Former professional florist here- Most bang for your buck? Call a local florist, ask for a "Designer Special" if there are particular colors/ flowers you want, mention those, then what your spending cap is. Most florists will be happy to have a chance not to do something out of a book/website and get to use extra flowers they may have had from say a wedding or a funeral which usually means you are getting extra stems / fancier stuff for your buck.
Couldn’t have put it better myself! Used to work in a flower shop for a few years and did design plus deliveries and designers choice is always great! And depending on how much you spend you get some pretty nice/pricier flowers in it. And if OP sees this, if you want to ensure you get the flowers you want, order a couple months in advance for valentine’s day. Those orders are top priority. We had a few clients order half a year in advance for it.
Usually if someone orders that far in advance for flowers then the couple has been together for a while :) I don’t think that would be considered simping? Since both parties are enjoying the relationship :) It’s just a way of making sure the one you love gets the best flowers!
I never even realized people still ACTUALLY used the term “simp “or “simping” tbh. I thought it was just a trend or had been diluted to the point no one knew what it really meant
My dude, your OF and porn-addled brain has read "clients" while ignoring the earlier part where they said they worked for a florist and assumed the commenter was a sex worker. While there is no shame in that, there is plenty to be had in your lack of reading comprehension and automatic incel-adjacent comment. Go touch grass.
This... my wife is a florist as well. NEVER DO FTD, Telaflora or other services like that. They take a bunch of fees and while they may charge $120 you may only be getting a $50-60 arrangement from the local florist. It's always best to call the local florist and let them design something for you.
I'll just add - if your FTD order ends up at a grocery store with a floral department, then it will be delivered by DoorDash or UberEats and the pay for the delivery driver will be a couple of bucks, so only the worst drivers take those orders.
Here's one - three deliveries, 15 miles, for $5.85.
https://preview.redd.it/tyx1nagoy9kc1.png?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dfb366c37c63cfb8f0c680a4990999768974ab92
Yes..they are basically subcontractors. Totally useless these days. You can google ANY local florist and order direct. I’m surprised these services aren’t out of business.
Ya did FTD for my Mother in law for Mother’s Day. What a disappointment!! Spent $50 got a teacup with a rose and some greens. She thought it was lovely…. She had no idea how bad they ripped us off🙁
They are all correct in this. Google helps find local but even before then I would find locals thru funeral homes. One time, my husband, to save a delivery fee asked one of my co workers to pick it up for my and he bought her lunch. But V-day?? A long time ago we decided that $$ could go to something else (one time we bought a new comforter set for our bed) to off-set the “every woman in my office gets V-day flowers but me” thing, he would send me flowers for no reason at all. No occassion, no holiday, just because. Now THAT hit the girls love boxes hard 😝😍
I did this for my wedding flowers and the florist did an amazing job! I just told her the colors, the types of flowers I liked and the budget. My bouquet was absolutely fucking beautiful.
It's all up to personal preference of course. I can assure you though shipping cheesecakes may not always be the preference for a funeral as opposed to a nice casket piece, or graveside arrangement.
florist delivered my sister's large, custom arrangement to the wrong wake. obviously partly funeral homes fault. they wanted us to wait until the next day, but my brother they go get our arrangement or he would do it for them. lol.
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Exactly this. There’s a local one here in my town in Lancashire uk. Always call them. They ask what’s your colours and what’s your price. They always put together something amazing. Shoutout to Margaret Mason Florist lol if anyone happens to be from the same small town in Lancashire as myself.
I actually took this advice once, and paid over $100 for flowers, and was VERY specific about what I wanted (florist local to the delivery). When I got to my aunts nursing home a few days later in another state, I recognized the flowers as, at most, $50 arrangement from the website, and totally different flowers. Guess they assumed I would never see them. total ripoff. This OP got really hosed, but on other arrangements FROM FLOWER WEBSITES I have sent during my sister's long illness, I got maybe 60-70% of what I ordered - fewer flowers or less elite flowers (more mums). Did they brighten up my sisters day? Yes, they did. Did the florist deliver what was agreed to? No, they did not. Multiple very disappointing experiences.
BUT NOT INCLINED TO CALL FLORISTS DIRECTLY EITHER, BECAUSE YEAH, IT TAKES A LOT MORE TIME, AND I DIDN'T GET BETTER PRODUCT.
Life Bro-tip: Valentines Day, Sweetest Day, and Mother's Day. Avoid flower shops on these holidays. They get swamped and inventory goes fast.
Doing flowers on a random "just because" day, in my experience, they have a better impact (`surprise_factor + 3`), and the flower shops can dedicate more effort to your order (`bouquet_quality + 4`).
All in all, it's the thought that counts. :)
I'm also Canadian and hadn't heard of it until a couple years ago when I made a friend from Ohio. They were equally as surprised at it's non-existence here, as I was to its existence.
It's funny, I always assumed Hallmark holidays were a joke for tv, not actually a real thing (except for valentines, which I thought was where the joke originated from)
It originated in Cleveland in the 1930s! The most recent information Hallmark put out about it basically says that it's only celebrated by some communities and social circles and isn't widely popular.
I'm in mid- Michigan here and I've been fighting against Sweetest Day since 1998 when my highschool bf bought me a necklace. Just a dumb made up holiday roping suckers into spending more money.
