I have had a few rejections this past week. The dreaded " sorry, we have decided to go with another florist" emails have haunted me in my sleep this past week. I completely understand that choosing wedding vendor is a personal (and mostly budget driven) decision, and of course am %100 supportive of a bride's decision to book someone else. But when brides start comparing me to other florists simple based on budget, it can be quite frustrating. It's frustrating because I'm in a specialty wedding service business - not just a 'buy it off the shelf' business where we take your money and simply provide a product that can be compared to other suppliers simply based on cost. I pride myself on providing so much more than just the end product. Being accepting of constructive criticism, and doing my best to analyze thos and what I can do differently as a business owner, there are two things that I take from this rejection that I need to work on.
1. I need to help the client to understand Allure Floral Design is more than just a 'florist'!
2. To educate other brides about wedding florist shopping!
This post will be a little lengthy, but stick with me!
I'll start with this cautionary tale...
I had a bride contact me last summer for about a quote for her late 2014 wedding. She raved about my work and made it very clear she would love to book with me, said she was 'ready to sign', nut of course wanted a proposal first. I provided a quote for the designs, styles and flower types she was looking for - and what I would recommend to design in my style (i.e. full, lush bouquets) that is synonymous with my floral design aesthetic. I knew she would not get simply what she requested, but would also be WOWed on her wedding day. She had not told me her intended or desired floral budget. Because on the order, the flower types and descriptions may have appeared the same, but in comparison of my quoted costs to other florists, I lost the potential client. The client said my prices 'are much higher than Florist X'. Well, guess who's wedding flowers I saw pictures of on the internet today? You guessed it ...that bride. Sadly, they were nothing like what I had quoted her. I'm not saying this to be nasty or insulting to the other florist or the bride, but simply as a cautionary tale of how NOT to compare florists. If she would have wanted me to quote for those exact designs that she actually ended up getting on her wedding day, I very well could have had a similar price quote for her to 'Florist X'. But, I was quoting for much, MUCH more than what was in her final bouquets. I was quoting for almost quadruple what she had in her very small, drastically undersized bouquets that I saw in her wedding photos. No wonder she didn't book me. The other florist was simply (unbeknownst to the bride) modifying and drastically scaling down the designs and flower counts, but all while using the same flowers. There is no way for the bride to have known this when looking at proposal, because florists usually don't include flower stem counts. During the 'bidding' process and the bride's process of comparing florists, I appeared to the bride to have higher priced florals. Which, is just not the case.
Believe it or not, florists do this to my potential (and lost) clients quite frequently - and due to FB, I'm able to see the finished product and how it compares to what I quoted. I provide a quote, the other florist copies the quote, but fudges the numbers to make the bride believe she's getting a better rate (which actually means the stem counts are changed 'behind the scenes') and the bride gets a pared down version of what I quoted - and the bouquets aren't what the client expects.
You're probably thinking 'well, then how the heck am I supposed to get the look I want or know what to expect, within my budget? How do I compare florists if I DO want to compare prices?' These little gems of wisdom should help you o have the most successful experience with your wedding florist and ensure you get the best bang for your buck.
Another example of comparing prices -
pretend you went to both florists. If you were judging based on price, you would think Florist Y charges too much for 'the same thing'.
Florist X
Bridal Bouquet: Peonies, garden roses, spray roses, stock flowers hand tied and wrapped with satin ribbons.
Florist Y
Bridal Bouquet: Peonies, garden roses, spray roses, stock flowers hand tied and wrapped with satin ribbons.
Florist X quoted you $225, and Florist Y quotes you $340. Let's see why...
Florist X has designed and priced the bouquet based on these ingredients:
3 peonies, 5 garden roses, 5 spray roses, 4 stock flowers, ribbon, vase and pins+design labor of 30%
Florist Y has designed and priced the bouquet based on these ingredients:
5 peonies, 8 garden roses, 8 spray roses, 6 stock flowers, ribbons, vase and pins+design labor of 30%
What appeared to you to be a higher priced florist, is actually a florist that accounts for more flowers than the one you are comparing to. Those 3 peonies, or 3 garden roses might not sound like a big difference in your mind, but really can make a world of difference in size/fullness of a bouquet.
More is coming!
Send us your comments, questions, suggestions...
Call us at 917 603-8973
info@weddingflowersdesign.com
allurefloral@ymail.com
www.weddingflowersdesign.com
www.allurefloraldesign.net
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