How to design your core collection of bouquets and arrangements

Your core collection is the 'menu' of your floristry business. By designing 5-10 signature arrangements, you move away from "making it up as you go" and towards a professional, scalable operation that guarantees consistency for your customers and better profit margins for you.

1. Select your 5-10 signature designs

To start, curate a range that covers various price points and occasions. You don’t need fifty different bouquets; you need a small, high-quality selection that represents your brand. Think about including:

• The 'Daily Gesture': A smaller, more affordable posy.
• The 'Classic Celebration': Your mid-range, most popular bouquet.
• The 'Showstopper': A large, premium arrangement for special events.
• The 'Neutral/Whites': A safe, elegant choice for sympathy or modern homes.
• The 'Vibrant/Seasonal': A pop of colour that changes slightly with the time of year.

2. Create floral "recipes"

Consistency is key to a professional florist business. For every arrangement in your core collection, you must write a "recipe." This is a literal list of every stem and piece of foliage used. When a customer orders a specific bouquet from your website, they expect it to look like the photo. Recipes also make it much easier to write your shopping lists for wholesalers.

Example of a basic recipe table for your internal records:

Design Name	Focal Flowers	Filler/Secondary	Foliage
"The Cotswold Wild"	3 x Roses, 2 x Stocks	3 x Astrantia, 2 x Waxflower	3 x Eucalyptus, 2 x Ruscus

3. Establish tiered price points

Once you have your designs, you need to decide where they sit in the market. In the UK, it is common to offer "Good, Better, Best" options for the same style of bouquet. For example:

• Standard: The base recipe.
• Deluxe: The base recipe plus 20% more stems.
• Luxury: The base recipe plus 50% more stems and premium wrapping.

4. Define the style and mood

Each arrangement should have a distinct "personality." Give them names that evoke an emotion or a place, such as "The Midnight Garden" or "The Sunday Morning." Ensure the wrapping and ribbons you choose for each design complement the floral style. A rustic bouquet might use hessian and twine, while a modern arrangement might use crisp, heavy-weight paper and silk ribbon.

Pro Tip: Stick to your recipes strictly during your first few months. It is very easy to "over-stuff" a bouquet because you want it to look extra beautiful, but this quickly eats into your profit. If your recipe says 12 stems, use 12 stems.

5. Document everything

Keep a "Master Recipe Book" (either digital or a physical folder). This should include the recipe, the name of the bouquet, the intended price, and a quick sketch or a rough photo of the structure. This becomes your business's most valuable asset as you grow, allowing you to eventually hire staff who can recreate your signature style perfectly without you being in the room.