It’s a long-held standard that women are, by virtue of their gender, experts on flowers. But if you’re anything like me, you have never had time for gardening, don’t have a yard for a garden, and/or have a black thumb that kills every plant you approach (even a cactus).

Now you’re getting married, and flowers are a large part of any wedding celebration. It’s a tad intimidating to meet with a florist when you know next to nothing about flowers, but rest assured: despite your lack of experience, you can end up with beautiful flowers that fit your taste. Some tips to consider:

1. Be honest with the florists you meet, and use their experience to your advantage. They’re the professionals here, so let them guide you. This doesn’t mean you have to hand over the decorating job and hope for the best, but ask them for ideas. Look through their albums, point out bouquets you like, and find out what types of flowers are used in those. You can also bring pictures of flowers from bridal (or other) magazines, to give the florist an idea of what you’re looking for and to find out the names of the flowers.

2. Meet with several florists, and use each meeting as a brainstorming session. Take copious notes, so you can combine several of the florists’ ideas with the florist you eventually choose.

3. Ask your friends, both for recommendations and for their thoughts on the florists’ ideas. Friends who do know flowers can be an invaluable resource.

4. Ask your mom. You may already share the information with her anyway as a courtesy, but consider her advice. Most mothers know at least a bit about flowers; after all, they’ve probably been receiving flowers as gifts longer than you have; think Mother’s Day!

5. Stick with flowers you do know. For example–if you haven’t already figured this out–I know absolutely nothing about flowers and was overwhelmed by the prospect of having to spend hundreds of dollars on them for my wedding. But I love roses, and by coincidence, that’s the only type of flower my fiancé has ever given me. After meeting with a few florists to discuss how expensive roses would be (a major concern for my wedding) and what my options were, I found out that the timing of my wedding (March) was ideal for using roses within my budget. By using a flower I already know and love, I have no trouble picturing how the bouquets will look.

6. Pore over bridal magazines, especially Martha Stewart’s Weddings magazine. For such a domestic goddess, Martha does a good job of explaining things like flowers to the gardening-challenged. You can find other websites by typing “wedding flowers” into any search engine.

Finally, follow your gut. Intuition is your friend, and if you see something that strikes a heavenly chord in you, go with it. The results will be beautiful!