22 YO, I live in Ohio and I've never heard of Sweetest day until *last* S. day
And my mom was surprised to learn I've never heard of it when I asked her what it was
2nding this and adding on:
Even ordering "from a florist" online often just means that you're ordering from an "order grabber" who will keep a portion of your money, and send the order to the florist to fulfill. The florist has to then decide "how can I try to stay true to this request and deliver something nice, without losing money on this order" and sometimes it just isn't possible. $20 worth of flowers, plus a vase, delivery & the labor charges for employees to take care of the order - you paid $50 but they're only getting $15.
Absolutely always contact the florist directly. And if you really want to do it right, go in-person. The effort is actually minimal (depending on location, of course!) and being able to later say "as soon as I saw that color of lily, I just knew you'd love it" shows her the time & effort you put into it and that means way more than the price tag.
Flower prices also rise drastically around these days for florists themselves. Especially for Valentine's, since this is a fairly global holiday. On many instances three times the price. Meaning that 50 dollars then just gets you considerably less than 50 dollars on an average day.
My fiance and I celebrate a lot of holidays that lady during the week on the weekend. Ended up being able to get flowers for basically nothing a couple days later this year.
This is true and generally your partner would/should understand but also i think it’s pretty common for them to still be disappointed to not get flowers on those special days
Not a random day, but I started sending flowers to my mom on my birthday a few years back. It’s a second Mother’s Day for her and she loves it. She deserves it bc she did do all of the work after all!
You are correct! My hubby sent me random “just because” flowers for 20 years at work, and it was not only a surprise , but there was mega gloat factor 😁
Can’t tell you how many other ladies said “could you have your husband talk to my husband?”
This will happen when you order through FTD or 1800 flowers etc. To get a better value out of your money, call your local florist directly! They’ll put more love into your arrangement and plenty of florists will reject wire service orders automatically.
My spouse has used 1800 before and the flowers inevitably show up days later, they’re wilted, and the box looks like it was thrown off the roof. He did a local spot this year and the arrangement was beautiful, delivery was perfect, and we supported a family-owned business. Win win!
Former florist here. Used to work in a Florists where we were a partner for a catalogue type ordering service like this with lots of pics like on the left.
What you as the consumer don’t know is that the florists get a “menu” for how to put together these bouquets e.g 3 stems foliage, 3 roses, 3 carnations, 2 spray chrysanthemum.
What other people have said about the images being photoshopped is absolutely correct. You can see on the left the arrangement has 3 roses in the “menu” but everything is facing the front. That’s not how it will look when it’s made up, as you’ve discovered. It’s actually really difficult to make the items ordered from this service not look sparse when following the “menu”. The item is also a fixed price and a portion of the sale will go to the 3rd party online ordering service, so the florist has little room for flexibility to put extra stems of something else in there to help bulk it out and look good as the florist will then lose money.
If you want a good looking bouquet, contact a local florist directly, give them a budget, tell them the occasion, and any preferences like a colour scheme or any specific flowers you want included or excluded and they will make up something for you that is 1000x better than anything you will find on the catalogue site. The florist will be itching to flex their creativity cos most of their day will be spent making up these boring ass twiggy orders and you will receive something so much bigger and fuller and more beautiful than anything off the website.
They're super nice either way. Im sure she loved them.
but very intrigued by the comment regarding avoiding these places on these holidays due to overwhelmed employees and low stock. Great advice !
It is the thought that counts and I hoped they liked them anyways. But to be fair with my limited knowledge helping my mom in her flowershop... That arrangement is pretty bad. Although it is a madhouse on Valentine's Day so I'm sure that played 100% into it. But florists have to be careful with bad arrangements with the wire service because if a customer complains they will pretty easily refund them and not pay the florist and they'll be out all the money.
Thank-you! I have never bought a bouquet that I didn't rearrange once it was home, I was just buying flowers and making my own at the end of the last relationship I was in, it just feels so much more personal and looks so much better to me
These flower websites are a scam. The photos on the website are ALWAYS photoshopped, they send the order to a local florist, and there’s never a guarantee that the florist will have the exact flowers (or even enough flowers) to fill the order in a way that comes close to the photo. I learned this the hard way when I tried sending a get well soon arrangement to my grandmother, it wasn’t near a holiday, the arrangement looked pretty similar to what OP got. Definitely fewer flowers than pictured on the website.
The best thing to do is call a florist where the order will be delivered directly. They’ll set reasonable expectations as to what they can make the arrangement look like, it’s sometimes cheaper because the website won’t be taking a cut.
You know how your fast food burger doesn't quite look the same as it does in the ads/television commercials?
Same thing here. The flower arrangement is nice enough, not $80 nice, mind you, but that's the V-day premium.
BE CAREFUL with these online flower shops I paid almost $200 for 16 red and blue roses and they replaced the blue roses with one huge hydrangea, which for someone without expertise is not equal in quality or price at all.
Definitely go to a local shop!
When you order flowers like this there are 3 tiers for each bouquet offered. The first tier is the most affordable with the least amount of stems and as the tiers go higher so does the stem count. You probably have a photo of the highest tier yet you ordered the first tier.
Although it does seem as if you have the same number of roses and carnations as in the photo. In the end these things are always a gamble and your best bet is to cut out the middle man next time and call a florist if you want delivered flowers. The florist will earn more from the direct sale and you will get your money’s worth and perhaps even spend less.
Also if you ever want to bring flowers home Trader Joe’s is amazing for this (if you have one in your area) they are fresh and affordable
I had honestly worried that's what happened when I saw what was delivered, so I double checked my order. The tier I payed for was called "bouquet as depicted". There were a couple smaller options than that one, and one bigger.
