So I'm trying to decide between two florists.
First one: we met for an hour and discussed exactly flowers would be in each bouquet how the centerpieces would be designed, that she herself would be doing the deliverys etc. She is a bit more expensive but I can lower costs if I supply the vases (can find cheaper ones)
Second one: 15 min appt, standard prices for centerpieces (ie cube centerpiece is $45 tall cylinder is $129.... regardless of flowers, she said because she gets referrels and doesn't want one bride to say her's was 50 and anothers was 30). She was vague about how she would do centerpieces, just said she would make a mock one two months out. She has great referrals.... but is just odd... which people have warned me about. She uses delivery people for the wedding day.
The dilemma is which do I go with? Number two is cheaper.... but I feel like I'm slightly OCD about knowing exactly how my flowers will look so number one would be better.... BUT I'm also looking to save money....
Question is .... is my piece of mind worth $300????
Re: Florist Dilemma
If the second one does have referrals, can you get their numbers? Or see her work? I would want to know who she uses for delivery and if she personally guarantees it.
Reply requested by March 23.
Like the PP, I don't know a lot about florists, so I can just give you my general feeling on the matter.
To me, I look at budget and "gut feeling", but not necessarily in that order. Having worked retail/customer service for so long, I put a big emphasis on how the florist/caterer/venue/etc relates to me. For example, the venue I liked the look of most was so terrible at answering my questsions and responding to my e-mails and calls that I dropped them completely off the list. (The way I see it, if they are wanting that amount of money from us, the least they can do is be professional and courteous).
From the sounds of it, I would go with the first one if you financially can. Do you have an idea of how much you can save by supplying vases? There are a lot of things you can use and a lot of places you can find vases. Don't discount goodwill and thrift stores, and things that aren't necessarily marketted as vases (don't know what your centerpieces are, but I have some very nice drinking glasses that I have converted to vases for when I get flowers). Also craft stores have a lot of supplies and you can possibly spruce up the vases to how you like.
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I don't have this problem since I'm doing the flowers, but I would say if you can afford it (are willing to cut elsewhere if needed) go with #1. This is what I would want if I were hiring someone. It's like you would't buy your wedding dress just from looking at pictures; you need to try a few on to be sure. The second one just sounds too vague.
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