Hi ladies,
I'm not a frequent poster, but have found this board to be very useful when researching vendors (found our photographer Six Fourteen photography on here - thanks guys!). So I wanted to share a quick reco for a florist I had only seen mentioned once or twice.
LSS - FI and I had met with two other florists reco'd by our venue, one who was creative and artsy (but a little too much so, I was worried about her being at all organized) and the other was just 'eh'--not very creative, very forumulaic.
We went to our venue a few weeks ago to measure some things and they were prepping for a wedding. There were the most gorgeous flowers there, in fact, I almost stopped the photographer (taking pics of bouqets and rings) to ask who the florist was, but didn't want to interrupt.
Fast forward a week, when I find The Lily Pad Flowers in McKinney online. I start talking to the owner, she sounds great, and when I mention the venue, she says "I just did a wedding there last week." Turns out she had done the flowers I liked so much that day. Small world.
Anyway, the owner, Kirsten, is FABULOUS! She works out of a warehouse, so no big overhead of a shop, etc. She was completely open to my ideas and vision and helped make it better--i.e. more artistic. She brought a book of pics of her work (not sample picures from magazines or pics of prom corsages). Best of all, her estimate was HALF of anyone else we'd talked to!! Example: other florists wanted $100-150 for my 9 -10" bouq. She is charging us $75 for the same exact thing (same flowers, etc). That allowed us to do some additional arrangements at the church we really wanted but didn't think we could afford.
Love that! If you are on a budget and looking for a florist whose work doesn't look like it, I'd highly recommend her. Both times we've talked, she's followed up right away with emailed pictures to see if our visions were matching up, show me different flower types to choose from, etc.
Also, she was willing to work with some flowers we had already pre-ordered for the reception (only one of the florists we talked to that would) and for DIY brides will order flowers wholesale and just pass the savings on to the bride.
If you are looking for a florist, I'd highly recommend giving her a call. Here's her web site:
http://www.thelilypadflowershop.com/If anyone wants details/breakdown on what we are paying, feel free to PM me. (I am new at all this, but sure I can figure it out!). Happy planning