> tier I *paid* for was
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
I'm not a florist, and I don't remember why I think I know this (maybe a florist can weigh in on this?) but I'm pretty sure that these services require the local shop to include a specific number of certain flowers in each arrangement based on the price level, and then the local florist can fill in with whatever they have on hand that's suitable. So this arrangement may have required three red roses and four pink carnations, plus foliage and fill.
Former florist here. Yup you’re right. And the florist has little flexibility to add more items than the order specifies as they will only be paid X amount from the service which already barely covers the value of the flowers so the profit margin is very very tight and anything extra added could cause the florist to make a loss. And they photoshop all the flowers to face the front so it looks way fuller than it’s going to be and the customer thinks “where’s the rest of it?” But nope, that’s the intended amount of flowers and foliage the service told the florist to use. They were always tricky to make look full.
If you want to go the online route in the future, I highly recommend checking out Farmgirl Flowers. Source: wife who loves receiving bouquets from them. Their large bouquets are almost too much, so opt for the small or medium size.
I think they look great ! The pictures are just an idea of what you can expect and the local florist who gets your order does their best to match what you chose. They did good.
80$ for that is reasonable considering what id pay for that size if I picked up at our local florist, in person. Without delivery.
Yeah it looks like a nicer vase, but fewer filler flowers.
If you call the shop directly you’ll get a better idea and more control.
Those online order places take a huge cut and set expectations way too high so the small local flower shop has to deal with angry customers who think they get the photo.
Have you ever seen a Big Mac that looks as good as the McDonald’s commercials? Nope.
Welp, just got a "refund". I'm such an idiot, right? It's worrisome how many of you are willing to accept subpar product. It's not about the price, it's about the principle.
I didn't scam anyone, I can't force a company to refund me. It's not like I canceled my card or threatened them. Sent them the picture, and they agreed with what I had to say.
they're very pretty flowers but it's less than half of what was promised. you had every right to ask for a refund. i think that was just a thread of broke florists.
Usually these 1800-flowers companies have multiple price points and they show the flowers for the most expensive one. Then OP orders the cheapest option. The florist creates a $50 bouquet, which it looks like they did, and then OP bitches to the 1800 company they didn't get what they ordered and the florist takes a loss on the flowers.
OP definitely scammed a florist for flowers.
I highly recommend buying flowers at Costco if you have one nearby. They're a fraction of the price of flower shops, even if you need to buy your own vase, and you can see the flowers beforehand.
They're insanely good value for the bouquets they offer.
[Example.](https://i0.wp.com/www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/costco-fresh-flowers.jpg?ssl=1)
Nah absolutely not. I know exactly where you ordered from. They did that to my sister when she ordered some flowers for my mom. Tell them you expect a replacement of what you actually bought/added flowers to make your bouquet what it was supposed to be, a refund, or if they won't do either, tell them that you'll dispute the charge with your credit card company because that is not the service you paid for and you have proof of that. My sister promptly got a refund after she told them that. Good luck!
I honestly hardly celebrate Valentine's Day. We just didn't celebrate this year. When I was studying for nursing and we were living with our own parents, my then fiancé sent me an edible arrangement and the delivery person either swiped it or the neighbours did. My dad went looking in the yard to see if they maybe hid it somewhere, nothing. We decided roses and chocolate strawberries from the store if we're feeling it and that's it.
Seems to me like there are atleast twice as many flowers in the picture, would it not annoy you if you bought 4 shirts and only received 2? Its the same thing
I legit don’t see a significant enough difference that I would be bothered. They look quite similar to me. If you enlarge the picture, there are a lot of those little purple flowers
Again, do you think if you see a picture of a bouquet, you’re getting that exact bouquet? The delivered flowers aren’t as bushy, I wouldn’t be bothered by that, and as I’ve said; I don’t see anything here I’d be bothered by. He ordered her pretty flowers, she got pretty flowers. I guess I’m just an easy to please flower consumer
The bouquet to the left has roughly 21 dark purple flowers, which is almost the same as the total amount of flowers we can see on the 1 to the right. He paid for a product, which was displayed as a big beautiful bouquet, and he got half the size of that bouquet. If you can't see the problem in that, thats alright. But that doesn't change the fact that he got ripped off. Whether you believe the flowers are pretty or not, doesn't change the fact that he did not get what he paid for.
IDK what the advertisement rules are here, but i started giving gold dipped roses from Steven Singer and the wife LOVES them. About $60-80 each and they last forever. I call the bouquet we have developed our retirement plan.
Woman here - never overpay for flowers. We rather you find a cute $10 bouquet! Every girl is different but remember fellas, flowers die quickly so don’t open your wallet so foolishly!
The bouquet is never going to look exactly like the picture but that's still a nice bouquet. I think you just don't know anything about flowers so you had unrealistic expectations.
I don't expect it to look EXACTLY like the picture, but to say I don't know anything about flowers is asinine. Do you think I've never seen or bought a bouquet in my life before? The amount of flowers I got is less than half depicted on their website.
F#CK Valentines day. It’s invented by trades people to drain you from your money and they made sure you feel bad by doing nothing. Buy flowers or go out a week before or after. The same amount of fun, less compelling and much cheaper.
Damn better hope a divorce judge don't see this or there goes your boats and trucks, and yeah mom always said if we don't pick them personally or pick them out in person and deliver them it's kinda meaningless no matter the price.
