Stu L.
Yelp
As consumers, sometimes bad experiences with vendors happen. When it does, typically, we just brush it off and move on. My experience with Flower Girl was so bad that I could not simply let it go, I needed to share this story so hopefully you don't fall into the trap that I did for our October 2013 wedding.
My fiancee and I met Denise five months prior to our October 2013 wedding. My fiancee instantaneously fell in love with her approach to our vision and I was very pleased to hear that she claimed that she would be able to execute on that vision within our $5,000 flower budget. Her shop was really nice too. A 50% deposit was required to secure Flower Girl's services for our big day and we wrote that check with confidence that they would deliver flawlessly. The remaining balance was due one week prior to the event.
We received our final invoice about a month prior to the event and it was for $10,000, 100% more than our original agreed upon budget. I thought it was a mistake, gave them the benefit of the doubt and inquired as to why the invoiced amount was wrong. Upon connecting with them, it was explained to me that our vision was expensive and it would cost $10,000 to make that vision a reality. This was a very different message from our initial meeting where we were assured that we could get what we wanted for less than or equal to $5,000. I was told that if I wanted to spend the original budget of $5,000, our arrangements would look cheap. It was terrible of them to create this uncomfortable situation for my fiancee and I so late in the game. They scared us into thinking that room would be ugly if we did not spend the $10k. We felt extorted sitting on a revised proposal for double our original budget two weeks away from the wedding. We did not feel that it was possible to start from scratch again with another florist so we obliged. We were able to cut some corners and get the total price down to $7500. We agreed and figured that the flowers would be beyond our expectations and make the day even more beautiful, so we paid. What a mistake.
The day of the wedding came and the flowers were completely wrong. The centerpieces were very skimpy, they looked like $60 arrangements that we could buy at other higher end florists in Manhattan but Flower Girl charged us $450 for each of them, not including tax, set-up and break down. The funny part about the breakdown was that Denise claimed that we could not save any money in this area since the centerpieces would be so big and heavy that it would require a crew to dismantle them. My 4 and 6 year old niece and nephew could have carried these on a 10 mile hike. It was like a joke. The bridal bouquet was wilted and the color scheme wrong. I tried to call them before the wedding ceremony started to complain, but nobody was there to help me and the person who answered the phone was only working the shop and not able to locate anybody I needed to connect with.
Long story short, I was able to stop payment on the check and Denise agreed to a lower amount weeks after the wedding. I still think that the $4,500 I ended up paying was too much, but at least it was within our original budget.
I hope you read this if you are considering this florist for your event. Don't get ripped off from Flower Girl like we did. Get quotes from at least 3 different florists and check references. I wish I had done more homework before giving Flower Girl my business. Hopefully this helps you if you are considering them, please AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
