flowers.

However she lives in Dronfield and knows Sheffield and Leeds very well so I will ask her for you where you can get in without one. She's away till the 14th though - can you wait that long for an answer?

There is only one in Leeds which is Trade and one in Huddersfield which is also Trade only but not sure about Sheffield. I only use Sheffield Parkway for artificial flowers but they are Trade only but not sure about the fresh market.

I know my mum uses a fresh flower market in Sheffield that she gets up super early to go to but I'm not sure if its trade only. I'll ask her.

Hiya,

Thanks for the replies!

Rainbow - The wedding is a real informal vintage feel, I wanted hand-tied like I've just gathered a bunch of flowers from a country garden, and vintage jugs and vases loosely filled with a mix of colours, so minimalist is not for me! By dry run I just meant to go along and see what's what rather than buying the flowers twice (I don't have space in my house for 6 tables-worth of arrangements!). It's also pretty important that my Mum has a part in this as she lives a way away, so hasn't been able to join in much with the planning and preparation. I did think about getting a florist to do the bouquets, but was quoted £75 for mine, £50 for my grown-up BMs, and £25 for small BM bouquets for the little ones. I certainly hadn't factored in £275 for flowers! (plus whatever for table flowers ?)

Eeyoring - If you could ask your Mum that would be amazing! I can definitely wait We have a friend who has his own business, would he be able to apply or would it have to be a floristry business?

Thank you for the help!!

C xxx

I will certainly ask her. My mum had a gift shop and made tiaras and ring cushions etc for weddings so certainly wasnt just limited to florist only retail. x