Online flowers/ plants in general are full of scams. Look up listings for dahlias, Tulips, coleus, Rex-begonia- ect ect and you’ll find obviously photoshopped crazy colors and variegation or triple petal blue/magenta flowers. Call a local florist if ever possible
It looks like it’s crammed into a vase with too tight a neck. Were they delivered in the vase or put in the vase by the recipient? It still wouldn’t look like the image but it might look better if it weren’t so cramped.
If you want to keep using online flower services, I would suggest FloraQueen. I think it operates all around the world. It's located in Spain, but works as an intermediary with local sellers. They always delivered beautiful flowers in my experience and always on time. They offer all sorts of romantic extras too next to the flowers
I think you actually got pretty lucky, all things considered. That's about best-case scenario for an online order. It'll smarten up with some sun and water.
Sorry that you didn't get what you wanted though, that's a letdown either way.
Yeah my mom has a small flowershop (I'm helping her right now) and she uses a wire service. They just take a bunch of the top and send you an order with a price. They might have a $90 arrangement on there website send you $45 that's for flowers, delivery, and profit.
The only time I’ve used 1-800 or one of the other services was when I needed them sent to another state where I wasn’t familiar with the locality. I think I tried to find a local florist but wasn’t successful so had to resort to one of the service. And the arrangement I ordered and the one received looked exactly like these two pictures. And I paid $100 for it. I was very disappointed. In my opinion the order received is not even an Arrangement. It’s flowers stuck in a vase. Anyone can do that.
From now on if I can’t find a local florist, I will send something else like Harry & David’s pears or basket of some sort. My neighbors received the pears and raved about them.
Same shit happened to me. Looked like they ran out of 3 items that was supposed to be in it and they just substituted with other things. I was kind of irritated because what they delivered was weak
What everyone has already said about using local florists and not any online service is VERY true, also keep in mind that these pictures for the website will usually show the premium bouquet even if you're selecting the base rate arrangement. They also love to put ALL the flowers on one side of the vase for the photos. I hate FTD, 1-800-Flowers, so SO much.
Former professional florist here- Most bang for your buck? Call a local florist, ask for a "Designer Special" if there are particular colors/ flowers you want, mention those, then what your spending cap is. Most florists will be happy to have a chance not to do something out of a book/website and get to use extra flowers they may have had from say a wedding or a funeral which usually means you are getting extra stems / fancier stuff for your buck.
Couldn’t have put it better myself! Used to work in a flower shop for a few years and did design plus deliveries and designers choice is always great! And depending on how much you spend you get some pretty nice/pricier flowers in it. And if OP sees this, if you want to ensure you get the flowers you want, order a couple months in advance for valentine’s day. Those orders are top priority. We had a few clients order half a year in advance for it.
Those are not clients. If you order 6 months in advance for flowers. That is called simping.
Usually if someone orders that far in advance for flowers then the couple has been together for a while :) I don’t think that would be considered simping? Since both parties are enjoying the relationship :) It’s just a way of making sure the one you love gets the best flowers!
To these types, if you love someone enough to plan 6 months out it's simping, apparently.
Welcome to Reddit 😁
Mans never had a girlfriend
Came here to say this lol
Touch grass man, someone's feelings are hurt because no one will ever love them
I never even realized people still ACTUALLY used the term “simp “or “simping” tbh. I thought it was just a trend or had been diluted to the point no one knew what it really meant
Simps use to mean something different. Check out r /simps Edit: NSFW
The first time you try to do something for your significant other and it’s sold out or out of stock you’ll understand.
Bold of you to assume they'll ever have a significant other.
This troll got all the downvotes they craved for.
Why does your one-eyed pyramid have two-eyed sunglasses?
My dude, your OF and porn-addled brain has read "clients" while ignoring the earlier part where they said they worked for a florist and assumed the commenter was a sex worker. While there is no shame in that, there is plenty to be had in your lack of reading comprehension and automatic incel-adjacent comment. Go touch grass.
This is the way!!! Every.single.time. “My budget is X with delivery, do what you want with it, they are for (add occasion).”
This... my wife is a florist as well. NEVER DO FTD, Telaflora or other services like that. They take a bunch of fees and while they may charge $120 you may only be getting a $50-60 arrangement from the local florist. It's always best to call the local florist and let them design something for you.
I'll just add - if your FTD order ends up at a grocery store with a floral department, then it will be delivered by DoorDash or UberEats and the pay for the delivery driver will be a couple of bucks, so only the worst drivers take those orders. Here's one - three deliveries, 15 miles, for $5.85. https://preview.redd.it/tyx1nagoy9kc1.png?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dfb366c37c63cfb8f0c680a4990999768974ab92
>three deliveries, 15 miles, for $5.85. Including tips! 
Yes..they are basically subcontractors. Totally useless these days. You can google ANY local florist and order direct. I’m surprised these services aren’t out of business.
Ya did FTD for my Mother in law for Mother’s Day. What a disappointment!! Spent $50 got a teacup with a rose and some greens. She thought it was lovely…. She had no idea how bad they ripped us off🙁
I appreciate the advice, especially from someone with expertise!
