Vendor nightmare..

F5

Well a few days went by and still no receipt. So I had my fiancé call and cancel the whole thing, I told him to tell her that our grandmothers planned on doing our flowers. She told him that she had to speak to me to get my card information to make a refund. I gave her my card information and she said the money should be back into my account and that it was no problem. This was 9/23. Well a week went by, and I didn't receive my refund. I emailed her again and asked if it went through. She said yes it takes a few days. So I waited another week and emailed her again. She said she was away and would check on it tomorrow (2 days ago) when she got back to the shop. Well now I'm annoyed. She never emailed me back. So now I'm printing out my emails and going to the bank to dispute the transaction so I can get my money back.

Uhhh never been more annoyed in my life.

And fyi, I am doing my own flowers because I can't deal with this

That's so annoying!!!! I don't know how that works, but I hope that there's enough proof to get your money back.

Wow what a pain in the butt!! Sorry that happened to you. I plan to do my own flowers too as flowers aren't that important to me as well. Good luck!!

Oh my. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Glad you are not stuck with her and it seems like you'll eventually get your money back.

That's definitely frustrating. Is there another florist you could go with? Seems like you have a ton of time to find one and it might take a ton of stress off of you on your day.

After you get your money back, I'd leave a review stating what happened on every social media site you can.

Oh wow. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. Hopefully she gets this cleared up soon so you can move on.

@alexism082 oh I plan on it! I'm so tempted to starting reviewing them now but I'm waiting until I get my money back first so it doesn't bite me in the butt.

I wouldn't call this a nightmare as much as I would call it an extreme annoyance. I've seen nightmares happen (like flowers being the complete opposite of what was ordered on the wedding day). Be lucky that a bank dispute is all you have to put up with.

Frustrating, but a bank dispute isn't too terrible. Make sure you leave your reviews after its settled.

Refunds can take a long time. I would call the card company and ask if it's even in the system yet as a refund. If not, place a dispute on the purchase.

I'm sorry things didn't work out, but just as a PSA -- $1,100 for wedding flowers from an event florist isn't a red flag (some of the other stuff may be, but not the price). Actually, the red flag would be someone willing to do that job (that was quoted at $1,100) for $600. A potential client walking in with a $600 budget for everything would be an impossibility. You said you understand your budget is small, but she should have worked with it. In my neck of the woods, I couldn't have worked with that budget -- I have to make money, and the pricing involves more than the cost of the flowers. I couldn't do your bouquets and ceremony pieces for that amount. Reception decor would have been considerably more. It might be what the market bears in my area, but a $1K budget for wedding flowers would be very difficult to accommodate.

That being said, doing your own flowers isn't a small thing (unless you're doing silks and can start whenever you want). Remember, they are living things and they can't be designed until a day or two before your wedding -- the most hectic time. I'd suggest you order pre-made pieces from Sam's Club for your personal flowers (I think they run $200 - $300) and also order stems of roses and/or hydrangea from Sam's. Get small cube vases, put them on your table, and put a hydrangea or two and a few roses in each. You'll be able to have your flowers and probably come in under your original budget.

If you want something special for your bouquet, splurge on yourself and go to your grocery store florist. You won't get the exact product or personal attention (and there may be no delivery) that an event florist would give you, but you'll get something pretty and in your color scheme. Let Sam's Club handle the rest, or just get a quote on everything from the grocery florist.

Yes it's frustrating, but it's not a nightmare. None of what you've mentioned is a red flag; the budget was tiny, she probably couldn't work with it, but did the best she could (and your wedding is in season too, so there is no, "I have nothing else to do" factor). Even if flowers are not important to you, they're important to her; it's her livelihood. And by coming in with a rock bottom budget , I hate to tell you, but you're not her priority; not when she probably has six weddings every weekend in September and October. I know you don't want to hear that, but as a reality check? Six hundred dollars will get one bride bouquet, two BM's and two bouts in my neck of the woods. The average budget for a 100 person wedding is well into the thousands.

A few days, in prime wedding season, can mean a week or more, and when you decided to cancel what she offered to do (probably at less of a margin than she usually gets) it probably took her a week to process a refund. It can take two more weeks to show on your credit card.

Don't review them. There is nothing out of the ordinary here; possibly not the best customer service, but not a nightmare either.

Doing your own flowers is not as easy as plopping two hydrangeas in a bowl (they are notoriously fickly, by the way....), and building your own bouquet is pretty labor intensive too. AND, as centerpiece noted, all this architecture demands to be created that last few days. When everyone is nuts, no matter how carefully you plan everything.

I'd look into non floral centerpieces like lanterns or candles or even little, edible wedding cakes, and find a florist who will do personal flowers for you and your girls (please don't tell me you have 10 of them...). Guys can go without bouts; I see this all the time. Mom corsages? It would just make me feel old.....

You can get this done, but if you consider THIS a nightmare, it's going to be a long, long planning process.

I got quoted $650 for 5 BM's bouqets, my bouqet, 8 corsaige, and 2 (wrist things, cant remember what its called). Stargazer lilies and fuscia roses. It must depend on the location.

He said he could do the centerpieces for $30 a piece if I provided the vases, but thats not a part of the $650.

Very reputable vendor, lots of good reviews. But I live in rural CT. So I am not sure if that is why he can do it so low?

I think like anything, flower cost depends on the area. I got my bouquet, 4 BMs bouquets, 5 bouts, 2 wristlets, 1 corsage, and a hair flower thing for $400. However, I know that in the city I used to live that same order would easily be in the 800-1000 range.

@Emily did you look around to get an idea of prices in your area. If what you were looking for typically costs closer to your budget then she did go over for no reason, but if prices are just generally much higher than you wanted to spend then she may have done the best she could.

I agree about refunds taking time. I would talk to the bank though. They can probably tell you how long it should take to process and when/if you should be worried. Good luck with it!

My budget is extremely reasonable for my $7000 wedding budget. I'm only having 65 guests. I don't see the purpose in spending an arm and a leg for something that is going to die. She is the professional and should work within my budget. But seems extremely unorganized

Did she give you options at all? When I talked to my florist she first showed me mock up bouquets that cost around $300 each, but then told me it completely depends on what flowers you choose, how big, etc. Eventually we settled on something I loved for my bouquet that only cost $80.

She gave me no options which I was annoyed about. So we agreed to raise the budget. But ended up canceling it because she's too unorganized for our liking

I think at the very least, professionally, she should have flat out said that for $600 she wouldn't be able to do much, and then discussed things with you, like less expensive flowers and such. Like KM said, she should have given you options.

That being said, I also understand what Centerpiece is saying. Flowers can be pricey depending on what you want and where you live. We got a quote for silk flowers from a florist here and it was $1043. That was without reception pieces. I can only imagine what live flowers would cost.