Yet another bride to be story

[Knife's Wife]

Bride called today...following up an e-mail

Need bridal bouquet, 2 bridesmaids, flower girl arrrangement for next weekend.

Her email read... bridal bouquet needs to be stunning, unique, no clutch, long stems so that it can be dropped into a tall vase at the reception, no greens sticking out or hanging down, just picked from the garden feel, stylish. Flowers needed, purple mini callas, red beared Iris, deep red roses,purple lisianthus. Girls can be a cluch if that is cheaper, use only one flower from brides selection. No centerpeices needed as we wanted our guest to be able to take them home so we did silk arrangements of red gerbera. Flower girl should be a nosegay with beautiful ribbons we can tie the rings to. No groom flower or groomsmen as we are trying to keep the cost down. Total should come to no more than $200.00 including delivery and tax. Oh, and is there a special way you need to prepare them as bridal party will be making the trip across the lake on snow mobiles to the reception after the ceremony and we want to hold them.

The internet has surely f'd these girls all up. They surf all over the world in a la la dream land, and then think this stuff is all available at ProFlower price.

I have so had it with brides this past month?? And what the hell is going on with most of them having 8-10 bridesmaids and 20-30 tables. I am puzzeled... With the economy the way it is I really expected to see the number of bridesmaids and guest invites trend downward not up.
Do you think they are thinking...I need money, I am going to invite everyone I know!??


Joan

 

[Connie]

Good grief! Could you even do the bride's bouquet for $200?

 

[RWK]

NO WAY ON THIS EARTH I could make that bouquet for that price........

Which leads me to ask.......I know bride's and people like to use e-mail, but even if they do, don't you all set up personal consultations with them FIRST ?

I don't mind being intially contacted via e-mail, but before I proceed with anything, I am going to meet with that bride first.......I don't care how many e-mails they send before hand.

In this case Joan, If that bride has NOT booked or RESERVED WITH YOU, my answer would be I am sorry, but I can;t do your flowers as I am already booked.

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Joan,
Welcome to my world!! It's the land of wacky - patachies!!

Nothing realistic about any of this these days, and nothing surprises me. They probably booked the wedding & reception site a year or more from this date. They are probably locked into a hall minumum rental fee (often $$$$). To save money, they are skimping on everything else! And yes, they are inviting a lot of people to get gifts of $$$$ !!
(One of our weddings yesterday told me that "they hoped" to get enough in gifts to cover the cost of the honeymoon!)

We are getting last minute calls daily for this kind of stuff. We are helping where we can, when we can. We would not be within her $200. budget with the flowers she is suggesting.

The snowmobile part cracks me up!!

It's up to you to decide whether or not to help her. If you ignore the email, and she's serious, she will call you. alternatively, you could call her & offer alternative suggestions, if she want to take on the challenge.

Good luck either way!
Cheryl

 

[Palms]

I know i probably shouldnt but i read it as arragant that they tell you what flowers should be in it for what cost. You could not go to a bar and say i demand a glass of champagne but i only want to pay £3 for the bottle. Its arragance in my humblest humblest of opinions.

If they know what they like, thats great but after telling you what they want they should then ask you to quote them not the other way around.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr (thats me dead mad that is)...

Honest opinion, probably wouldnt bother with her, she will prob get a bb to do it anyway with all the other costs she is cutting..

 

[SpringCity]

I know i probably shouldnt but i read it as arragant that they tell you what flowers should be in it for what cost. You could not go to a bar and say i demand a glass of champagne but i only want to pay £3 for the bottle. Its arragance in my humblest humblest of opinions.

If they know what they like, thats great but after telling you what they want they should then ask you to quote them not the other way around.

I agree!
Joan, I'm curious to know what you are going to tell her.

 

[CHR]

And what the hell is going on with most of them having 8-10 bridesmaids and 20-30 tables.

Ditto here. Large numbers of bridesmaids and guests with ridiculously low, low budgets.

Had a request this week for all hocus pucus roses, mini callas (plus steph for the bride), 8 bridesmaids, bouts, corsages, 4 columns down the church aisle plus 2 matching arrangements for the altar area. Budget was under $1000 and had to include sales tax and delivery to a location 40 minutes away.

Too much risk, too much work, too little reward to even consider.

 

[greatflowerlady]

Your right I seen 3 wacked brides yesterday!! I loved the first one, I want this. this and this, Oh I need 30 4x4 glass vases filled with a flower and i want your to drive 30 min. to set it all up (I do 4x4 with floating orchid for 20 bucks each) for the tables. when I give her the price, she says I AM NOT PAYing 20.00 for center pc..30x 20 (600.00) I will get my grandma to make those too.. I could not wait to get rid of her!

 

[greatflowerlady]

I also want to know if Shes not booking me and she looking around(lot's of lookie lues) are there designers doing it cheaper?? Like she wants a lily and gardenia bouquet and 4 composite roses maids bouquet and 12 bouts for 2 gardenia wrist corsages under 500.00?? plus me to drive 30 min. and take it to her..

 

[Victoria]

Joan... just say no. Period.

Any more thought is a waste of your precious time.

V

 

[Tracy D'Amico]

Oy Joan - sometimes when contacted by email with something that sounds like such a headache, I've completely ignored till they call. The fact that she's quoting very specific flowers, (is bearded iris even in season??) makes me even more hesitant. Good luck with whatever your decide....

Last two brides had budgets of $1000-$1500 for 5-7 girls, 23-30 centerpieces, arbor rental & decor or church decor + pew pails.

I'm trying, but it's difficult to sell someone on a single hydrangea dropped into a vase when they come in with pics of hydrangea, sp roses, stocks, lisi & qa lace pictures. Explaining that we will work with their budget & help them choose appropriate spots to feature flowers helps, but it is becoming more & more draining to educate these girls. Especially when faced with an arrogant & stubborn demeanor in their "helpers" (moms or moh's).

The season is just beginning, and I'm exhausted already.

 

[sandytf]

I would probably send a very short message back to the bride stating what I could do for $200 and also make sure she understands that I can do almost anything she wants, but it's going to cost.

You will find out if what she wants is most important or what she wants to spend is most important.

It's one of the reasons we made up our bridal guide with 3 different wedding packages. Without spending a long time trying to educate each bride, they can come in and look at our guide and see what they get for their money. If they still want much more than we can do for the money, we both know we are not the florist for them!

I have seen some really nice websites (we don't have that yet ) that do some explaining on their wedding pages about what affects the cost of wedding flowers. Maybe that would cut down on the ridiculous requests?

Sandy

 

[TGDragonfly]

Dear Bride,

Thank you so much for your inquiry. Wow, I am tickled pink with your email, I can just see all of you flying across the lake on your snowmobiles, just be careful.

In response to your request, I am sorry, The Bridal Bouquets that we make start at $200, and Bridesmaids start at $125. We take such care in providing such top grade flowers and professional design, we can't offer the bouquets that you are requesting for the price your offering in good conscience. I would also advice not carrying your bouquets out in weather below 32 degrees, your flowers will freeze and die.

We advise you to speak with several florists and see if they might be able to do this for you at that price. If not please call us and we will be happy to speak with you further.

Thank you again, and we wish you the best of luck! Have fun!

Joan

 

[CHR]

Sandy -

I've done just what you've recommended on a few email inquiries lately. I all but one case, the brides answered back that they would not budge on their budget or flower requirements.

It almost seems as if answering 'blind' email requests are a waste of time. In person, I can generally discuss options and convince a bride to give us some leeway since we will work in their best interest. Without the human interaction, it just comes down to 'give me the price' and then 'Next!'.

Another problem is, we don't always know who's behind the emails. Might be a regular customer, might be a referral from another vendor, might be a random web surfer, might be a florist just fishing for info.... The vast majority do not include a phone number.

I think going forward, I'm just going to reply for them to call me so we can discuss details....

 

[Carol Bice]

I am really behind the times in what is going on with fresh flowers. I have not been a fresh flower buyer for several years now.

So, enlighten me.

I didn't realize that you could buy a commercial red bearded iris and also that if you could....would it hold up in wedding work. My experience with bearded iris is that they do not do well as a cut flower.

Carol Bice

 

[shannonlovesflowers]

Where the hell do you buy red bearded iris?
I'm serious, I want to know!



edit:
Oh, now I just saw Carols post...funny, out of all of that the red bearded iris is what struck me.....

 

[Chezbloom]

Dear Bride,

Thank you so much for your inquiry. Wow, I am tickled pink with your email, I can just see all of you flying across the lake on your snowmobiles, just be careful.

In response to your request, I am sorry, The Bridal Bouquets that we make start at $200, and Bridesmaids start at $125. We take such care in providing such top grade flowers and professional design, we can't offer the bouquets that you are requesting for the price your offering in good conscience. I would also advice not carrying your bouquets out in weather below 32 degrees, your flowers will freeze and die.

We advise you to speak with several florists and see if they might be able to do this for you at that price. If not please call us and we will be happy to speak with you further.

Thank you again, and we wish you the best of luck! Have fun!

Joan

I think this is the way to do it! Joan, will you please let me borrow your method. It's not passive agressive, isn't really sarcastic (Really) and it lets her know she is being a nimrod without actually saying it.
Very well done. I'm going to try putting that spin on some of these requests instead of just referring them to our website that has a price guide. Not that anyone reads it!

 

[TGDragonfly]

I am really behind the times in what is going on with fresh flowers. I have not been a fresh flower buyer for several years now.

So, enlighten me.

I didn't realize that you could buy a commercial red bearded iris and also that if you could....would it hold up in wedding work. My experience with bearded iris is that they do not do well as a cut flower.

Carol Bice

Hi Carol,
Wouldn't it be a fabulous flower if it did hold up? And what if it were the only bearded iris that did actually hold and we were the only ones who didn't know?

 

[Victoria]

Carol took the words right out my head...

V

 

[Victoria]

Oh, and is there a special way you need to prepare them as bridal party will be making the trip across the lake on snow mobiles to the reception after the ceremony and we want to hold them.

Oh my God!! I didn't see this part the first time I read it (couldn't get my head around anything after the bearded iris request). I need a drink...

V