How to Start Freelancing as a Florist: A Guide for Floral Designers
Welcome, fellow anthophile (it means “lover of flowers”)! If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably thinking of dipping your toes into the world of floral design, or perhaps you’re already in it, but struggling to find aligned work. Regardless of where you’re at on your floral journey: you love creating, working with your hands, and you want to be part of design teams for stunning events. Whatever your reason, you’re in the right place.
PART ONE: Getting Started as a Floral Design Freelancer
Floral design is not for the faint of heart, and requires much more than raw talent and pretty flowers to be sustainable and successful. My biggest piece of advice if you’re considering a career in floristry is to get your hands dirty, and freelance. You can take all of the floral coursework you want, attend so-called floristry schools and programs, and practice on your own at home. But the absolute best way to learn the ins and outs of event floristry is to work under an established florist in your area.
In the first part of this two-part mini series, I’ll show you how to become a floral design freelancer in an increasingly competitive market! And in my next blog post, I’ll walk you through how to be a badass freelancer (and keep the work coming!). This industry is fueled by beauty and creativity, and there is a spot for everyone at the table-welcome!
You may be thinking, “Okay Emma, that all sounds great. But…where do I get started? Who do I talk to? HOW do I talk to them? HELP!” My dear, you’ve come to the right place!
Maybe you’ve arranged a centerpiece or two for a family holiday table. Maybe your DIY friend asked you to make a bouquet for their wedding, and it didn’t come out a complete disaster. Maybe you’ve taken some coursework, either online or in-person, but you need to start applying some of that knowledge in the real world. Or maybe, you’ve gone down the Pinterest rabbithole a time or two, and have a little bit of an obsession with flowers now.
Whatever your reason, I’ve created a list of four steps you can start working on TODAY to get started as a freelance florist!
Here we go!
Step One: Research
Listen, you can be yourself here. I know you’re a bit of an Instagram stalker, or you wouldn’t have found yourself reading this post. Start looking at a mix of floral designers. They can be in your area or not for this step. Just start to get an idea of what style you’re most drawn to. Save their posts (this is a win-win because you get to put together a moodboard of your favorites all while supporting a small business). After a bit of time has passed and you have a decent number of posts saved, go back and scroll through them all.
Are you noticing you’re mostly drawn to whimsical, garden-style designs? Are you saving mostly sculptural, trendy work that incorporates lots of negative space? Are you saving work that is mostly bud vases and wildflowers, or are you seeing a pattern of large-scale, lux installations? Get a sense of YOUR personal style right now, and it’ll act as a compass for Step Two: Cold Calling. And, the beautiful thing about this type of art is that you can experiment as much or as little as you want. You can get really comfortable with your “signature style” while trying new things.
Once you’ve put together your list of faves, start to stalk designers in your area who not only have similar aesthetics, but who you could really see yourself working alongside and learning from. You are going to be in very close proximity to them-you want to be sure they are fun, knowledgeable, and most importantly, open to teaching. Not all florists are open to teaching freelancers, and that’s okay. Most of the higher-end/luxury-leaning florists are working with large budgets and clients who require (and deserve) 100% of their attention. They simply do not have time to stop and explain something beyond what they need done for that event.
That’s not to say all high-end florists are like this. I started out by freelancing for an extremely talented Vermont-based florist in the Woodstock area when I lived there. I had zero experience, but knew I wanted to give this a go. She welcomed me into her studio, and I started with grunt work-slogging buckets, removing wax, breaking down boxes, running to the compost pile, and sweeping the floors. I don’t think I actually designed one thing until several events had passed, and I felt like such a superstar when she welcomed me over to the design table.
Step Two: Reach Out
Once you’ve picked a few whose style you love, and who seem like they might be a good fit, you’re going to start the cold-calling/cold-emailing process.
You need to be very tactical and smart at this step in the process. You are absolutely not the only person reaching out to them to gain experience, and you need to set yourself apart. And please, if you use AI such as ChatGPT, please write everything out yourself first and only use it to proofread/smooth wording. If you sound like a robot, I am going to send your email to Trash; I work with people, not machines.
