Last Updated: April 12th, 2022 by
If you find flowers fascinating and love gardening or decorating with flowers, you may want to consider being a florist as a profession.
As a florist, you’ll need to work with customers to learn about their floral preferences, design beautiful bouquets or centerpieces, and potentially bring these floral arrangements to events, such as weddings or anniversaries.
In this career guide, we’ll be taking a look at how to become a florist and everything this career path involves.
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Job Description
Before we take a look at how to become a florist, here’s a brief job description:
Florists are usually store-front business owners who have a background in floral design. Their responsibilities include purchasing flowers from wholesalers and suppliers to ensure there are enough flowers to meet customer demand, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Florists are responsible for arranging the type of bouquets and centerpieces as well as the time, place, date, and event for delivering floral arrangements. Furthermore, florists will need to take phone calls and customer orders along with wrapping floral arrangements.
Florists also work with customers based on their budgets to put together the flowers, plants, herbs, and greenery they desire. If you become a florist, you’ll need to create floral arrangements that have a certain style or feeling.
In 2019, 51,800 floral designers were employed in the United States. Out of these floral designers, 23% were self-employed, while the rest had jobs in florist shops, food and beverage stores, and wholesale trade.
Read our related article on How to Become a Graphic Designer. Here’s what it takes to get started!
What Does an Average Day for a Florist Look Like?
We’ll get to how to become a florist in a moment, but first, what does an average day for a florist look like?
There are a number of different responsibilities that florists have on a day-to-day basis.
Some of the activities they pursue include:
- Working with flowers
- Selling flowers
- Making floral deliveries to customers
- Handling the paperwork of running a business
- Clean up/maintain flowers
Working With Flowers
When working with flowers, florists take part in arranging centerpieces, bouquets, wreaths, corsages, and more. The florist puts together flowers, greenery, and plants along with other elements to make an outstanding arrangement. They must also clean and cut the flowers ahead of time.
Selling Flowers
Florists tend to sell their flowers to individual customers as well as businesses such as floral shops and grocery stores.
Florists need to be knowledgeable on different types of flowers so that they can provide their customers with the best product. Today, many florists are also selling their products online.
Making Floral Deliveries
Florists need to either hire a delivery driver to arrange floral deliveries or travel with the arrangements themselves.
If there’s an event they’re hired for, florists tend to travel to that particular place to decorate the entire location. You may need to travel to dance halls, churches, or wedding banquet halls.
Handling the Paperwork of Running a Business
The business side of being a florist takes up plenty of time. The paperwork for a florist includes preparing quotes and taking inventory and orders. Florists also need to source flowers and handle billing and invoicing.
Clean Up/Maintain Flowers
Florists also need to clean up their stores by removing all of the leftover leaves and floral cuttings. They’re left to sweep up the floors at the end of the day. With all their responsibilities, florists may work into the evenings to ensure the flowers are maintained and ready for the following morning.
How to Become a Florist: Process
1. Complete a Floral Design Education Program
First, you need to complete a floral design education program. You can check out a program through the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) Education Partner, approved State Floral Association, or Student AIFD Chapter.
Then you’ll need to pass a floral designer online test.
2. Pursue Formal Education
You may want to pursue a more formal college education in floral design.
This starts with an introductory class explaining the work environment of a traditional retail florist. Next, you’ll likely take specialty classes that involve how to decorate and arrange wedding flowers and other specific occasions.
3. Join Clubs and Get Contacts
Join a club such as the Student American Institute of Floral Design (SAIFD) club. Doing so will get you more contacts who can help you apply for the Certification of Floral Design.
You’ll also get more hands-on experience working in the florist industry if you join an SAIFD club.
4. Find Internships or Part-Time Jobs
Fourth, find internships or part-time jobs helping a florist complete orders in their shop. This way, you’ll get the training and hands-on experience you need.
You’ll learn how to arrange simple bouquets, cut stems, take care of plants, and tie bows or ribbons, according to BLS.
