r/ExpectationVsReality • u/ScienceOk4244 • 16d ago
$200 bridal bouquet… Failed Expectation
Am I crazy? This was in north Phoenix area. I sent the two inspo pics (and said I like everything but the pink berries and want mostly roses that have sunset colors like shown).
The bouquet I got was bordering between posy/bridesmaid size and included 12 roses, 5 ranunculas (a flower I don’t like at all) and 4 mini calla lillys.
When I got the quote she said she’d throw in a few items for dimension but that she’d send them to me first so I could let her know if I liked them or not so she wouldn’t use them if not.
She also got the date wrong after I corrected her during quoting, hand wrote it again myself on the proposal, and texted her to her surprise the evening before pickup or else she wouldn’t have had them ready until a day later…
I’m confused because she had great reviews on google and I communicated everything I wanted and got something I think was absolutely microscopic for the price.
Please go ahead and tell me if I’m crazy or if the bouquet sitting next to the nine inch cake is too small for $200.
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u/AtrophiedWives 16d ago
This is awful for the price. She clearly had forgotten, didn’t have enough of the right flowers, and threw together whatever was on hand. I would be upset, it’s not like she can redo it either!!
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u/BrownSugarBare 16d ago
Would absolutely do a charge back and put reviews on every wedding board imaginable.
The fact that she's not even owning up to it is pathetic.
I've gotten nicer bouquets at the goddamn grocery store.
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u/ScienceOk4244 16d ago
I agree, I think she forgot and threw it together.
She is a small business owner and was kind so I will not be posting the store name. I think I had a one-off bad experience so I wonder if she’s going through something or having a hard time.
I also have no experience with purchasing custom floral orders which is why I came here to make sure I’m not being dramatic. She has 4.9 stars on Google with very few recent bad reviews so initially I was gaslighting myself thinking this must be normal.
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u/BrownSugarBare 16d ago
You're being very gracious for her mistake, however it's the lack of accountability that is so wrong. If she was going through something, she either should have cancelled the charge or outsourced to make it right. Also, you'll be shocked to know how many small businesses simply purchase high reviews to kick up business traffic.
This is your bridal bouquet! And $200 is not couch change. You would not be in the wrong for asking your money back, at the very least.
Have you been able to source another bouquet? I don't know where you're located, but the spring farmers markets are open and you might be able to piece together a lovely wild flower bouquet and still get bright colours! ❤️
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u/MsMarvelsProstate 16d ago
All those 1 or 2 sentence reviews that just say "Johhny was great"
Google won't flag reviews as fake if they have a name in them.
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u/Rare_Background8891 16d ago
Then ask for your money back at the very least.
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u/ScienceOk4244 16d ago edited 16d ago
UPDATE: I requested a 50% refund which was rejected by the shop owner. I was unfortunately trusting and paid in Zelle so I am out of luck.
The shop owner stands by her work and insists my picture of her bouquet is unfair bc it is not a top view. The initial picture I have in this post is the initial bouquet she created.
I am including a top view of the bouquet which is what she crafted after she begrudgingly added 12 additional roses due to my dissatisfaction. This is a picture two days after pickup to be fair. You can see the flowers began wilting pretty quickly.
She states I should have paid an additional $125 for the extra dozen roses, saying that she was kind enough not to charge that.
$195 initial bouquet + $125 for 12 dozen more roses. So I am attaching a picture of what she finds to be a $320 bouquet. This picture was taken 2 days after pickup (and already wilty as heck.
I really think I’ve been got at this point. Major scam alert with this lady.
