The Shabby Cottage Garden

I just saw an email sent by the owner to a friend of mine. It was terrible customer service and completely unwarranted. Professionalism is lacking for sure. Take it from someone who experienced a bad limo driver on their wedding and wishes more than anything the reviews reflected it. Don’t take your chances with this place!!!

The owner was the florist for my May wedding and she did such a wonderful job. The flowers were beautiful and you could tell she really cared about me and what I wanted. I wanted very specific flowers for my vintage inspired wedding including deep plum colored hydrangea, which she had shipped in from Holland and lilacs (which weren’t available from her distributors due to their short seasonal life span, so she snipped them off of her own personal bush and didn’t even charge me!). My bouquet was absolutely stunning, as were all of my centerpieces, bridesmaid bouquets, boutineers and ceremony pieces. She was so helpful in choosing just the right combination of flowers to really finish off the look of our wedding. I would recommend her to everyone. Thank you Cheryl!

I would like to start out by saying, I am an easy going person and perhaps that is why I found myself taken advantage of. I couldn’t have been more understanding and easy going – far from your average «Bridezilla.» In fact, I rarely post negative reviews. When I do, I make sure to divulge as much information as possible so that the people reading this review understand where I am coming from.
I first reached out to the owner of the shop from an online search. After sifting through recommendations and pouring over reviews I decided between this florist and a couple others. What I initially liked about this florist is that she wasn’t as busy as the other florists I consulted and she took the time to listen to my vision. I liked the shop when I came in to visit. Although I found it slightly annoying that she was the only person working so my consultation was interrupted constantly by walk in patrons. I half expected this, as I work retail small business and I know that sometimes it happens. Besides, foot traffic is a good sign! Wrong. What I should have been more critical of is the amount of weddings she has done and perhaps had paid more close attention to the realization of the fact that her reviews didn’t consist of weddings.
The flowers themselves were lovely and quality. I had a modest 1k budget as this was my second marriage. My centerpieces were a complete disappointment. I had provided the florist with wire pumpkins and fairy lights. Part of the driven cost of my centerpieces were the fact that the wires had to be wrapped around the pumpkins and the battery back of the lights had to be covered by flowers. Not a single pumpkin was lit up. The boxes that had to have flowers to hide them and the lights that had to be wrapped around where a waste. That was exceptionally disappointing as the lights were a detail I really wanted incorporated. Keep in mind, I had spent over $ 75 on each centerpiece. The pumpkins, the batteries, the lights, the flowers, the florists time… that is a lot of money that should have assured a gorgeous centerpiece. Why were my $ 75 centerpieces not lit up? Because the florist DID NOT SET UP. I paid a set up fee. The florist maybe spent 45 minutes at the venue. Dropped off my flowers, set up a few mantle pieces and left the centerpieces for my venue to set up. MY VENUE SET UP THE FLORIST’S CENTERPEICES! I find this exceptionally unprofessional and markedly poor judgement on her part. I didn’t even see her the day of. Ceremony was at 11. She came around 10:20 and left before it even started. Ceremony lasted maybe 30 to 45 minutes after she had left when there was a change over for the ceremony to cocktail hour where the reception was being set up. This florist DID NOT EVEN STAY AN HOUR. I literally paid $ 150 for a set up fee, approximately 1k on flowers and service charges only for her to cut out before she could even do the job she needed to do.
Honestly, I gave her the benefit. Maybe something came up. What I found very distasteful is a few weeks after my wedding I get an email from her asking if I would share my photos from my wedding so she could use them for marketing and was looking for feedback. In a polite response I told the florist that although I loved the design of the flowers I was very disappointed with the set up and her professionalism. A week later, no response from her.
When I look back on the entire transaction, I feel disappointed. This is a florist who told me to keep the mirrors I wanted under my centerpieces and bring them to the venue myself because it would be «one less thing» for her. In my opinion I should have stopped right there and walked out. This clearly is not the florist for a bride. I even spent an additional $ 300 there purchasing Christmas gifts for our family. In total, 1,300+ transaction that was the only regret of my entire wedding. The only thing that went wrong and left a bad taste in my mouth. This is not a florist who cared at all for the bride. She didn’t even take 1 minute to find me in my bridal suite to say hi and wish me luck. All that money spent and for the vendor not to follow through with a paid agreement to set up and as a result created unnecessary expenses for me, additional work for my venue when it wasn’t their duty to set up my centerpieces, and most of all a bride’s disappointment. All of this could have been averted if she had the professionalism to FOLLOW THROUGH ON A PAID SERVICE. I struggled between a 2 and a 1 star review. The reason I selected 1 is the continued unprofessionalism. She had the time and felt the pictures my photographer took were worth her time to write an email, but couldn’t dignify my disappointment with an apology, let alone a response. A vendor who cannot admit or rectify an error or a misservice isn’t worth more than that. All people make mistakes but how we handle them that reflects our true character.

Love this place! Only been once, but it is so nice and not overly expensive. The staff was personable. We went to visit the Easter Bunny and it was low key for our daughter who has sensory needs. I was able to find a few items I liked, that I purchased. Will definitely go back. It is a hidden gem!

Great place to find nice gifts for any occasion! Even better if you are decorating your house. They make beautiful flower arrangements. Take one of their painting classes for fun. Support small businesses in your area!