Flower arrangement checklist before delivery
23 checks professional florists run before delivery: balance, vase life, season, cultural taboos, pet safety, style rules, stock and margin — the same rules Floreboard applies automatically.
Key facts
- Three focal flowers at most; support them with filler and foliage.
- Keep vase lives within about five days of each other.
- Check pets, scent, pollen, colour and number taboos for the recipient.
- Margin of at least 35% of the selling price.
Balance and structure
- No more than three kinds of focal flower. More than that and they compete; make the rest filler or foliage.
- A design of eight or more stems has some filler or foliage to support and finish the shape.
- A design of ten or more stems includes foliage to frame it.
- There is at least one focal flower, and filler plus foliage are not more than three quarters of the stems.
- The palette stays within two or three colour families; five or more looks cluttered.
Vase life and season
- No flower lasts four days or less while the others last at least five days longer. If one does, deliver the same or next day and tell the client.
- Focal flowers are in season. Out-of-season stems cost more and vary in quality.
- Daffodils and other narcissus were conditioned alone for 12–24 hours before going in with other flowers.
Culture and occasion
- No white or yellow chrysanthemums for a joyful occasion.
- No strongly scented flowers for hospital visits or condolences.
- No four stems, in total or of one focal flower, for Chinese, Japanese and Korean recipients — and no nine for Japanese recipients.
- For weddings, lily anthers are removed so pollen cannot stain the gown.
The client
- Cats at home: no lilies, lily of the valley or azalea. Other flagged flowers come with a reminder to keep them out of reach.
- Nothing the client has said they dislike.
- Scent-sensitive clients get no strongly scented flowers; pollen-sensitive clients get no heavy-pollen flowers, or the anthers are removed.
Style
- Ikenobo: 3–30 stems. Ohara: no more than 35.
- Chinese literati style: ideally no more than 15 stems and three kinds of material. Chinese zen style: ideally 5 stems or fewer, never more than 10, and two kinds.
- Biedermeier: at least 10 stems, ideally 15 or more, no more than three focal flowers, with a foliage collar. English garden style: at least three kinds of material, with foliage.
Stock, price and margin
- Every stem in the recipe is in stock, in the quantity needed.
- Material cost does not exceed the client's budget.
- Margin is at least 35% of the selling price.
- Material cost is not below 30% of the price — if it is, there is room to upgrade the flowers.
- If a holiday is coming, affected flowers are quoted at holiday prices.
These are the thresholds Floreboard uses in its design review. They come from common trade practice and are prompts, not rules: a good designer breaks them on purpose.
Floral design styles compared · How florists price arrangements: cost, markup and margin · Cut flower care and conditioning guide · How many flowers to give: meanings and taboos by culture · How Floreboard works
FAQ
How many kinds of flower should an arrangement have?
Up to three focal flowers, plus filler and foliage. Minimal styles use far fewer: two kinds for a Zen arrangement, three for a literati one.
What profit margin should a florist aim for?
Floreboard warns below 35% of the selling price. Many shops aim higher on materials, because labour, rent and waste come out of the same margin.
Does Floreboard run these checks automatically?
Yes. Every design is reviewed against these rules; serious problems, such as flowers toxic to a client's cat, trigger an automatic correction, and the rest are shown as suggestions.