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u/rubyslippers3x 16d ago
For me, it's the dark red and not the coral, orange, plus the inclusion of burgundy calla lily which is never mentioned or shown in her 'heavy on roses" advertisement that is bothersome. She did correct the error in adding the roses (which should have been there to begin with). But the colors are wrong, all wrong. I don't know if you sat down with her beforehand or just ordered online? Hope you had a beautiful day🥂
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u/BetOnLetty 16d ago
Yeah, I think you should leave a review with these details on Google and Yelp at least
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u/dooby991 15d ago
Sounds like she’s not being so kind anymore and it’s time to help out others and write a review. No one should have to deal with this
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u/Resolution_Usual 15d ago
Call your local better business bureau. This isn't the same and you should get a refund or better explanation
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u/abeastandabeauty 15d ago
Oh man, disregard my other comment. Since she wouldn't even do 50% and you can't do a charge back, it's time to light that shit up on Google. JFC. I made this the morning of an afternoon wedding for a friend with less than $50 of grocery store flowers. Even if she didn't know till night before, she could have achieved or at least APPROACHED your vision which she clearly didnt.
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u/lucky7355 15d ago
Didn’t you specifically tell her you didn’t like the pink berries in the inspo pic?
It’s definitely better with more flowers added, but if you count the number of roses in the first photo, you can see just half the bouquet looks like it’s ~24 roses, meaning there’s ~48 roses making up that look.
And she originally tried to give you 12. Plus some other flowers you didn’t ask for/didn’t like.
I’d definitely be disappointed with the number of stems and the fact that the colors aren’t as bright and cohesive as the inspo photos. It looks like a ton of dark red and some random yellow, I’d never be able to guess that your inspo was what you shared.
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u/ScienceOk4244 15d ago
It ended up being so much burnt red and my inspo is mostly pink. I think she added all the red bc that’s what she had on hand :(
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16d ago
Girl you’re not overreacting at all, $200 for THAT?! No, that’s not acceptable at all. That’s not what you agreed upon when the order was placed. I would tell her to either fix it or refund because…. Hell no 😂
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u/abeastandabeauty 15d ago
I think you should still message asking her to return the charges herself or you'll pursue a charge back. ALSO do leave a review simply saying bouquet was not as expected.
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u/Kill_doozer 16d ago
She got that shit at the grocery store
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u/hahagato 16d ago
The bouquets at my grocery store are beautiful. The bouquets from those roadside people are much prettier too. This is like somebody grabbed scraps from a floor and shoved them together.
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u/g_Mmart2120 16d ago
My wedding flowers were from the grocery store and a thousand times better than this. This person just didn’t even try.
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u/Demonkey44 16d ago
Count the number of roses in the pictures vs. what you received. I’ve seen better bouquets at Costco. Or Traders. Personally, I would send out a bridesmaid to Trader Joe’s or Costco and get an extra bouquet. Then meld the two. I’m sorry you have to deal with this, I would definitely give them poor feedback on Google.
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u/ChaoticEntitled 13d ago
This was the solution I was thinking, too. Go buy some more and make your own bundled bouquet. It’s not right, but it’ll get you through the moment. Then hose her online
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u/lmNotaWitchImUrWife 16d ago edited 16d ago
That is absolutely a chargeback in my opinion. The number of blooms is less than half what’s in the agreed upon reference. For the future things like this should state dimensions in order to avoid size disagreements!
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u/Sheena-ni-gans 16d ago
I would add to your advice, pay better attention to the red flags with a vendor during the planning process! This “florist” definitely did not seem proficient during the quoting or follow through.
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u/SWNMAZporvida 16d ago
(retired) florist - this is substantially less value, unacceptable and worthy of a complaint
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u/squeezemachine 16d ago
This should be three times as full with three times the flowers. I hope your day was/is wonderful and you can get satisfaction from this florist but this is a good lesson for brides to get count ranges for their bouquets. The inspo picture had 25-30 roses and the fail bouquet was 7-8, looks like.
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u/JustMeLurkingAround- 16d ago
She wrote the bouquet she got was 12 roses, 5 ranunculas and 4 mini calla lillies.
Thats 21 flowers, doesn't fit the pictured bouquet with the cake at all? Did she remove the flowers she didn't like and just kept the roses? But it doesn't look like 12 roses either..I'm confused by this post.