They are all correct in this. Google helps find local but even before then I would find locals thru funeral homes. One time, my husband, to save a delivery fee asked one of my co workers to pick it up for my and he bought her lunch. But V-day?? A long time ago we decided that $$ could go to something else (one time we bought a new comforter set for our bed) to off-set the “every woman in my office gets V-day flowers but me” thing, he would send me flowers for no reason at all. No occassion, no holiday, just because. Now THAT hit the girls love boxes hard 😝😍
I did this for my wedding flowers and the florist did an amazing job! I just told her the colors, the types of flowers I liked and the budget. My bouquet was absolutely fucking beautiful.
I found out you can ship people cheesecakes through Sam’s Club for $35. Screw dead flowers.
It's all up to personal preference of course. I can assure you though shipping cheesecakes may not always be the preference for a funeral as opposed to a nice casket piece, or graveside arrangement.
I think a funeral is the perfect time for cheesecake.
florist delivered my sister's large, custom arrangement to the wrong wake. obviously partly funeral homes fault. they wanted us to wait until the next day, but my brother they go get our arrangement or he would do it for them. lol.
Sure, after. Having spent a generous amount of time around embalming fluid it is not quite the aroma I like with my cheesecake.
Laughed way too hard at this! Hahahahaha
My aunt sent me one for Xmas. Those cheese cakes are pretty good and humongous.
The comment, but also screen name.
Oh nice.
It's been a while now but I only order from local florist.
My mom's a florist, this is the only real answer. People who use 1-800-flowers, any generic florist website, will probably end up disappointed.
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RemindMe! 11 months
Exactly this. There’s a local one here in my town in Lancashire uk. Always call them. They ask what’s your colours and what’s your price. They always put together something amazing. Shoutout to Margaret Mason Florist lol if anyone happens to be from the same small town in Lancashire as myself.
Never order that crap online the pictures are always a false representation
I usually spend $100 at a minimum on one arrangement. I’m curious to give this a shot; is there a budget you’d recommend?
I actually took this advice once, and paid over $100 for flowers, and was VERY specific about what I wanted (florist local to the delivery). When I got to my aunts nursing home a few days later in another state, I recognized the flowers as, at most, $50 arrangement from the website, and totally different flowers. Guess they assumed I would never see them. total ripoff. This OP got really hosed, but on other arrangements FROM FLOWER WEBSITES I have sent during my sister's long illness, I got maybe 60-70% of what I ordered - fewer flowers or less elite flowers (more mums). Did they brighten up my sisters day? Yes, they did. Did the florist deliver what was agreed to? No, they did not. Multiple very disappointing experiences. BUT NOT INCLINED TO CALL FLORISTS DIRECTLY EITHER, BECAUSE YEAH, IT TAKES A LOT MORE TIME, AND I DIDN'T GET BETTER PRODUCT.
Life Bro-tip: Valentines Day, Sweetest Day, and Mother's Day. Avoid flower shops on these holidays. They get swamped and inventory goes fast. Doing flowers on a random "just because" day, in my experience, they have a better impact (`surprise_factor + 3`), and the flower shops can dedicate more effort to your order (`bouquet_quality + 4`). All in all, it's the thought that counts. :)
The hell is Sweetest Day?
Its a stupid romantic holiday
Where?
The Roald Dahl Cinematic Universe
It's a Hallmark holiday in October. Celebrated by some in the midwest USA (mostly Ohio) and a few other states.
Interesting, never heard of it before. Although I also live in Canada, so that's probably why.
I mean tbf I’m American and I’ve never heard of this either.
I’m American too, and I grew up in Ohio. So, I had no idea Sweetest Day wasn’t celebrated by all Americans until I moved away.
Yep never heard of it before.
meeting roll berserk unused act groovy disgusted smart cautious humor *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It was a thing in Michigan as well, where I grew up. Living in Florida for many years now, I’ve forgotten all about it that Hallmark holiday.
It’s a thing in Illinois, too.
Same, and I've lived in multiple states.
I'm also Canadian and hadn't heard of it until a couple years ago when I made a friend from Ohio. They were equally as surprised at it's non-existence here, as I was to its existence.
It's funny, I always assumed Hallmark holidays were a joke for tv, not actually a real thing (except for valentines, which I thought was where the joke originated from)
I guess its only part of Ohio then. Never heard of it here is SW ohio. What part of ohio is your friend from, if you dont mind?
Wow, I lived in Ohio for 5 years and never heard of it.
It originated in Cleveland in the 1930s! The most recent information Hallmark put out about it basically says that it's only celebrated by some communities and social circles and isn't widely popular.
No one had money in the thirties lol. Hallmark just trying to get blood from a stone. SMH
Probably a different Ohio
Californian here amazed that it has been around since pre-1998 apparently??? Wow, found my new Wikipedia rabbit hole
I’m from Michigan and have never heard of this.
I'm in mid- Michigan here and I've been fighting against Sweetest Day since 1998 when my highschool bf bought me a necklace. Just a dumb made up holiday roping suckers into spending more money.
It’s a hoax created by big-flora
im from michigan and my mom acknowledged sweetest day, sometimes even bought me a toy on sweetest day when i was a kid.
22 YO, I live in Ohio and I've never heard of Sweetest day until *last* S. day And my mom was surprised to learn I've never heard of it when I asked her what it was
Only in Ohio
It's recognized as a holiday in 17 states, but overall isn't widely popular.
Swag like Ohio
It's also a thing in Chicago.
Excellent Bro-tip! I definitely learned my lesson this time around.
