Tampa Mothers Day Flowers

Mothers Day 2010 is upon us and you want to send your Mom Flowers. Today we are bombarded by commercials from FTD, Teleflora, 1-800 Flowers, FiftyFlowers.com, and more. Yes, it's convenient to just click a button and order from the web. Here are a couple of questions you might ask yourself. The first question I ask is "Am I going to actually get what you see?" Probably not. "Am I going to get 100% value?" There again Probably not.

This is what happens when you place your order with one of these large corporate flower services. First take a percentage just for accepting the order and processing it. Then the order is forwarded to a florist that accepts orders from the service. (Who knows who the florist is or the quality of flowers they carry.) The florist then takes money for delivery out of the the order first. Now what is left is what you are going to get.

Take for instance you spend $50.00. First the wire service is going to take $5.00 or more just for handling the order for you. Now you have a $45.00 order going to a florist. First the florist is going to take a delivery charge out of the amount they have accepted. This could be as high as $15.00. Now they have a $30.00 arrangement to work with. Out of this $30.00 the florist has to figure in labor to make the arrangement. This could be as much as $6.00 on this order. Now you are looking at $24.00 to fill the order which includes a vase, flowers, greenery, and any accessories the arrangement comes with such as ribbon. Now was the $50.00 arrangement you ordered anything like the picture you saw on the internet? Most likely not.

I'm not trying to knock the Big Wire Services which have been around for many years and are entitled to making money as well, but what I am trying to say is if you Google a local florist with zip code of where you want to send your flowers you are going to save money and get more for your dollar (example Google search: florist 33609). Here's the catch. Due to deceptive practices of what we in the industry call Order Gathers you may not be sending flowers to your local florist by just going to their website and ordering over the internet. Even by calling them you may not be getting an actual local florist, but getting a call center in New Jersey when you wanted a Tampa Florist. As a Tampa Florist myself even when I'm personally sending flowers I search for a florist in the area I want to send flowers and believe it or not I pick up the phone and call them directly. I want to speak to a human that can tell me what they have to offer for my specific floral needs. Second I want to know I'm getting what I am paying for and get what I want. Depending on where you are sending flowers the prices can range greatly. For instance ordering Mothers Day Flowers from a Tampa Florist pricing structures are different than a New York City Florist. You will most likely have to spend more money when ordering in a major city than from a Tampa Florist.

Now that you have found a florist call them directly. Ask them if they are running any in house specials. You may be surprised what you will get for $50.00 when you call directly. For instance. We buy from local growers and suppliers in our area when we can and when flowers are in season in our area. Take Cymbidium Orchid stems that can cost as high as as $80.00 per stem. We offer for anywhere from $10.00 - 30.00 per stem, but only during the season and colors are limited to what is supplied by our local grower and not all colors are available. On the other hand we get some great unusual colors and varieties no one else has. What a savings and what a surprise to the person receiving the flowers. Depending on region prices are going to vary greatly.

I guess what I am saying is "Easy isn't always better." Take the time to pick up the phone and call your Local Florist for your Mothers Day Flowers and you will be quite surprised in what you will find. When Sending Flowers in Tampa contact us at http://www.appleblossomstampa.com. Buy Flowers Local!

Tampa Weddings. A Year in the making 2009.

Garden Roses

Taking a step back in time where roses were from the garden. Garden Roses are fast becoming a staple in the wedding world. Yves Piaget is in my opinion the most opulent of roses. It's fragrance will will take you back to days gone by. As an avid gardener is sure is nice to find a rose that reminds me of my childhood. I believe if you have the chance to purchase these roses you will agree.

Pretty in Pink Wedding

Visit us to see more pictures of this Wedding fit for a Princess. http://www.appleblossomstampa.com

Tampa Florist, Tampa Wedding Flowers

Why do Wedding Flowers Cost so Much?

Let's take a look at a breakdown of what actually happens through the process of creating wedding flowers.

1. Initial meeting with a bride.

The initial meeting normally takes about 1-2 hours depending on how extensive the wedding is.

2. Providing the bride with an initial quote.

Proposals and quotes take anywhere from 1-3hours. I make recipes for every item in the wedding from the bridal bouquet to the centerpieces. This allows me to know where we can cut costs and still keep the overall look of the wedding without sacrificing the final product.

3. Re-working the quote to make adjustment.

Many brides will want me to make adjustments to fit their budgets better. This takes an additional 1-2 hours including re-typing the quote and making adjustments.

We are now up to a maximum of 7 hours just to get the quote to the price in which the bride wants and actually signs the contract and makes the deposit.

4. Making a sample.

We will make a sample of the brides centerpieces once she has signed the contract and made her deposit. This normally is a meeting of about 1-2 hours for any adjustments and changes.

5. Changes and adjustments to the proposal are made up until 2 weeks prior the wedding.

I may make several updates to the proposal for the bride over a period of time. This can be anywhere from 1 hour to many hours depending on the bride.

6. 2 weeks prior the wedding the bride is ready for her day.

I order the flowers and supplies to create her wedding flowers. This normally takes 1 hour.

7. Receiving the flowers & preparing the supplies for the wedding.

We receive the flowers dry packed. These flowers have to be conditioned with special chemicals to prepare the flowers for optimum freshness and beauty for the brides special day. We also have to prepare all the items you don't even see. This can take up to 6 or more hours with 2-3 people getting everything ready for the actual designing. Believe it or not many times we receive the wrong flowers and have to make changes or find other wholesalers that can provide us with the flowers the bride wants.

I've already lost track of the hours involved.

8. Designing the wedding.

Depending on the wedding an average of 2-3 designers needed for 8-10 hours and even more for each wedding.

9. It's Wedding day.

Deliver the bouquets to the hotel for the photos before the wedding.

10. Delivering the Ceremony arrangements and decorations.

Set up the church and in many cases wait until the ceremony is over to transport arrangements to the reception.

11. Delivering to the Reception.

I wish it were that easy. We arrive and many times the room isn't ready for us to place the arrangements. We will do anything to help move the process along. From helping to place tables to dropping linens just so we can start to place the arrangements.

12. Now everything is ready and the wedding is on.

13. The reception is over.

It's now midnight and we're back to pick up all the rental items as well as many times retrieving items the bride has asked us to collect for her.

Now you get an idea of what it takes as a florist to create a wedding. It's much more than throwing a few bouquets together and delivering them to you. I would love to have a bride follow us through the process just once to see what exactly we do to provide her with here perfect wedding. So when you ask why do the flowers cost so much you have an idea of why.