Why choose a professional floral designer?....

Why you should use a professional florist for your wedding or special event:

We are professionals.  We design flowers every day, all day, for many occasions.  This is not a “hobby” for us.  We have spent years in college or other floral design programs, and also have industry accreditations that back up our expertise in floral design.  (see www.AIFD.org, the American Institute of Floral Designers)

1. We know the inside scoop on flower growing conditions/availability.   We talk to our suppliers on a daily basis.  Emails, Texts, Phone conversations.  We will know when a particular flower is not available due to drought, flooding, insects, crop problems, etc.  and are able to plan accordingly.We also know how long it will take to get this:
   

    to look like this: 

   
2. You want to know the person designing your flowers has done this before.   A professional floral designer has designed numerous wedding bouquets, centerpieces; in every imaginable color scheme and style. 
   

   
3. Designing flowers is time consuming and labor intensive.  The industry average from start to finish for a small arrangement is 15-20 minutes.  Imagine the complexity of a bridal bouquet.  Now you are talking 30-60 minutes depending on style and flowers.  This is for a professional to design it.  If you plan on DIY, double those numbers.  Then add all the centerpieces, bouquets, corsages, etc into the time total and you may be looking at 1-2 days of designing.  Do you have that kind of time prior to your wedding day? Probably not.  Professionals know how to schedule their work load to accommodate designing multiple weddings, adding staff and working extended hours to make sure everything is ready for you special day.  
   

   
4. We will tell you Silk a.k.a. Permanent Botanicals will cost the same or more than their fresh counterparts.   Why? If you want realistic looking flowers, that will photograph well, than you will want top quality silk flowers.  The cheaper the flower, the cheaper it will look in your pictures.   We beg you to not go to the big-retailer-who-will-not-be-named and purchase cheap discount silks for your wedding day. 
5. We know about budgets.  We do.  We want to give you the best possible wedding within a budget you are comfortable with.   We are here to make your life easier, not more stressful.

We really, really want you to be a repeat customer and refer us to your friends & family.  That is why every wedding is so important to us.  We see the big picture beyond the wedding day.  Your best friend’s wedding, your first anniversary, your first child, flowers for your table at the holidays.   Your decision to trust us to deliver beautiful flowers is our number one priority

Those special little packets we give you....

The floral preservative packets that we enclose with your arrangement are just one more step to ensuring that your flowers last a long time for you. 
In these packets is a chemical mixture of a bacteria/fungicide, food for the flowers, and an acidifier/clarifier for the water.  The more acidic or "wetter" the water the better for your flowers.  The fungicide keeps mold/fungus at bay while the food is absorbed by the flowers.


What makes the preservative unique is the fact that it is a precise combination of those 3 components that work together. 


Sometimes people think that they can make their "own" floral preservative out of odd things like bleach, sprite, sugar, aspirin, and even copper pennies.  These things do not work and can even harm your flowers.  If you put just bleach in the water, the flowers receive no food.  Just sugar- say hello to funky chunky water (-yuck!-)


Another important step is mixing the packet with the correct amount of water- 1 pint of fresh clean water with 1 packet of floral preservative.  No more, no less. 
What to do when after the first water change and you no longer have a packet? 


Change the water COMPLETELY every day.  It's really that simple.  Fresh clean water everyday will prevent mold/mildew from taking over the water which is one of the most significant problems people encounter with fresh flowers.  I can't tell you how many of my friends homes I've been to where the vase was half full of cloudy, dirty water.  Do you want to drink the water if it looked like that? Trust me, the flowers don't either.


 Stems should be recut with a sharp pair of gardening pruners or a sharp knife.   Not household scissors or smashed by a hammer (another old wives tale).  A clean sharp cut will reopen the stem to uptake the new water. 


Follow these steps and I'm sure you will see significant improvement in how long your flowers last!