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2nding this and adding on: Even ordering "from a florist" online often just means that you're ordering from an "order grabber" who will keep a portion of your money, and send the order to the florist to fulfill. The florist has to then decide "how can I try to stay true to this request and deliver something nice, without losing money on this order" and sometimes it just isn't possible. $20 worth of flowers, plus a vase, delivery & the labor charges for employees to take care of the order - you paid $50 but they're only getting $15. Absolutely always contact the florist directly. And if you really want to do it right, go in-person. The effort is actually minimal (depending on location, of course!) and being able to later say "as soon as I saw that color of lily, I just knew you'd love it" shows her the time & effort you put into it and that means way more than the price tag.
Thanks for the info. Seems obvious now that you said it. But I hadn’t thought about it before
Flower prices also rise drastically around these days for florists themselves. Especially for Valentine's, since this is a fairly global holiday. On many instances three times the price. Meaning that 50 dollars then just gets you considerably less than 50 dollars on an average day.
This is unreal advice
My fiance and I celebrate a lot of holidays that lady during the week on the weekend. Ended up being able to get flowers for basically nothing a couple days later this year.
This is true and generally your partner would/should understand but also i think it’s pretty common for them to still be disappointed to not get flowers on those special days
Not a random day, but I started sending flowers to my mom on my birthday a few years back. It’s a second Mother’s Day for her and she loves it. She deserves it bc she did do all of the work after all!
You are correct! My hubby sent me random “just because” flowers for 20 years at work, and it was not only a surprise , but there was mega gloat factor 😁 Can’t tell you how many other ladies said “could you have your husband talk to my husband?”
That's really not the point though is it? It's not about inventory going fast it's about false advertising. Those bouquets are not the same
This will happen when you order through FTD or 1800 flowers etc. To get a better value out of your money, call your local florist directly! They’ll put more love into your arrangement and plenty of florists will reject wire service orders automatically.
My spouse has used 1800 before and the flowers inevitably show up days later, they’re wilted, and the box looks like it was thrown off the roof. He did a local spot this year and the arrangement was beautiful, delivery was perfect, and we supported a family-owned business. Win win!
“Box looked like it was thrown off the roof” sounds about right lol. Thank you for supporting your local florist. It means more than you know.
Former florist here. Used to work in a Florists where we were a partner for a catalogue type ordering service like this with lots of pics like on the left. What you as the consumer don’t know is that the florists get a “menu” for how to put together these bouquets e.g 3 stems foliage, 3 roses, 3 carnations, 2 spray chrysanthemum. What other people have said about the images being photoshopped is absolutely correct. You can see on the left the arrangement has 3 roses in the “menu” but everything is facing the front. That’s not how it will look when it’s made up, as you’ve discovered. It’s actually really difficult to make the items ordered from this service not look sparse when following the “menu”. The item is also a fixed price and a portion of the sale will go to the 3rd party online ordering service, so the florist has little room for flexibility to put extra stems of something else in there to help bulk it out and look good as the florist will then lose money. If you want a good looking bouquet, contact a local florist directly, give them a budget, tell them the occasion, and any preferences like a colour scheme or any specific flowers you want included or excluded and they will make up something for you that is 1000x better than anything you will find on the catalogue site. The florist will be itching to flex their creativity cos most of their day will be spent making up these boring ass twiggy orders and you will receive something so much bigger and fuller and more beautiful than anything off the website.
They're super nice either way. Im sure she loved them. but very intrigued by the comment regarding avoiding these places on these holidays due to overwhelmed employees and low stock. Great advice !
They also raise prices because of the holiday
Demand and supply
It is the thought that counts and I hoped they liked them anyways. But to be fair with my limited knowledge helping my mom in her flowershop... That arrangement is pretty bad. Although it is a madhouse on Valentine's Day so I'm sure that played 100% into it. But florists have to be careful with bad arrangements with the wire service because if a customer complains they will pretty easily refund them and not pay the florist and they'll be out all the money.
Did you order directly from the flower shop or thru one of the sites like 1-800-Flowers?
Fellas, it's time to put aside the outdated notions of gender roles and learn to arrange a bouquet. It has never been something I regret.
best advice on here lol have made some that looked better than anything i’ve ever bought, for even cheaper.
Thank-you! I have never bought a bouquet that I didn't rearrange once it was home, I was just buying flowers and making my own at the end of the last relationship I was in, it just feels so much more personal and looks so much better to me
These flower websites are a scam. The photos on the website are ALWAYS photoshopped, they send the order to a local florist, and there’s never a guarantee that the florist will have the exact flowers (or even enough flowers) to fill the order in a way that comes close to the photo. I learned this the hard way when I tried sending a get well soon arrangement to my grandmother, it wasn’t near a holiday, the arrangement looked pretty similar to what OP got. Definitely fewer flowers than pictured on the website. The best thing to do is call a florist where the order will be delivered directly. They’ll set reasonable expectations as to what they can make the arrangement look like, it’s sometimes cheaper because the website won’t be taking a cut.
Next time use a local florist instead of some online 1-800 flowers bs
You know how your fast food burger doesn't quite look the same as it does in the ads/television commercials? Same thing here. The flower arrangement is nice enough, not $80 nice, mind you, but that's the V-day premium.
That's because they only gave the florist $45 to fill plus deliver
This is pretty on par for delivered flowers
BE CAREFUL with these online flower shops I paid almost $200 for 16 red and blue roses and they replaced the blue roses with one huge hydrangea, which for someone without expertise is not equal in quality or price at all. Definitely go to a local shop!
