Eden Floral, Marti's Floral, Courtenay Lambert?

clearheavens

I am absolutely in love with Katie Elfers work but she will not be available on my date.  So she recommended me these florists:

Kelly Dragoo - www.edenfloralboutique.com

Marti Thompson - www.martisfloraldesigns.com

Courtenay Lambert - www.courtenaylambert.com

Judging from their beautiful websites and portfolios, they seem to be creme de la creme.  Does anyone know whether they are low budget friendly?  I wanted to know before I contact them, get turned away, and embarrass myself with my meager budget.

cincy32011

I believe Courtenay Lambert only does floral budgets above $2500 or so. 

I had a much smaller floral budget than that and went with Susan Foy.  I also really liked Two Buds in Fairfield.

tubachick

I had a meeting with Eden Floral and ultimately decided to go with someone else. The ladies at Eden (both Kellys!) are very nice and knowledgable and will work with any budget from what I could tell.They never mentioned that they had a minimum. That being said, I found their prices to be a bit on the higher side, but that may have been the kinds of flowers that I was looking at. I'd recommend talking to them and see what they can offer to you, plus they give you a mini bouquet to keep when you meet with them. That's a really nice touch I think!

clearheavens

Oh, nice to know about Courtenay Lambert.  Marti's Floral also just let me know he only does flowers for budgets above $3k.  Their designs are so gorgeous but I can't have them.

I will go ahead and meet with the two Kelly's from Eden Floral.  I'll also take a look at Susan Foy and Two Buds.  Thanks for your recommendations!

kelklump

I would check on Courtenay befor writing her off. I got a quote from her and I wouldnt have met that and she seemed fine with it. I would just check and get a quote. Be honest about your budget and they should be honest right back to you.
Good luck.

odonnellj

I met with Courtenay Lambert and I told her my quote before setting up a meeting. I met with her assistant and when they sent me the quote it was almost double what my budget was. I had a $500 budget (only doing bouquets for bridesmaids, mothers and myself) and the quote was closer to $1000. A friend of mine used her though and had no issues and loved her work. I ended up going with Susan Foy-The Wedding Designer. Not only is she staying within my budget, she came in under it and I feel like I am getting ALOT more for my money. I can't wait to see them, I think she is going to do a fantastic job! Good Luck and keep in mind that everyone will have a differeent experience and you may want to contact each of them before writing them off.

cincy2011

I was going to go with Eden Floral based on our first meeting (gorgeous flowers and great ideas!) and the fact that they said they'd work with whatever our budget was. 

But we got the estimate and it was quite a bit more than we could spend, so we gave them a budget # - they emailed back after several days and said it would be "impossible" to create arrangements for our wedding with that budget.  After I responded and asked them if they were truly telling me it was impossible to do simple centerpieces and bouquets/bouts for $X, they wrote back and adjusted the estimate down.  But their hearts didn't seem to be in it at that point, so we went with Designs by Tia.  She is very excited about working with us, budget was never an issue with her and she is creative and makes herself available when you need her! 

Good luck!

MattsPenguin

I went with Courtenay Lambert.  Her estimate was definitely less than $2500.  However, her centerpiece prices seemed very high.  So we will only be using her for ceremony flowers and then our wedding planner will be doing our centerpieces. 

[Deleted User]

Not to piggyback off the OP, but is Katie Elfers budget friendly? I've heard a lot of positive things about her and the photographer we interviewed last week even recommended her but I wasn't sure if she was reasonable or super expensive...any input?

Thanks!

Jen

clearheavens

JLil120, Katie Elfers has never turned away any budget.  You can name your price and she can tell you what she can do for you.  It never hurts to contact her.

Just to give you a head's up, she's extremely busy in October with wedding season, so it's best to contact her after next month for an appointment.

clearheavens

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_ohio-cincinnati_eden-floral-martis-floral?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:108Discussion:9e49e4bc-1bb0-4c78-94f0-954506f94198Post:b7d1e78a-7e3f-4bfb-a927-c3135ae5a5a5">Re: Eden Floral, Marti's Floral, Courtenay Lambert?</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>I was going to go with Eden Floral based on our first meeting (gorgeous flowers and great ideas!) and the fact that they said they'd work with whatever our budget was.</strong>  But we got the estimate and it was quite a bit more than we could spend, so we gave them a budget # - they emailed back after several days and said it would be "impossible" to create arrangements for our wedding with that budget.  After I responded and asked them if they were truly telling me it was impossible to do simple centerpieces and bouquets/bouts for $X, they wrote back and adjusted the estimate down.
Posted by cincy2011[/QUOTE]

<div>I just contacted Eden Florals and wanted to follow up.  They said that they have a minimum budget they'll work with.  The cheapest bridal bouquet is $95 and the cheapest BM bouquet is $65.  And the cheapest altar arrangement is $125.</div><div>
</div><div>Hope this helps for those in lurkerland.</div>