July 31, 2026
Wedding Flower Timeline: When to Book, Decide, and Finalize
Wedding flowers reward planning in the right order. Book too late and your first-choice florist may be gone for a peak-season Saturday; decide too early and you're choosing centerpieces before you know your table count. This is the timeline our designers walk Genesee County couples through, phase by phase, so every flower decision rests on the ones before it. A shorter engagement simply compresses the early phases — the order stays the same.
9 to 6 months out: book your florist
Once your venue and date are locked, your florist belongs in the next wave of bookings alongside your other big vendors. Popular florists fill peak-season Saturdays well in advance, especially May through October in Michigan. You don't need final designs to book — just your date, venue, approximate guest count, and a sense of your colors and budget. The consultation at this stage is about fit and feasibility: a good florist will tell you what your budget can achieve and hold your date while the details develop.
6 to 3 months out: shape the design
This is when the vision becomes a plan. By now your wedding-party attire and colors are settled, which means your florist can propose specific palettes and flower choices that will be in season for your date. Walk through each piece — bouquets, boutonnieres, ceremony backdrop, centerpieces — and decide where to invest and where to simplify. If your venue allows a walkthrough, this is the ideal window; seeing the ceremony space and reception room answers questions no photo can.
3 to 1 months out: lock it down
In the final stretch, your florist needs the numbers that drive the order: final wedding-party count for personal flowers, and your table count from the venue's final layout for centerpieces. Most banquet rooms in the Flint area seat eight to ten guests per round table, so a 100-person wedding usually lands between 10 and 13 guest tables. Confirm delivery times, setup access, and who moves ceremony pieces to the reception. Small guest-count shifts are normal — build in a cushion and tell your florist promptly when numbers change.
Wedding week: leave it to your florist
By the week of the wedding, your job is done. Your florist orders your flowers days ahead so they arrive at their peak, conditions and arranges them in the cooler, and delivers them fresh on the day. Expect a confirmation call to verify delivery addresses and times. On the morning itself, personal flowers arrive first, then the team sets the ceremony and reception. If you chose a local shop, this is where it pays off — there's no long-distance handoff, just your own florist's team getting everything where it needs to be.
What if you're on a short timeline?
Engaged with six months or less? Don't panic — it's absolutely doable. The order of decisions stays the same; you simply move through the phases faster and lean on flowers your florist knows will be available. Call the shops with your date first, before falling in love with designs, since availability narrows your choices more than budget does on a short runway. Bentley Florist has been designing weddings in Burton and Flint since 1963, and short-timeline weddings are a regular part of the calendar. Call 810-742-3174 and we'll tell you honestly what's possible for your date.
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Call the shop and ask what is freshest — or order anytime at bentleyflorist.com.
