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Today, we feature a very useful article, written by Coral Shortt of Blooms on the Boulevard.  Blooms have been a leader in the Gauteng wedding floral industry for a number of years and also have clients abroad as far as New York and the UK!

What is a mock-up or a mock setup and why are they important?

A mock-up  is a trial run of the setup of a guest table (usually) as per a quotation issued by a service provider. It can also include other aspects of the decor if requested by the client e.g. bridal bouquet, pew flowers etc.

A guest table mock-up should, as far as possible, be done including all elements that will be present on the guest table at the time of the function.  This should be done at the wedding venue as, to see how the lighting, linen, etc of the venue affect the overall appearance of the decor.  Elements can include, flowers, candles, linen, crockery, cutlery, napkin decorations, menu’s, table numbers, guest gifts, name tags etc. All of these elements need to come together to form a cohesive picture that conveys the mood or theme required by the client. These can be supplied by the venue, service provider and/or client as may be relevant to the function.

It can occasionally happen that certain flowers may not be in season at the time of the mock-up, but will be in season at the time of the function, so please bear this in mind. When this happens, your service provider should warn you and do their best to find a substitute that is a close in size, colour and texture as the unavailable item in order to give the client a good idea of what they will receive on the function date.

Why should you have a mock-up?

• you can check if your service provider(s) have correctly interpreted your requirements

• you can see if the decor comes together as YOU imagined it – sometimes it may not work as you imagined it and you then still have time to make changes

• you can check that ALL elements of the decor come together to form a cohesive look and that the correct mood or theme is conveyed to your guests

• you can check on the quality of the work done by the service provider(s)

• you can decide if you are getting value for money, based on what your quotation says you will pay for guest table decor/centre pieces – which will generally constitute the largest portion of any flower budget.

• it may be an opportunity to play around with a few ideas if you are undecided on certain elements e.g. candles or linen or optional décor items

• it ensures (hopefully) that you have no surprises on your function day and gives you peace of mind that your service provider is up to the task

• you can also see the selection, colour and quality of flowers that your service provider plans to use in your centre pieces as well as how they match with the colour of the linen, stationery, gifts etc that will go onto the tables as well.

• you can double check the colour of the linen, types of- and setup of cutlery and crockery etc as provided by your reception venue or décor provider as well as what any other elements the venue or décor provider may provide e.g. ice buckets on the table (no no in our opinion, they should be brought out after the guests are seated if they must go on the table).

Just imagine what it would be like to walk into a venue and take a look around on a very important day  like your wedding, and just ‘hate’ your decor.  This can all be avoided by having a mock-up!   It is worth it!  And if your service provider does not offer the service or want to do a mockup for you – ask yourself WHY???? Then look around for another service provider…

Article by Coral & team at Blooms on the Boulevard

Contact Blooms on the Boulevard:  info@bloomson.co.za  +27 (0)11 958 0651