Destination Wedding Florist Spain: Complete Guide for International Couples
You found the venue. The villa in Benahavís, the palace in Málaga, the beach club in Marbella. The date is set. The deposit is paid.
Now comes the question every international couple eventually asks: how do you hire a florist in a country you don’t live in, in a language you may not speak, for the most important day of your life?
The answer, for most couples who do it well, is the same: find a studio that has done this before. Many times. That treats the distance as a design challenge, not an inconvenience.
This guide covers everything you need to know about planning your wedding flowers on the Costa del Sol from abroad — from the first enquiry to the final stem placed on your wedding day.
Local Florist vs. Destination Wedding Specialist: Why the Difference Matters
Not every florist on the Costa del Sol works with international couples. And the distinction matters more than most couples realise until they’re already mid-planning.
A neighbourhood florist is excellent at what they do. But their infrastructure is built around walk-in clients, local events, and short timelines. They may not have experience conducting consultations in English, managing a design process across time zones, or coordinating with the broader team of international vendors — planners, photographers, caterers — who are typical of a destination wedding.
A studio that specialises in destination weddings has, by contrast, built its entire process around the reality that the couple is far away. The consultations are remote. The approvals are digital. The coordination happens through a shared timeline that connects the florist to the planner, the venue, and the photography team.
The practical difference shows up in the details: how quickly your emails are answered, whether someone can explain the difference between what’s available locally in June versus September, whether the studio can produce a coherent visual proposal from a mood board you assembled on Pinterest at midnight in London.
At Altamirano Floristas, approximately half of the weddings we design each year are for couples based outside Spain. We have refined our remote process over many years, and we treat it as core to what we do — not as a workaround.
How We Work With Couples Remotely
Planning wedding flowers from abroad is not fundamentally different from planning them in person. It takes slightly more structure and slightly more trust — on both sides. Here is how the process works in practice.
Step 1: The initial enquiry
You reach out — by email, through the contact form, or via Instagram — with your date, your venue, and a rough sense of what you are looking for. We respond within 48 hours to confirm availability and, if the fit looks right, to schedule a video consultation.
Step 2: The video consultation
This is the most important step. We conduct all initial consultations by video — Zoom, FaceTime, WhatsApp, whatever works for you. The call typically lasts around an hour. We use it to understand your vision, walk through your mood board together, discuss the venue’s specific architecture and light, and ask the questions that will shape the proposal: what feeling do you want the day to have? What have you seen that you loved? What have you seen that you definitely don’t want?
We work in English, Spanish, and Finnish.
Step 3: The proposal
Following the consultation, we prepare a written floral proposal — a document that outlines the design concept, the key elements by area of the wedding (ceremony, cocktail, reception), the palette, and a budget range. We accompany this with visual references so you can see, as closely as possible, what we are proposing before committing.
Step 4: Refinement and confirmation
Most proposals go through one or two rounds of refinement. This is normal, and it is part of the process. We adjust scale, swap specific flowers, refine the palette. When you are happy with the direction, we confirm the booking with a signed agreement and a deposit.
Step 5: Ongoing coordination
Between booking and the wedding day, we maintain contact to update the proposal as logistics are confirmed — final guest count, changes to the timeline, coordination with your planner. We also liaise directly with your wedding planner if you have one, which most destination couples do.
We do not require you to visit Spain before the wedding day. Everything can be managed remotely if needed.
Diseño realizado por nuestro equipo en Oyana Beach Club, Marbella — septiembre 2025.
The Booking Timeline: When to Start
This is the question we are asked most often by couples planning from abroad, and the honest answer is: earlier than you think.
18–24 months before the wedding
If your venue is one of the major luxury properties on the Costa del Sol — Palacio Monte Miramar, Villa Padierna, Finca Cortesin — and your date falls between May and September, this is when the best studios book out. Reaching out this far in advance does not mean finalising every detail; it means having an initial conversation and securing your date.
12–18 months before
The ideal window for most destination couples. Enough time to develop a thorough proposal, iterate on the design, and coordinate properly with your wedding planner and photographer. For September and October dates — increasingly popular as couples discover the exceptional light and mild temperatures of the Andalusian autumn — this window fills faster than many expect.
9–12 months before
Still workable for summer dates, depending on our calendar. We recommend not leaving it later than this if you want the full design process rather than a more compressed timeline.
Under 6 months
Possible for some dates, particularly outside peak season. We are transparent about what is achievable in a shorter timeline.
The earlier you reach out, the more creative latitude we have. The best proposals — the ones that feel genuinely designed for a specific couple in a specific place — come from conversations that started well in advance.
A Real Project: Aisling & Podge, Palacio Monte Miramar
Aisling and Podge came to us from Dublin for their September 2025 wedding across two of Málaga’s most beautiful venues — Palacio Monte Miramar for the ceremony and Palacio La Concha for the reception.