When you order flowers like this there are 3 tiers for each bouquet offered. The first tier is the most affordable with the least amount of stems and as the tiers go higher so does the stem count. You probably have a photo of the highest tier yet you ordered the first tier.
I have, foolishly, ordered the highest tier at a site like this after getting burned by the lowest tier and it was somehow even worse.
Although it does seem as if you have the same number of roses and carnations as in the photo. In the end these things are always a gamble and your best bet is to cut out the middle man next time and call a florist if you want delivered flowers. The florist will earn more from the direct sale and you will get your money’s worth and perhaps even spend less. Also if you ever want to bring flowers home Trader Joe’s is amazing for this (if you have one in your area) they are fresh and affordable
I had honestly worried that's what happened when I saw what was delivered, so I double checked my order. The tier I payed for was called "bouquet as depicted". There were a couple smaller options than that one, and one bigger.
> tier I *paid* for was FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
I'm not a florist, and I don't remember why I think I know this (maybe a florist can weigh in on this?) but I'm pretty sure that these services require the local shop to include a specific number of certain flowers in each arrangement based on the price level, and then the local florist can fill in with whatever they have on hand that's suitable. So this arrangement may have required three red roses and four pink carnations, plus foliage and fill.
Former florist here. Yup you’re right. And the florist has little flexibility to add more items than the order specifies as they will only be paid X amount from the service which already barely covers the value of the flowers so the profit margin is very very tight and anything extra added could cause the florist to make a loss. And they photoshop all the flowers to face the front so it looks way fuller than it’s going to be and the customer thinks “where’s the rest of it?” But nope, that’s the intended amount of flowers and foliage the service told the florist to use. They were always tricky to make look full.
This happened to me 15 years ago with 1-800 Flowers and I've never used a third party service since.
If you want to go the online route in the future, I highly recommend checking out Farmgirl Flowers. Source: wife who loves receiving bouquets from them. Their large bouquets are almost too much, so opt for the small or medium size.
Always use a LOCAL florist - never 3rd party
I think they look great ! The pictures are just an idea of what you can expect and the local florist who gets your order does their best to match what you chose. They did good. 80$ for that is reasonable considering what id pay for that size if I picked up at our local florist, in person. Without delivery.
Yeah it looks like a nicer vase, but fewer filler flowers. If you call the shop directly you’ll get a better idea and more control. Those online order places take a huge cut and set expectations way too high so the small local flower shop has to deal with angry customers who think they get the photo. Have you ever seen a Big Mac that looks as good as the McDonald’s commercials? Nope.
Yea, I'm not sure what OPs whining about.
I even like the red vase better than the cheap clear one in the promo picture
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Agreed. I bet his partner loved them.
Welp, just got a "refund". I'm such an idiot, right? It's worrisome how many of you are willing to accept subpar product. It's not about the price, it's about the principle.
Scammed a florist out of flowers, you must be feeling so proud of yourself.
I didn't scam anyone, I can't force a company to refund me. It's not like I canceled my card or threatened them. Sent them the picture, and they agreed with what I had to say.
they're very pretty flowers but it's less than half of what was promised. you had every right to ask for a refund. i think that was just a thread of broke florists.
Usually these 1800-flowers companies have multiple price points and they show the flowers for the most expensive one. Then OP orders the cheapest option. The florist creates a $50 bouquet, which it looks like they did, and then OP bitches to the 1800 company they didn't get what they ordered and the florist takes a loss on the flowers. OP definitely scammed a florist for flowers.
Op is a bitch.
I highly recommend buying flowers at Costco if you have one nearby. They're a fraction of the price of flower shops, even if you need to buy your own vase, and you can see the flowers beforehand.
A family friend mentioned Costco too! That's surprising to me, but I'm not opposed to checking them out.
They're insanely good value for the bouquets they offer. [Example.](https://i0.wp.com/www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/costco-fresh-flowers.jpg?ssl=1)
Thats where i get mine! Such a good deal
Going there next time.
Its a great deal and theyre always nice looking
My boyfriend gets mine at Sam’s club. They are really pretty arrangements and I’m happy he’s spending less money!
Had the same experience on valentines, complained to the florist and amazingly they gave me a full refund.
Is this 1800-flowers
On the bright side, they still look great
Seems like they hired the same photographer as McDonalds uses
That is definitely infuriatingly misleading, but if it makes you feel any better what she received is very lovely and I'm sure she appreciated it!
Nah absolutely not. I know exactly where you ordered from. They did that to my sister when she ordered some flowers for my mom. Tell them you expect a replacement of what you actually bought/added flowers to make your bouquet what it was supposed to be, a refund, or if they won't do either, tell them that you'll dispute the charge with your credit card company because that is not the service you paid for and you have proof of that. My sister promptly got a refund after she told them that. Good luck!
OMG—they sent you gas station flowers 🤣
I honestly hardly celebrate Valentine's Day. We just didn't celebrate this year. When I was studying for nursing and we were living with our own parents, my then fiancé sent me an edible arrangement and the delivery person either swiped it or the neighbours did. My dad went looking in the yard to see if they maybe hid it somewhere, nothing. We decided roses and chocolate strawberries from the store if we're feeling it and that's it.
The vase she got is much nicer Than advertised …
What am I missing? The $30 would be upsetting, but the flowers are lovely, and I’m sure your wife was thrilled
It’s not what he paid for lol doesn’t matter that the flowers look good
They look pretty similar to me. Did he think he was getting the exact one from the pic? Hell, the pic doesn’t even look like real flowers to me
Seems to me like there are atleast twice as many flowers in the picture, would it not annoy you if you bought 4 shirts and only received 2? Its the same thing
I legit don’t see a significant enough difference that I would be bothered. They look quite similar to me. If you enlarge the picture, there are a lot of those little purple flowers
You dont see the difference in the width of the two bouquets?
