Petals and Stems has chosen to serve a niche in the market. We are wedding flower specialists you may say. Based out of rural Vermilion Ab, we most commonly serve the Lloydminster-Vermilion-Wainwright areas, but have traveled as far as Provost, North Battleford and Vegreville. We are dedicated to designing exceptional wedding florals, providing exceptional customer service and also create/host seasonal workshops(and other offerings that work hand in hand.) Here at Petals And Stems, we also have a $1500.00 minimum spend on all wedding flower orders. This isn't because we look down our noses at lower budget weddings- not at all-in fact, our reasons may surprise you.
So let's chat about it. I want to take a moment to walk you through 3 of the main reasons for this, and help you understand that this is NOT out of greed- but in fact the opposite.
It makes the most sense for you, our client.
It makes the most sense for us here at Petals And Stems.
It makes sense for the flower shops in our area.
As a rural business that does not run a day to day flower shop, every wedding/event flower order is both ordered and shipped especially for you. Flower shops get weekly shipments with or without weddings, that is just how it is. When that is the case the shipping charges can be spread out amongst all of the weeks arrangements that go out. That makes the shipping charges more manageable on smaller wedding orders. While we do take up to three weddings on weekends, there are many weekends where there is only 1 wedding taking place. This means that one wedding is carrying all of the shipping expenses which add up fast. The fees become far more easy to digest when the event requires more flowers/designs, and the shipping charges can be spread out. You have to understand this too- we don't just have shipping fees for the flowers alone-that is just part of it. Each wedding requires hard goods, boxes, tags, ribbon- often all coming from different vendors. For smaller budget couples, the high delivery charges don't make much sense-a flower shop based florist becomes a better option.
How having a minimum spend here at Petals And Stems makes the most sense for us, has many many layers- but here are a couple that are easy to explain. At Petals and Stems, I am the only designer, except for occasional help I bring in for extra big wedding weekends. I can only do so much. Over the years the demand has far outweighed my ability to do it all. I am not tooting any horns, it is just the reality of how the progression of Petals and Stems has gone. Before diving into number 3, which actually is a part of this lists of reasons too, I will add this. Being a wedding "specialist" Petals and Stems loves to serve clients that love flowers as much as we do. We are all about being a little extra around here, so we love us some clients that love being extra too. Number three unpacks this a little more.
Number 3 may be a surprise to you. Setting a minimum spend for wedding flowers makes sense for other local florists. Hey I spent many years in a flower shop setting- I know the roll. Flower shops, generally, do weddings too, I am very aware. So how can me setting a minimum benefit them? I can promise you that when I started Petals And Stems, it wasn't to serve "everyone"-but instead to serve only those that loved to be served, and valued being served, in the way I uniquely serve. In serving only a sliver of the market, there continues to be room for other local florists to cater to couples that match their unique offerings too. We all bring something different to the table-which leaves room for all of us. I am very happy to, and often do, refer clients that reach out to other local florists. I have a deep love and belief in the beauty of all of us complimenting each other- not competing. When we all stand true in what we do and offer best, we find our people, all of us getting to serve the ones that best align with our vision and offerings.
So there it is- 3 reasons we have set a minimum unpacked just for you. If you have further comments or questions, we love to hear them. Please reach out!!! If you would like to inquire about our wedding availability please click here.
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