Flower Power

How important is a good florist?

Most of you would say it is absolutely 100% important to find a good florist.  I have to wonder then, what constitutes a good florist?  Is it their attitude, their reputation, how high the price tag is, or their creativity?  Maybe a little bit of everything.

We all know how hard it is to find the perfect anything!  It took us this long to find our perfect match after all.  But really, how do you pick?

B and I went down south to scope out our venue and meet with vendors over the summer.  It was a crazy whirlwind of wedding planners, cake vendors, photographers, DJs, and of course, florists. 

I met with two of the venue recommended florists and they were ok at best.  They both were very nice, very reputable, very pricey, but not very personal.  What I mean by that is that I didn’t feel that we were on the same page, or that they really cared.  I can’t say that if I was in a business that met with women all the time I would care about each one, but I would at least be able to fake it!  Plus, I would really want the business and would want my work to showcase beautifully.  I didn’t get that vibe from these women.
 

Then I met Ms. Eccentric, the local small mom and pop florist.  She was wonderful!  She knew exactly what I was looking for, gave me photos to take with me, and was excited!  She made me excited, too.  I left feeling great and couldn’t wait to work with her.  That was August.  My how things change.

It’s January and I haven’t heard from her but once.  I had questions and ideas and wanted to sign a contract.  Nothing.  My mind started to wonder about her and so I looked up the reviews.  The reviews were not good.  One girl told her story about how Ms. Eccentric didn’t talk to her until the day of her wedding?  Um, excuse me?  I decided to give up the fight.  You know how they say if someone wants to be in your life they’ll make sure they are?  Same with if they want your business.

Anyway my mom found this florist in the area with great reviews and a beautiful website.  We had a consultation on Monday and the lady was so sweet and very receptive.  Once again I felt good and got excited.  This is how it should feel.  I got the proposal today and it’s a little higher than Ms. Eccentric, but only but a couple hundred dollars, (which I know sometimes can be a deal breaker).  We had it in the budget though and so we are going with the more trustworthy florist.
Moral of the story?  It’s totally worth it to do your homework.  Yes, reading reviews is boring and tedious, and you might not want to believe the bad reviews.  Try to take it all with a grain of salt, but remember they are there for a reason.