A Flower Place

Honestly, it pains me to write this review (however after reading the another review on here from 2012, I am not the only one they have treated this way). It will be long because I want it to be honest, both the good and the bad. They were recommended to me by a friend who used them for her wedding. I went in for a consult with the 2 owners. We sat and talked for at least an hour. We looked at pictures together online of what I wanted, including different shades of purple for some of the flowers in my bouquet and centerpieces. They took notes. I had their undivided attention and was really pleased with the way the meeting went. They took extra time after our meeting to work up my centerpieces, since it was a design they had not done before.
I was not ever sent a contract or asked to sign anything about my order. I found this a bit odd and almost asked for one, but felt confident in them. Week of the wedding, they called to clear the balance and added 30 votive candles to the order for me with no problem. The day of, they arrived on time and set everything up beautifully.
My venue did not allow for me to get dressed on site (there was no where to do that). So I arrived literally minutes before I walked down the aisle. I’m handed my bouquet and immediately realize the center flowers are all white, instead of the dark purple we had discussed. The bouquet was gorgeous and met all my other expectations, except it was all white. I was heartbroken, I had been looking forward to seeing the bouquet all day and how much the dark purple was going to pop. I had no option but to move forward. After the ceremony, I look at my centerpieces which were supposed to be one white bunch and one dark purple bunch. They were all white. This was even more upsetting, as my flowers were where I planned all my purple for my wedding. I had no other purple anywhere even though it’s my favorite color. I wanted it to stand out by being in the flowers.
I got back from my honeymoon and called them to see what happened. I let her know what occurred. She pulled my file and said that they did not have purple written down anywhere in my notes. I was thoroughly confused, as I know for a fact that in our meeting we discussed purple over and over again. How none of that ever made it into their notes is something I will never understand. I was never ambivalent about if purple would be included, that was always my vision from before I ever talked to one florist! When I stated that I don’t understand how that happened and I was never given a copy of the notes, her attitude started to change and she told me that it was never provided because I never asked for one. This also confused me, as the customer. Every. Single. Vendor I dealt with for the 14 months of planning provided me, WITHOUT ME ASKING, a written quote and/​or contract. Even vendors that I ultimately did not choose to hire.
When I told her this, she became very hostile. She cut me off and interrupted me repeatedly and told me over and over again that essentially she was not responsible because I never asked for a copy and she didn’t know she (and her sister, the other owner) had written it down wrong. She repeatedly told me that she didn’t know what I wanted her to do, that it wasn’t intentional. I told her I never said it was intentional but that I did not appreciate or understand her attitude. She continued to interrupt me, give me hollow backhanded apologies and ultimately took no responsibility.
She then told me «well I’m sorry but you’re married right? Everything else went well right?»
This is an unacceptable and patronizing response to a CUSTOMER who spent 14 months and thousands of dollars planning a very important event that can’t be «redone» when mistakes are made. It definitely changed the overall décor and color scheme and I will see all white flowers in my pictures for years to come and know they were supposed to have purple in them. It most certainly did cause me to be distressed and disappointed on what was a really special and important day. But more so, I will remember how horribly I was treated when I called to discuss the error with them. After I told her that was an unacceptable thing to say, she started making herself the victim stating I was yelling at her (I was not. I was being firm, but never once did I raise my voice to the point of yelling or curse at her).
They were the professionals and I trusted them. Had this happened and they were gracious and empathetic when I called, I could have tried to move on without much else said about it. But due to the hostility I received after a mistake was made on their end, and the fact that they don’t do contracts (at least not with me) and do not see any value in providing their customer’s with copies of written notes unless specifically asked, I cannot in good conscious recommend this flower shop.