Florists - done
Mar. 22nd, 2006 01:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mellymellMet with the last florist yesterday. Glad that's all over.
Flowers a la carte - well, I got back with her after receiving her $1200 quote a couple of weeks ago and told her if she could strip it down to just wedding party stuff and send me a new one I'd get back with her with a final decision. What does she do? She jacks up the price of what I still want from her and comes out just a tad over my budget (which I made the mistake of giving to her and I think she just stretched what she had to take me for all I was willing to pay). She's kind of snooty. She has an air about her like she's the expert and your opinions matter very little when it comes to her designs (regardless of the fact that she'd be working for me). I feel like her design scope is limited to her style and anything outside of that sounds chaotic to her. I'm told I have an eye for design and I knew pretty well what I wanted when I talked to her and tried to describe that. She couldn't grasp that I was looking for contrasting colors. She thought I needed something to "tie all that together". Her work is lovely. Very much like an English garden, and I really like that it looks as if it grew there, rather than having been arranged. But it didn't seem she was taking a whole lot of input from me. I just wonder if I had hired her if my preferences would have held any weight in what she delivered. She is very organized and professional, but in a situation like a wedding where there's already plenty going on, I wouldn't want to deal with her attitude. Not that she's rude or mean or anything, but she's just kind of cold and aloof.
Flowers of the Valley - I really liked them and am still waiting on a quote from them (I'm not sure why it's taken them since last Thursday to put one together, but whatever). Until I met with the last one, they were my first pick. They were professional but casual, very receptive and creative. She listened intently to me and when she repeated back what she thought I was looking for, she really hit it well. She gave me some great ideas for texture and color that no one else did. She also picked up very quickly on the fact that I was looking for something a little out of the norm, a little unique. Their stuff did seem to read "typical florist" (unlike Joan's stuff at Flowers a la carte). But it was very nice and it seemed like they were more than happy to stretch their capabilities and imaginations. I didn't really get a good cross section of their work either, just what was in their shop already made up. That could be a complaint I suppose. Everyone else had binder after binder of pictures from weddings they had done. Perhaps they did, I just didn't ask. She was more than willing to work within a budget. She didn't seem to have any trouble with mine either (but then I haven't gotten the quote yet either).
GG's Gardens - Up front, I had a bad recommendation from Pat, Martha's friend, so I was weary to begin with. She was kind of scatterbrained, seemed to pay attention to unnecessary details (like having a three-ringed binder for me with our names and wedding date printed on a cover insert), but missed very important things (like flower and color preferences). She wasn't terribly attentive and kept twisting things I was saying, perhaps to fit her vision, or perhaps to fit her capabilities, I'm not sure. For example, I took my laptop in with pictures of bouquets and boutonnières that I liked and explained what I liked about each one. I personally thought it was pretty clear that I didn't want the typical rose+baby's breath bouts. She comes back later as we're looking at the fabric that the groomsmens' vests are made of and as we're discussion options that won't get lost in that print, she says, "ivory sweetheart rose". She's also the only one who didn't take many notes other than quantities I needed of everything. Everyone else wrote down colors I mentioned, flowers I specifically mentioned, styles, some of my comments, etc. She yawned a lot, and I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt as she apologized saying, "it's tough at the end of the day" but she shot herself in the foot saying, "I'm like this all day". She would drop off in the middle of a thought, and again, same sort of thing, I made a comment about it being rainy and dreary and just one of those days (plus it was Monday at 5:30pm) but she said, she does it all the time. Same with Joan at Flowers a la carte, if it were a different situation, I might not mind dealing with her. But for a wedding, I need someone who's organized, attentive and reliable. Also, she made mention that if I was going to give her anything to use in the designs (beads, wire sculptures, etc.) she didn't want it any sooner than a week before because it would get lost in her shop. To me that says, unorganized. Still waiting on a quote, but I'm told she's really expensive. I forgot to mention my budget to her. Nothing in her books just really impressed me a whole lot either. Beautiful work, but nothing out of the norm.