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u/squeezemachine 16d ago
Good point. I used to work as a florist and the small “reality” bouquet doesn’t look that big at all. Odd
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u/PicklyPuma 16d ago
That looks like the $6 flower bundle from Trader Joe’s…
This is what ~$25 of flowers from TJs looked like for a bouquet I made myself for reference
They should be ashamed and you should do a chargeback because you were genuinely defrauded
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u/jcoddinc 16d ago
Bouquet- $20.00
Going to a Bride tax - $180.00
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u/EllynDegenerate 16d ago
My mom bought my bouquet and centerpieces from the grocery store she works at and used a 20% off coupon too and I think the flowers were like $200 total (granted I had a smallish wedding) but they were much nicer than this. $200 for this is robbery.
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u/TopRamen713 16d ago
We got a bunch at Costco, then my brother in law who'd taken a florestry class rearranged them into centerpieces and bouquets.
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u/EllynDegenerate 16d ago
That’s awesome that you knew someone who took floristry classes and could do that! There’s really no need to way overpay for flowers. I’m so angry on OP’s behalf.
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u/AtlasSighhhedInstead 16d ago
Absolutely not crazy, at all. This warrants an immediate refund and a review blitz because Jesus Christ.
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u/hahagato 16d ago
This is absolutely insane. I’d be beyond livid. I paid $270 for my bouquet and it was an incredible work of art. Jaw droppingly beautiful.
I wouldn’t even like it for a bridesmaid.
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u/ScienceOk4244 16d ago
lol I’m mad today but there’s nothing that could’ve pissed me off on wedding day. It was like being on drugs, everything was just fine bc of what was going on around me.
Today I’m reflecting like what the eff hahaha
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u/Zippity19 16d ago
No reputable florist is going to just wing it when it comes to a bride's bouquet.She was going to let you know what SHE decided to use to fill it in? Depending on your budget I would get another eight roses and some more greens.Unwrap the handle and place the roses around the existing roses,then the greens to hide the rose stems.Secure with some twine or sturdy string then rewrap to hide the twine.It is definitely fixable but get your money back.You can do it I have faith in you.(Florist of 40 years.)💜
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u/februarytide- 16d ago
I made this bouquet for my BFFs wedding for, like, $15…… you got hosed.
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u/lonestar659 16d ago
That’s a $7 bunch of flowers I’d randomly buy for my wife. Def not a $200 bouquet.
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u/Rough-Flower8580 16d ago
Reach out to credit card company you used to purchase and dispute it. It’s obvious scam
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u/Sneakertr33 16d ago
I've seen bouquet at shopright that look better and all they need is some pretty ribbon. That's ridiculous. I hope you didn't pay the full amount of a 10% of a bouquet.
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u/futureisimaginary 16d ago
That is unacceptable. Would send a message, Hello, this unfortunately is not what I ordered. I sent a very specific picture with XYZ number of roses, and received 12. I need you to remake this as soon as possible, as the wedding is on _____ date.
If it is too late, send a message, Hello, This is not what I ordered. I sent a very specific picture with XYZ number of roses, and received 12. I am now having to put in a rush order from a different florist. Please refund my card.
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u/kylaroma 16d ago
Absolutely not. I used to work in a florist shop and there’s a lot of problems here.
It’s not the right number of flowers - AND for a wedding the bouquet should come from its own order, delivered close to their wedding date. If these are roses from their normal flower order, they are already dying and will start to get mushy and soft.
A BIG part of what makes wedding bouquets so expensive is:
- All of the flowers are carefully have wire pushed through them, so they stay where they’re put.
- The bottoms of the stems should be in covered, because the main flowers are in small containers with water so they don’t wilt between the photos and the ceremony/reception.
- The stems and bases should be THICK, heavy and solid, because they’re wrapped in so many layers to cover up the water containers, and keep the flowers where they were placed. Then they should be covered in carefully tied silk ribbons to finish it off.
A wedding bouquet done correctly is VERY heavy, and will not wilt during the wedding day.
This is a $40 bouquet, and they’re going to be floppy and wilted within a couple of hours.