Start by complimenting a specific piece of work you saved from a recent event, ask about their fur babies who made a recent appearance in an Instagram story, you get the point. Make it personal, avoid generic. And, I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, proofread your email before sending it. If you misspell my name, send an email meant for another designer, or have just plain bad spelling/grammar, I’m probably not going to get back to you. Why? Because if you’re making careless mistakes this early on, how can I trust you are paying attention to detail for an event? I can’t, and without trust, we have nothing. Also, I was a teacher for ten years; I am 100% that witch when it comes to grammar.
In your next paragraph, tell me a little bit about yourself and your experience with flowers. I don’t need your entire life story, but I’d love to know who and what is important to you, some of your work experiences prior to trying this path out, if you’ve traveled (I’m a big traveler, and love to talk about the world with people), and where you’re from. I’d also love to know what your experience with flowers is, even if it’s zero experience. Maybe you worked on a flower farm for a summer, and want to see what the event world is about (brownie points if you’re a flower farmer-they are my favorite freelancers). Maybe you found arranging to be a cathartic escape from a stressful job. I started somewhere too!
Finally, you are asking to be a part of someone’s baby, at least that’s how I look at it. My business is my baby, and I look after it with the same love and attention. You’re asking for experience, so be humble, graceful, and kind. I can tell almost immediately if someone is being overly confident or cocky, and I am not here for that at all.
You have a couple of options here: 1.) You can ask to meet up for coffee or a drink, or 2.) Offer to come to the studio and clean candles, process flowers, or break down boxes for free. That way, you can talk while the florist works. And, we will never say no to someone willing to clean and scrape wax and soot off of glass hurricanes after an event.
Super Secret Spy Stuff:
SECRET NO. 1: Everyone wants to play with flowers. Not everyone wants to clean a slimy, smelly bucket. But before you get into the industry, just know that it’s about 10% playing with flowers and 90% grunt work. If you can show you’re willing to do the latter up front, you’ve just moved yourself to the top of my list.
SECRET NO. 2: If you’re offering/inviting a florist to lunch, drinks, or coffee, it’s your treat. We all love to be treated, and it’s just a nice gesture that goes a long way! Work around their schedule. Right now, if it’s May-October, I am probably not available on the weekends, and if I am, I am spending it with my husband! Coffee, brunch, or happy hour early in the week are my best times!
Step Three: Meet!
If you’ve gotten to this point, congratulations! Come prepared to ask questions about THEIR business, not yours. One of the biggest turnoffs for florists welcoming freelancers into their space is when it becomes clear the freelancer is just their for their own personal gain. Of course, you’ll learn things and apply them, but when you’re working for me, you’re working for me.
Ask them questions specific to their business (“What are your favorite venues and why?” “What are your biggest needs on a studio day, design day, event delivery day?” “How can I help you solve an existing problem?”). Ask them if they only work with freelancers, or if they ever hire a more full-time team (this matters because if you’re a freelancer, you’re a 1099 independent contractor; I can explain more about this in a later post). Share your “why.” Why do you love flowers? Why do you want to work for this particular florist?
Then, let them know your availability. Are you available during the week, or weekends-only? Do you have more time in the summer? Again, offer to come in and help clean/organize the studio. Help disinfect buckets and clean vases. I personally can almost guarantee that if a freelancer reaches out only wanting to do design work, I will assume they are a diva and are not willing to do the nitty gritty, and that’s just not how I roll. Feel things out to be sure it’s a good fit all around!
Step Four: Follow Up
I am old school in this way, and I think many florists are the same. A good, old-fashioned follow up email keeps you top of mind, and shows that you’re genuinely interested in working with them! It shows that you’re serious about freelancing, and that you value their time and expertise. I am not your employer; you are working for me. It’s not my job to chase you down after we meet, and if I don’t hear from you after that, I will assume you’re not interested. Put your availability in writing, and really show how excited you are to work on that first event with them! If you don’t hear back for a bit, just follow up again. I’m not saying do this daily, but if it’s been a week or two, it’s highly likely they’re eyeballs deep in an event or they’ve taken some downtime. Stay persistent, not pesky, and you’ll be someone who pops into their head when they need help.
Part two will be posted in our next blog post, and I’ll hyperlink it here at that time! Thanks so much for being here, and please do reach out if you’re interested in joining the Blue Door team in 2026!
If you’d like to work with us in 2026, please email Emma at emma@bluedoorflower.com!
