Corporate florals work differently to weddings, and the brief is usually much less clear. With a wedding, the couple knows what they want it to feel like. With a corporate event, I am often working from a brand deck and a room I have not seen.
The Brief Is About the Brand, Not the Season
At a wedding, I lead with what is in season and build the palette from there. Corporate work usually runs the other way. There are brand colours, and the flowers need to sit inside them.
That is workable, but it is worth knowing that a strict brand palette can be more expensive than a seasonal one. If your brand colour happens to be a shade nothing is naturally growing in that month, the options are imported stems, dyed material, or a compromise. Flexibility on tone rather than exact colour saves real money.
Scale Reads Differently in a Commercial Space
Corporate venues tend to be larger, higher ceilinged, and more architectural than wedding venues. Arrangements that would anchor a dining table look lost on a reception desk in a large foyer.
My general advice is fewer, larger pieces rather than many small ones. One sculptural installation at the entrance does more work for a launch than a dozen scattered vases, and it photographs better, which matters if the event is being shot for social or press.
Photography Changes the Priorities
Most corporate events are being documented. That changes where the flowers should go. Step and repeat backdrops, product tables, and speaker positions are the spots that end up in every image, so that is where the budget should sit.
It is worth asking your photographer or event manager where they plan to shoot before finalising the floral plan. It is a five minute conversation that regularly changes what I would recommend.
Logistics Are Usually Tighter
Corporate venues often have narrow access windows, building management rules, and shared loading docks. Setup might have to happen very early, very late, or around another event in the same space.
The practical implication is that I need the venue contact details and access conditions early, not the week of. Building restrictions have a real effect on what is possible, particularly for anything suspended or freestanding.
Repeat and Ongoing Work
Some businesses want flowers regularly rather than for a single event, whether that is weekly arrangements for a reception area or a recurring monthly change. That is a different arrangement to one off event work and worth discussing separately, since it is planned around consistency rather than a single moment.
What to Have Ready
The most useful things to bring to a first conversation are the date, the venue, the guest number, your brand palette or styling direction, and whether the event is being photographed. With those five things I can usually give you a sensible direction quickly.
You can see more on how this works on the corporate flowers service page.