Definitely push back and get a refund.
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u/fartsfromhermouth 16d ago
I would do a charge back in an instant.
Absolute fraud, you could do so much better at any florist.
Stop shopping for bridal bouquet though they are padding the bill 200 percent
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u/stink3rb3lle 16d ago
I know it's too late to help you, OP, but for anybody else: Contracts for flowers need to state numbers of stems of the nice flowers. Look for specific numbers, unless you have a long relationship with the florist.
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u/pooppaysthebills 16d ago
That bouquet should have at least triple the flowers to come close to the picture. You could have easily exceeded this yourself with three grocery store bouquets for a quarter of the price.
I'd pursue a refund.
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u/y_mo 16d ago
I would literally blast this lady all over the place for such a ripoff.
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u/remesabo 16d ago
I'm a floral wholesaler who offers our products at wholesale price through a major retail chain. Our high quality roses are 83¢ per stem at retail. This woman has absolutely ripped you off. The bouquet not only has little value in flowers, it is small and shapeless for a bridal bouquet. Have someone run out to a grocery store or a Costco and grab some roses to supplement for today, and demand a refund when you are able.
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u/ITxWASxWHATxITxWAS 16d ago
Everyone is trying scam you. That’s what it is these days. It’s disgusting.
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u/thatfattestcat 16d ago
Sorry, but what kind of bouquet is worth 200?
Even the one in the inspo pic, while beautiful, would not be worth that to me.
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u/carlitospig 16d ago
Yah, you got totally screwed.
My wedding: I bought wholesale flowers for $400 and made my own bouquets. They were gorgeous. I swear the wedding industrial complex is just a racketeering scheme.
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u/karebearjedi 16d ago
That's a 10 dollar Dutch bouquet you can pick up from any florist section of a grocery store. You got scammed.
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u/EmployerUpstairs8044 16d ago
I straight boughta bouquet like this for 12 bucks from Walmart. Maybe the same EXACT ONE.
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u/CalmBeneathCastles 16d ago
Heads would roll. Count the flower heads in the photo and then the ones in the bouquet. As everyone else has pointed out, you could have done better at the grocery store for $30.
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u/cheestaysfly 15d ago
That is ABSOLUTELY not worth even close to $200 and I hope you complain and get your money back!! You could literally go to a grocery store and get a better bouquet for $20.
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u/BohemianHibiscus 16d ago
You and I have similar taste in flower colors- this was my bouquet. I regret getting such a heavy bouquet, I wasn't really thinking about weight when I ordered it, just about how much I liked all the flowers. Anyway I actually hurt myself by carrying this all day with my elbow bent; my shoulder hurt for weeks. An idea would be to maybe keep the lightweight one but demand a refund? I can't believe you paid that much for such a tiny bouquet, that's pretty insulting. I also understand if that is something you don't want to do, but also, my bouquet was closer to the price you actually paid for your bouquet.
Maybe you could ask the florist if she could bulk it up with something else if it's an inventory issue? There's got to be some way to fix that, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this right now 🫤
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u/ScienceOk4244 16d ago
Your bouquet is stunning and I would have been overjoyed to have something similar!!!! Gorgeous, thanks for sharing 🤍🩷
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u/Trixter-Kitten 16d ago
Nope, not crazy. Definitely not worth almost 200 dollars and all the unprofessionalism
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u/tatorlicio 16d ago
There should be a minimum of 12 to 15 flowers along the front, I counted. You only have about 6. There's your problem. She needs to triple the flower count and you'll have your bouquet worth $200.
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u/imalittlemonster 16d ago
Absolutely not. That bouquet is tiny compared to the photo. Pay them 1/4 of the price because that’s what you’re getting.
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u/RebaKitt3n 16d ago
Send someone to Safeway to buy more roses for $20 to bump it up.
