In short
- Your florist works with almost every supplier: venue, caterer, photographer, lighting, hire company, cake maker.
- The venue comes first: its rules, times and access apply to everyone.
- You need one person in charge: a wedding planner, the venue, or you with a written timeline.
- Changes in the final month go to everyone at once, not one at a time.
Flowers touch the whole wedding. They sit on the caterer's tables, in front of the photographer's lens, under the lights, next to the cake. This guide is for couples organising a wedding in Italy who want to understand which wedding suppliers the florist needs to talk to, about what and when. If you still have to choose someone for the flowers, browse our list of wedding florists and floral designers.
The suppliers whose work meets the flowers
| Supplier | What they coordinate with the florist | When to talk |
|---|---|---|
| Venue | Access times, rules on candles and fixings, spaces, plan B | Before the final quote |
| Parish or town hall (Comune) | Rules on decorations, times, sharing with other ceremonies | As soon as the date is set |
| Wedding planner | Style, budget, timeline, choice of suppliers | From the start |
| Caterer | Floor plan, space on the table, flowers near food, place settings | Once there is a draft floor plan |
| Photographer and videographer | Details to capture, light, key moments, bouquet flat lay | A few weeks before |
| Lighting and sound | Lighting the flowers, power, cables near arrangements | With the final floor plan |
| Hire and marquees | Tables, linen, gazebos, structures for installations | With the final floor plan |
| Cake maker | Flowers on the cake, food safety, cake table | When you choose the cake |
| Music | Position of stage and speakers relative to the flowers | With the final floor plan |
| Hair and make-up | Hair flowers, trial | At the hair trial |
| Stylist or bridal shop | Matching the bouquet to the dress | Once the dress is chosen |
The venue comes before everyone
Every supplier has to follow the venue's rules. For flowers the main ones are:
- times for getting in and out for set-up and take-down;
- open flames: candles allowed, only in closed holders, or banned;
- fixings: what can be hung, from what, with which systems;
- approved suppliers: some Italian villas work only with florists on their list;
- covered spaces for the wet-weather plan.
On approved and exclusive suppliers, read our guide to venues with an in-house or approved florist.
What depends on what
Some decisions hold up others. This is the most common order:
- Date and venue: without these, no serious quote is possible.
- Type of ceremony: religious, civil or symbolic. It changes the ceremony and the permissions. In Italy a symbolic ceremony has no legal value, so many foreign couples do the legal part at home.
- Overall style: palette, mood, level of formality. It involves flowers, linen, stationery and lighting.
- Floor plan: it decides the number and shape of centrepieces and where the bar and buffet go.
- Timeline of the day: set-up times, ceremony, photos, dinner, cake, party.
The florist comes in early (after the venue) and returns at every stage. For detailed timing, use our wedding flowers timeline.
Wedding planner and florist
With a wedding planner there is one person in charge. Usually:
- the planner coordinates all suppliers and keeps the timeline;
- the florist designs and creates the flowers, sometimes other decorative elements too;
- style decisions are taken together, with the couple.
Make clear from the start who decides when in doubt and where changes should be sent. If the planner suggests a florist they often work with, ask openly how the financial arrangement between them works. Read more in our guide on florists and wedding planners.
Without a planner, you are in charge. Often the venue or the caterer helps with the reception. You need a shared timeline and a contact person on the day who is not one of the couple.
Caterer and flowers
This is the most delicate coordination, because flowers and food share the same table. Things to clarify:
- how much space the place settings leave for the centrepiece;
- where flowers can go on the buffet without touching the food;
- who puts the centrepieces on the tables and when;
- whether the caterer works with a trusted florist or accepts an outside one.
All the details are in our guide on getting flowers, catering and venue to work together.
Photographer and lighting
The photographer needs to know what is worth capturing before the guests arrive: tables, ceremony, bouquet, details. Whoever lights the party needs to know where the main arrangements are. In the evening an unlit centrepiece almost disappears in photos.
Cake maker and flowers on the cake
Flowers on the cake must be agreed with whoever makes it. Not all flowers are suitable for contact with food, and treated or toxic ones must be left out. The cake maker has the final word on what goes on the cake.
When suppliers come from far away
At a destination wedding the couple often lives abroad and suppliers may come from different regions. The florist may come from another city, the photographer from another country, the caterer may be the villa's own. A few extra precautions:
- one common language for written communications, often English, and someone to translate if needed;
- one single document, kept updated, with floor plan, timeline and contacts, instead of many separate emails;
- a video call with the main suppliers a few weeks before, to align timing and spaces;
- a contact on site, the wedding planner or the venue coordinator, who knows whom to call if something does not add up.
Suppliers from outside the area do not know local rules: quiet hours, limited traffic zones (ZTL), access to historic centres, church rules. Ask someone who knows the area to brief everyone.
The shared timeline
A simple document avoids most problems. It should include:
- names and phone numbers of all suppliers and of the contact person;
- arrival, set-up, start and end times for each moment;
- who moves the flowers from the ceremony to the reception;
- where to unload and where to park;
- take-down time and who collects hired items;
- the wet-weather plan, with who decides and by when.
Send it to everyone in the final weeks and ask them to confirm they have read it.
The day after
The suppliers' work does not end with the last dance. Hired vases and structures must be collected, flowers given away or taken home, the venue handed back clean. Decide in advance who stays until the end and who comes back the next morning, and write it in the timeline.
Questions to ask your florist about the other suppliers
- Have you worked at this venue before? Do you know its rules?
- Will you talk directly to the caterer, photographer and lighting team, or should I pass things on?
- Do you need the floor plan? By when?
- What time do you arrive and how much space do you need to work?
- Who moves the flowers from the ceremony to the reception?
- Who collects vases and structures at the end of the party, and when?
Getting started
Make your supplier list starting from the venue, and note for each one when they need to talk to the florist. To choose your florist well, read how to choose a wedding florist. Once you have a date and a venue, request a quote and mention which other suppliers you have already booked.
