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| - AWFUL, just awful! I hired Artistry Florals to do the flowers at my wedding - this included bridesmaids bouquets, bridal bouquet (which was supposed to be bigger and different than the bridesmaids'), corsages, boutonnieres, a domed cake topper and flowers for the cake, and centerpieces for approximately 10 tables. I had ONE moment and (sad) cried once on my wedding day, and it was because of Artistry. The day WOULD have been PERFECT - seriously, perfect.
I only have ONE REGRET on my beautiful wedding day, and it was hiring Artistry. It was the 'straw that broke the camel's back,' so to speak. Wedding days are stressful enough, and this sent me over the edge. Yes, I realize this is a seemingly moronic reason to cry, but I was a nervous wreck and a mess. We saved for a year, planned it out perfectly, and like every bride, I needed everything to go smoothly. I know it's an odd thing to cry about, but I was a fragile bride, and it was the perfect storm. Never disappoint a bride! As florists, they should know this.
It's ironic that there was ONLY 1 vendor I was absolutely sure would come through - and it was Artistry. Seriously, I was worried about the food, cake, DJ, photos, my hair, venue, etc... but I was absolutely sure Artistry Florals was going to be the one vendor I could rely on. OH - HOW WRONG I WAS! Everyone else gave us exactly what we expected (or more), everyone but Artistry that is. They were on par price-wise with a nearby competitor (I'll forever wish I went with Bella Grace in Davidson), but we made the decision to go with Artistry because my parents knew the owner casually. What a mistake!
The bridesmaids' flowers, corsages, and boutonnieres were simple, but fine. My flowers were horrible. First, they were basically the same size as my bridesmaids & were the same color (bridesmaids were to be white, and mine blue to contrast with our dresses). When I held the ribbon wrapped base, they wilted (literally bent) over my hands... they were hydrangeas - this should never happen.
After I cleaned myself up, my photographer said she could digitally alter the flowers. (Pitiful that she had to offer this at all.) We meanwhile called Lee (owner), who'd I'd worked with all along, and told her to hustle (she'd brought the first ones late anyway), make the right flowers and get them to the venue. There was a lot of mumbling about excuses and something that happened or popped up resulting in the poor flowers and mix up, and frankly, I didn't care! Not my problem, it's my damn wedding day! The new/replacement ones she brought were the right color at least, but still crappy. She DIDN'T even wrap them with ribbon. Seriously!?!?! She arrived during my bridal shoot (pre-wedding), took the first crappy bouquet from my hands, UN-wrapped the ribbon, then took that same ribbon and haphazardly wrapped the new flowers with the same ribbon. Jeez!
My bridesmaids and family encouraged me to let it go. They agreed it was awful, but encouraged me not to let it ruin my day. So I followed their advice - thankfully! (I love them for that!) The wedding was wonderful, and after the bride/groom photos, my gorgeous groom and I enter the ballroom and are embarrassed to see crappy centerpieces. Uh... "let it go" we tell ourselves. Looking back, thankfully I did. And why not? I was in bliss, I'd just married the man of my dreams, and thankfully the venue (The Peninsula Club) was breathtaking and lit with candles.
When we go to cut the cake, my husband and I did a double take. Where was the half-dome of flowers on top of the cake we had ordered, and where were the flowers on the tiers? NON-EXISTENT! There was a crappy blue ribbon on top of the cake (HUH? Where the heck did the idea of a ribbon come from? Random!), though there were a few flower pieces of hydrangea on the table. No cake flowers at all!?!?
I remained upset long after, but decided I didn't want to deal with the BS of their excuses, so we never even bothered going back to fight with them for a partial refund. This may sound odd, but I knew it would just set me into a tailspin of emotions that I'd have trouble letting go of. So... I let them off the hook by not filing a complaint - they're not BBB rated. In hindsight, in case it was me/my mistake, I even re-checked our contract to see if we erred in our expectations or weren't specific enough. Nope, it was very clear, they just dropped the ball!
Lastly, I can speak to one other event we've witnessed their flowers at. They did flowers this past week at a school's graduation event. They were not good, and when asked who the florist was, surprise, it was Artistry Florals in Cornelius! Was it crazy-awful? No, but they were not fresh, healthy or perky in any way. Maybe they were cheap? I don't know, but they furthered my certainty that they're a bad bad idea for events. Maybe they do fine arrangements in a vase, but guess what? I can do that too - give me $20 for grocery store flowers and give me a vase, taa-da!
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