5. Search for Job Openings
Lastly, you can search for job openings at floral retail shops, the wholesale industry, or a wedding business.
You can also choose freelance work or teach floral design in high schools. Additionally, you can work in grocery floral departments or the hospitality management industry.
Are You Suited for a Career as a Florist?
Now that you know how to become a florist, is this career path right for you?
What type of skills, credentials, tools and technology do you need to have in order to become a florist? Keep reading to find out!
Personality and Skills
You’ll need to be artistic in order to excel as a florist. This will help you create attractive bouquets and floral designs.
You’ll also need good customer service skills since you’ll spend most of the day interacting with your customers and floral suppliers.
You’ll need to be creative, as you have to put together designs for various occasions and pay attention to new trends.
Credential and Proficiencies
In addition to the Certified Floral Designer program, you can pursue a 2-year floral design associate’s program at a community college. That way, you’ll learn how to identify different flowers and how to run a flower shop.
You can pursue a floral design certificate program, as well, which takes about 1 year to complete.
How to Become a Florist and Find Work
If you’re wondering how to become a florist, you’re probably concerned with how you’ll find work.
Many florist shop owners list their open positions on CareerBuilder, Monster.com, and SimplyHired. You can also search for job openings by looking for local florists through the phone book and calling the shops.
Furthermore, you can seek the assistance of trade organizations, such as the Society of American Florists, to find employment.
The National Alliance of Floral Associations is also an excellent organization in the United States where you can network and find career opportunities.
The Average Salary of a Florist
If you’re searching for how to become a florist, a florist’s salary has probably crossed your mind once or twice.
As of May 2017, the annual average salary of a florist is $27,750, according to BLS. The bottom 10 percent of floral designers have an annual wage of $19,080, while the top 10 percent have a yearly wage of $39,540.
Furthermore, the top 25 percent of floral designers make a yearly wage of $21,850, with the top 25 percent making $33,070.
You can make more profit as a florist if you find more cost-effective floral suppliers. You can also sell extra supplies besides flowers in your store to ensure a higher wage, such as candy, candles or soaps, and gardening supplies.
The 5 states with the highest salary for floral designers include:
- Rhode Island
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Pennsylvania
- New Hampshire
Florist Job Growth/Job Outlook
Learning how to become a florist is the easy part, but is this career path worth the effort?
According to the Philosophy Flowers & Team Flower publication, the top 5 jobs by growth within the floral industry for 2021 include:
- Florist shop owner
- Freelance floral designer
- Floral delivery driver
- Floral design teacher
- Wholesale representative
Florist Shop Owner
As a florist shop owner, you can either sell just flowers and plants, or you can also sell clothing and other home appliances along with flowers. You could even sell coffee and baked goods to go along with your flower arrangements. There are many possibilities to keep your customers coming back.
You’ll need to keep track of business documentation, work with customers and suppliers, and create flower arrangements. You’ll either need a certificate in floral design or possibly a 2-year associate’s degree.
Your salary, on average, will be around $28,000 per year.
Read More: Edible Arrangements Jobs & Careers. Learn how to work with and create stunning edible arrangments for clients and what this career path entails.
Floral Delivery Driver
You can be a driver for a mobile flower truck or flower cart. If you have your own flower delivery truck, you could set up at farmers’ markets and major outdoor events such as festivals.
If you’re a delivery driver working for a florist, you’ll mostly need a driver’s license with a very good driving record and a high school diploma.
The salary of a floral delivery truck driver is $28,020 per year, on average.
Wholesale Representative
As a wholesale representative, your job will involve curating orders from many florist clients. A high school diploma is usually enough to be a floral wholesale representative, but you may need to take courses on marketing, communications and economics.
The median pay of a wholesale and manufacturing sales representative is $65,420, according to BLS.
Professional Associations
There are multiple professional associations within the floral industry, including:
- Society of American Florists (SAF)
- Wholesale Florist & Florist Supplier Association
- World Flower Council
- Master Florists Association
Top Colleges and Universities
The top 5 colleges and universities for the florist industry are: