I heard about Florist #3 through a fellow Vancouver bride's blog. She trained under local garden and floral guru Thomas Hobbs and her website portfolio is filled with beautiful work.This florist has a very charming little Kerrisdale shop that also features decor items and gifts like cake plates and gourmet teas. She was friendly, professional and took detailed notes during our conversation but wasn't very enthusiastic and had no portfolio or fresh arrangements to show me. Maybe I had high expectations after visiting Florist #1, but I was really hoping to hear more of her design ideas and specific details for my wedding flowers. During the appointment I found myself repeating many of the other florists' suggestions and having to mention all kinds of important information that she just never asked about. This was a quick consultation that ended with the promise of a quote...that I'm still waiting for 2 weeks later.
My final floral consultation was with a shop that has won Best Florist in a local newspaper's annual poll for the last 7 years in a row and has been featured in many wedding magazines. And no wonder! I had to wait 2 weeks for my appointment but it was worth the wait. Florist #4 ran a professional, thorough and organized consultation and really took the time to listen to my ideas and understand my vision. She brought over different types of flowers from their coolers so I knew what they looked like and will follow up a month before the wedding to make a sample bouquet and review flowers with me when they are in season.
I love how flexible this florist is, able to make changes up to 3 weeks before the wedding and work with terrarium vases that I bring in. She was very open with their costing and went over a lot of logistical things that I hadn't even thought of. For example, Florist #1 has her arrangements ready to pick up the night before, but Florist #4 mentioned that the fruits and vegetables in a home fridge will turn flowers (especially peonies and hydrangeas) brown! So delivery is very important, not just for convenience but to ensure that the flowers stay in optimal conditions for as long as possible and will look fresh and beautiful for the entire day. I left my appointment with a full itemized quote (well under my budget) and a copy of the detailed notes she took during our meeting.
The experience and creativity of Florist #4 was impressive and I'm excited to have The Flower Factory working on my wedding flowers!
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