The entire design process was managed remotely. Our first conversation was a video call in autumn 2024. Aisling had a strong visual sense — she arrived at that first call with a clear mood board and equally clear ideas about what she didn’t want. No standard arches. Nothing that looked like it could have been any wedding anywhere.
What she wanted was something that felt specifically Andalusian, luminous, and calm. Arrangements that would complement the architecture of two extraordinary venues without competing with them.
We developed a proposal around soft, refined textures — garden roses, lisianthus, olive branches, trailing greenery — in a palette of warm ivory and deep green that responded directly to the stone and stucco of both palaces. The ceremony entrance was framed rather than decorated. The reception tables had movement and depth without density.
Aisling’s planner coordinated the logistics on-site, and we maintained a shared timeline throughout. On the day itself, our team was on-site from early morning. By the time the guests arrived, everything was in place.
The complete project is in our portfolio.
Diseño realizado por nuestro equipo en Palacio Monte Miramar, Málaga — septiembre 2025.
Venues We Work With on the Costa del Sol
Having worked across the region’s most significant properties, we understand the specific challenges and opportunities each venue presents — its light at different times of day, its architectural character, its restrictions on installation, and its logistical requirements.
Our experience includes, among others:
Málaga
- Palacio Monte Miramar
- Palacio La Concha
- Jardines de San Telmo
Marbella and the Golden Mile
- Trocadero Arena
- Oyana Beach Club
- Marbella Club
- Hotel Puente Romano
- NOBU Hotel Marbella
Benahavís, Estepona and surroundings
- Villa Padierna Palace Hotel
- Finca Cortesin
- Cortijo Las Mozas
Málaga province (inland and east)
- Finca La Concepción
- Finca Carambuco
- Hacienda El Álamo
- Cortijo La Zafra
If your venue is not on this list, it does not mean we cannot work there. We take on projects at venues we have not worked at before when the fit is right — and we make it our business to visit and understand the space before the wedding day.
What We Need to Give You a Quote
To prepare a meaningful proposal — not a rough estimate, but an actual floral concept with a realistic budget — we need the following:
- Your date and venue (or shortlist of venues if not yet confirmed)
- Guest count for the ceremony and reception
- A mood board — Pinterest, Instagram saves, magazine images, anything that shows the aesthetic you are drawn to
- Key moments you want to prioritise florally: ceremony structure, bridal party, reception tables, cocktail area, entrance
- Your approximate budget range — we understand this can be difficult to state before seeing a proposal, but a range helps us design to the right scale from the start
- Your wedding planner’s contact if you have one, so we can coordinate directly
We do not ask for all of this before the first call. The video consultation is the place to gather most of it. But the more you can bring to that first conversation, the more useful it will be.
FAQ for International Couples
Do you work in English?
Yes. English is the primary language of most of our international client work. We also communicate in Spanish, and can manage basic correspondence in other languages. All contracts and proposals are provided in English for international clients.
Do we need to visit Spain before the wedding?
No. The entire design and approval process can be managed remotely. Many of our international clients meet us for the first time on the wedding day itself.
How are contracts and payments handled?
We issue contracts in English as standard for international clients. Payments are accepted by bank transfer in euros. We work with a deposit-and-balance structure — typically a deposit to confirm the booking, with the balance due closer to the wedding date. We can discuss the schedule on a per-project basis.
What if our wedding planner is also based outside Spain?
We work regularly with international planners who are coordinating weddings in Spain. We are used to three-way coordination between client, planner, and venue, and we adapt to whichever communication tools and timelines your team uses.
What happens if something changes close to the date?
Guest count changes, venue amendments, and design refinements are a normal part of the process. We maintain flexibility up to a defined point before the wedding day. We will always be transparent about what adjustments are possible at each stage.
Can we visit the studio or meet in person if we are in Marbella?
Yes. If you are visiting the area before the wedding, we are happy to meet in person at our studio. Many couples find this useful, though it is never a requirement.
What Our Clients Say
“Working with Altamirano Floristas from Ireland was genuinely straightforward. From the very first video call, they understood what we were looking for — and on the day, what they created at Palacio Monte Miramar was more beautiful than anything we had imagined. The whole experience felt completely personal, not like a production line. We cannot recommend them highly enough.”
— Aisling, Dublin — Palacio Monte Miramar, Málaga, September 2025
Ready to Start the Conversation?
If you are planning a destination wedding on the Costa del Sol and would like to discuss the floral design, the best first step is a short introductory call. No commitment, no pressure — just a conversation to see whether we are the right fit.
Tell us your date, your venue, and a little about what you are imagining. We will take it from there.
About the Author
Luis Altamirano — Creative Director, Altamirano Floristas
Luis is the creative director of Altamirano Floristas, the studio founded by his father José Altamirano, a luxury floral design studio based in Marbella. With over two decades designing weddings and events on the Costa del Sol, he has worked with international couples from the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, Germany, and the United States — managing every stage of the floral design process remotely and on-site. His studio’s destination wedding work spans some of the region’s most recognised venues, from Palacio Monte Miramar to Villa Padierna and Finca Cortesin.