Gatehouse Flowers - They have a very nice little place over on Howe Avenue across the street from Garden Cove. It didn't seem overly cluttered like GG's, but was well decorated with both fresh and silk flowers and other accents. He was ready and waiting for me at the front desk with everything he needed, even though I was about 10 minutes early. They were both very attentive to me, listened carefully and gave helpful input. They're not overly enthusiastic people, but they seem to get the job done. In 15 minutes, I was in and out of there feeling like they got a really good understanding of what I was looking for, not to mention he wrote up the quote as we went along. He's the only one who's done that. When I mentioned that to him, he said he didn't believe in "getting back to you in a couple of days". He said he knows what things cost and there's no reason to not tell me up front. I mentioned that it's likely that since it's a Mother's Day weekend wedding, people want to get in their Mother's Day pricing on me. He agreed, but said they never do that for Mother's Day. Valentine's Day, yes, just because it's such a slammed florist holiday. Then he mentioned he didn't recall ever doing a Valentine's Day wedding, simply because of the astronomical costs involved. As an added bonus, they've got that awesome moss covered wedding cake display (and after seeing it in person, I can totally see it in the lobby of the lodge!). So, I had him add that to my quote. He still came in about $80 below my budget. The daisy wreaths were less than half what Joan wanted to charge me. My bouquet was quite a bit cheaper. Pat seems to think the boutonnières are pricey, as are the bridesmaids' bouquets, but I feel like they're about average for what they are. Another thing I noticed about them (which, honestly, is important when you're hiring a designer) they were very stylish people.
So, now that it's all said and done, even though I'm still waiting for two quotes, I think I'm just going to go ahead and call Gatehouse back and book them. It's been almost a week since I've heard from Flowers of the Valley, and that kind of tells me they might be unreliable, or too busy, one of the two (but they sure didn't seem that busy). And yah! Moss cake! I know it sounds weird, but it's really neat looking!
Flowers a la carte - well, I got back with her after receiving her $1200 quote a couple of weeks ago and told her if she could strip it down to just wedding party stuff and send me a new one I'd get back with her with a final decision. What does she do? She jacks up the price of what I still want from her and comes out just a tad over my budget (which I made the mistake of giving to her and I think she just stretched what she had to take me for all I was willing to pay). She's kind of snooty. She has an air about her like she's the expert and your opinions matter very little when it comes to her designs (regardless of the fact that she'd be working for me). I feel like her design scope is limited to her style and anything outside of that sounds chaotic to her. I'm told I have an eye for design and I knew pretty well what I wanted when I talked to her and tried to describe that. She couldn't grasp that I was looking for contrasting colors. She thought I needed something to "tie all that together". Her work is lovely. Very much like an English garden, and I really like that it looks as if it grew there, rather than having been arranged. But it didn't seem she was taking a whole lot of input from me. I just wonder if I had hired her if my preferences would have held any weight in what she delivered. She is very organized and professional, but in a situation like a wedding where there's already plenty going on, I wouldn't want to deal with her attitude. Not that she's rude or mean or anything, but she's just kind of cold and aloof.
Flowers of the Valley - I really liked them and am still waiting on a quote from them (I'm not sure why it's taken them since last Thursday to put one together, but whatever). Until I met with the last one, they were my first pick. They were professional but casual, very receptive and creative. She listened intently to me and when she repeated back what she thought I was looking for, she really hit it well. She gave me some great ideas for texture and color that no one else did. She also picked up very quickly on the fact that I was looking for something a little out of the norm, a little unique. Their stuff did seem to read "typical florist" (unlike Joan's stuff at Flowers a la carte). But it was very nice and it seemed like they were more than happy to stretch their capabilities and imaginations. I didn't really get a good cross section of their work either, just what was in their shop already made up. That could be a complaint I suppose. Everyone else had binder after binder of pictures from weddings they had done. Perhaps they did, I just didn't ask. She was more than willing to work within a budget. She didn't seem to have any trouble with mine either (but then I haven't gotten the quote yet either).