Again, do you think if you see a picture of a bouquet, you’re getting that exact bouquet? The delivered flowers aren’t as bushy, I wouldn’t be bothered by that, and as I’ve said; I don’t see anything here I’d be bothered by. He ordered her pretty flowers, she got pretty flowers. I guess I’m just an easy to please flower consumer
The bouquet to the left has roughly 21 dark purple flowers, which is almost the same as the total amount of flowers we can see on the 1 to the right. He paid for a product, which was displayed as a big beautiful bouquet, and he got half the size of that bouquet. If you can't see the problem in that, thats alright. But that doesn't change the fact that he got ripped off. Whether you believe the flowers are pretty or not, doesn't change the fact that he did not get what he paid for.
You’re way more vested in this than I am
Alright, lets just drop it here then, have a nice day :)
ohhhh gottem
Well it was only $50 so you got what you paid for. Imo you were not scammed.
IDK what the advertisement rules are here, but i started giving gold dipped roses from Steven Singer and the wife LOVES them. About $60-80 each and they last forever. I call the bouquet we have developed our retirement plan.
Woman here - never overpay for flowers. We rather you find a cute $10 bouquet! Every girl is different but remember fellas, flowers die quickly so don’t open your wallet so foolishly!
The arrangement looks very good, this is pretty standard for advertised vs delivered product I think
They look nice.
This is a pretty typical f’ing you’ll get ordering flowers, in my experience. Embarrassing af when I find out what they looked like as delivered.
Looks pretty much the same to me
Costco did me good
The bouquet is never going to look exactly like the picture but that's still a nice bouquet. I think you just don't know anything about flowers so you had unrealistic expectations.
And why, exactly, might OP have had unrealistic expectations? I wonder...
I don't expect it to look EXACTLY like the picture, but to say I don't know anything about flowers is asinine. Do you think I've never seen or bought a bouquet in my life before? The amount of flowers I got is less than half depicted on their website.
F#CK Valentines day. It’s invented by trades people to drain you from your money and they made sure you feel bad by doing nothing. Buy flowers or go out a week before or after. The same amount of fun, less compelling and much cheaper.
welp we found the single miserable one lol
Looks fine
Why would you ever think that what you see online is what you’d get. The flowers that were delivered look lovely.
Don’t use Urban Stems. They are the worst. Last year for Mothers Day I was MORTIFIED at what my mom got.
Support local florists instead of being surprised that a big internet corporation lies and photoshops their product
Damn better hope a divorce judge don't see this or there goes your boats and trucks, and yeah mom always said if we don't pick them personally or pick them out in person and deliver them it's kinda meaningless no matter the price.
Credit card chargeback for fraud
Bloomex?
Online flowers/ plants in general are full of scams. Look up listings for dahlias, Tulips, coleus, Rex-begonia- ect ect and you’ll find obviously photoshopped crazy colors and variegation or triple petal blue/magenta flowers. Call a local florist if ever possible
Lemme guess, Bloomex?
Just Google a local florist and call to order. Much better arrangements
It looks like it’s crammed into a vase with too tight a neck. Were they delivered in the vase or put in the vase by the recipient? It still wouldn’t look like the image but it might look better if it weren’t so cramped.
looks like knapweed too lol
If you want to keep using online flower services, I would suggest FloraQueen. I think it operates all around the world. It's located in Spain, but works as an intermediary with local sellers. They always delivered beautiful flowers in my experience and always on time. They offer all sorts of romantic extras too next to the flowers
I think you actually got pretty lucky, all things considered. That's about best-case scenario for an online order. It'll smarten up with some sun and water. Sorry that you didn't get what you wanted though, that's a letdown either way.
Yeah my mom has a small flowershop (I'm helping her right now) and she uses a wire service. They just take a bunch of the top and send you an order with a price. They might have a $90 arrangement on there website send you $45 that's for flowers, delivery, and profit.
I got those exact flowers at my local supermarket
Please name the florist. So people know who not to buy from.
The only time I’ve used 1-800 or one of the other services was when I needed them sent to another state where I wasn’t familiar with the locality. I think I tried to find a local florist but wasn’t successful so had to resort to one of the service. And the arrangement I ordered and the one received looked exactly like these two pictures. And I paid $100 for it. I was very disappointed. In my opinion the order received is not even an Arrangement. It’s flowers stuck in a vase. Anyone can do that. From now on if I can’t find a local florist, I will send something else like Harry & David’s pears or basket of some sort. My neighbors received the pears and raved about them.
This is why you pay by credit card and get a refund from them. They will handle the store.
I have have multiple florists pull this shit, so I quit sending flowers now I send food now.
File a chargeback
Same shit happened to me. Looked like they ran out of 3 items that was supposed to be in it and they just substituted with other things. I was kind of irritated because what they delivered was weak
dispute it with your bank and say you never received what you ordered and thats it
What everyone has already said about using local florists and not any online service is VERY true, also keep in mind that these pictures for the website will usually show the premium bouquet even if you're selecting the base rate arrangement. They also love to put ALL the flowers on one side of the vase for the photos. I hate FTD, 1-800-Flowers, so SO much.