GG's Gardens - Up front, I had a bad recommendation from Pat, Martha's friend, so I was weary to begin with. She was kind of scatterbrained, seemed to pay attention to unnecessary details (like having a three-ringed binder for me with our names and wedding date printed on a cover insert), but missed very important things (like flower and color preferences). She wasn't terribly attentive and kept twisting things I was saying, perhaps to fit her vision, or perhaps to fit her capabilities, I'm not sure. For example, I took my laptop in with pictures of bouquets and boutonnières that I liked and explained what I liked about each one. I personally thought it was pretty clear that I didn't want the typical rose+baby's breath bouts. She comes back later as we're looking at the fabric that the groomsmens' vests are made of and as we're discussion options that won't get lost in that print, she says, "ivory sweetheart rose". She's also the only one who didn't take many notes other than quantities I needed of everything. Everyone else wrote down colors I mentioned, flowers I specifically mentioned, styles, some of my comments, etc. She yawned a lot, and I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt as she apologized saying, "it's tough at the end of the day" but she shot herself in the foot saying, "I'm like this all day". She would drop off in the middle of a thought, and again, same sort of thing, I made a comment about it being rainy and dreary and just one of those days (plus it was Monday at 5:30pm) but she said, she does it all the time. Same with Joan at Flowers a la carte, if it were a different situation, I might not mind dealing with her. But for a wedding, I need someone who's organized, attentive and reliable. Also, she made mention that if I was going to give her anything to use in the designs (beads, wire sculptures, etc.) she didn't want it any sooner than a week before because it would get lost in her shop. To me that says, unorganized. Still waiting on a quote, but I'm told she's really expensive. I forgot to mention my budget to her. Nothing in her books just really impressed me a whole lot either. Beautiful work, but nothing out of the norm.
Gatehouse Flowers - They have a very nice little place over on Howe Avenue across the street from Garden Cove. It didn't seem overly cluttered like GG's, but was well decorated with both fresh and silk flowers and other accents. He was ready and waiting for me at the front desk with everything he needed, even though I was about 10 minutes early. They were both very attentive to me, listened carefully and gave helpful input. They're not overly enthusiastic people, but they seem to get the job done. In 15 minutes, I was in and out of there feeling like they got a really good understanding of what I was looking for, not to mention he wrote up the quote as we went along. He's the only one who's done that. When I mentioned that to him, he said he didn't believe in "getting back to you in a couple of days". He said he knows what things cost and there's no reason to not tell me up front. I mentioned that it's likely that since it's a Mother's Day weekend wedding, people want to get in their Mother's Day pricing on me. He agreed, but said they never do that for Mother's Day. Valentine's Day, yes, just because it's such a slammed florist holiday. Then he mentioned he didn't recall ever doing a Valentine's Day wedding, simply because of the astronomical costs involved. As an added bonus, they've got that awesome moss covered wedding cake display (and after seeing it in person, I can totally see it in the lobby of the lodge!). So, I had him add that to my quote. He still came in about $80 below my budget. The daisy wreaths were less than half what Joan wanted to charge me. My bouquet was quite a bit cheaper. Pat seems to think the boutonnières are pricey, as are the bridesmaids' bouquets, but I feel like they're about average for what they are. Another thing I noticed about them (which, honestly, is important when you're hiring a designer) they were very stylish people.
So, now that it's all said and done, even though I'm still waiting for two quotes, I think I'm just going to go ahead and call Gatehouse back and book them. It's been almost a week since I've heard from Flowers of the Valley, and that kind of tells me they might be unreliable, or too busy, one of the two (but they sure didn't seem that busy). And yah! Moss cake! I know it sounds weird, but it's really neat looking!