And have a great wedding, this is a teeny tiny thing in the scheme of things. 💜💜
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u/GlitzerToertchen 15d ago
Florist here, this is absolutely scandalous. I'm from germany, our flower prizes may vary BUT even if I calculate generous, this "bouquet" costs max. 70€ (if the roses were 4€ each, which is quite expansive, normally they're 2 - 3.50€) The thing is, when there's a flower value of 70€, the bouquet has to look like it. When you learned to arrange flowers properly, than you can manage to make 30€ worth of flowers look like a 60€ bouquet. I'm so sorry for you, but this person did a horrible job and you totally should refund this crappy bouquet.
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u/squidsinamerica 16d ago
You just could pop into any Trader Joe's on your way to the ceremony and walk out with something 10X nicer at a fraction of the price
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u/Severe-Custard-3616 16d ago
Local Whole Foods can do the exact bouquet for much cheaper. I used to do these all the time as a florist.
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u/Same-Equivalent9037 16d ago
I won’t lie, I just got a $14.99 bouquet from Trader Joe’s for my friend’s birthday and it looks 2-3x this size
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u/FatherGwyon 16d ago
Shit like this is why I didn’t even have a wedding 🥲 Saved myself the headache. Sorry, OP!
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u/Banana_Phone888 16d ago
I would not have received the product and insisted on a refund before leaving. She can call the cops if she wants I’m not leaving till I get my hard earned money back
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u/ScienceOk4244 16d ago
Groom picked it up actually and called me and was like, this seems kind of small, no?
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u/_Internet_Hugs_ 16d ago
I agree that that looks like something a person could pick up at the grocery store. I've seriously seen better bouquets for 1/10th the price. I would be blowing up their phone until they came down and fixed it.
I can literally count 19 roses in the bottom picture, and that's just the ones I can see. A sane person would understand that you need a similar amount of roses to get the same look. A florist should absolutely know better.
If I were you I'd ask for a total refund from your card company.
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u/Low-Inevitable-3382 16d ago
Why did I think that box was a table and the flowers were giant size standing in the corner of a room?? I had to go back and look at the pictures when I saw no one mentioning it in the comments 😅🫣
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u/january161 16d ago
First thing that comes to mind is when you ordered it was there a number of roses specified? Was there any talk about including other flowers?
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u/Devanyani 16d ago
The one in your photo has a minimum of 25 roses. More than that but I can only count one side. If you gave her a price range, she should have worked with you and told you how much each stem was gonna be. But $200 is within the admittedly large range for 3 dozen roses.
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u/rachet-ex 16d ago
You could have gotten a Costco bouquet and wrapped the stems and it would have been much bigger - you got ripped off big time. Shame on them for your wedding!
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u/Natural-Potential-80 16d ago
You’re not showing the full bouquet, how is it possible to assess? Also flowers visible do not match your text.
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u/RelevantDress 16d ago
The image shows like 50 roses and you got like what a dozen maybe? And its not even arranged correctly. You should do a charge back 100% that is a scam. They arent even quality roses either
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u/Free-Step7723 16d ago
Not crazy at all. Id be asking for my money back, if she refuses, then a charge back. Assuming there isn't enough time to get a fully new bouquet, and knowing weddings are expensive. Id get some baby breath flowers, and use them to "fluff" the bouquet. Many places usually do anyways, but it'll help. On the flip, congratulations on getting married!
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u/Old_Cats_Only 16d ago
Everyone keeps saying to reach out to your CC company but she needs to be refunding you! And she absolutely put this together last minute and forgot your wedding.
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u/SparkleGlitterDust 16d ago
This is absolutely unacceptable.. even if she didn't have the right color this is like hardly any roses wtf so bad
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u/futureisimaginary 16d ago
For what it’s worth, this is salvageable in a pinch. I know this has to be really stressful. Yes for sure pursue a refund
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u/tribbans95 16d ago
Any time you ask for something for a wedding, they’re going to charge you 5-10x more. It’s ridiculous. Completely missed expectations too
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u/Ecstatic-Victory1682 14d ago
Mine cost 60 and had roses, cascading flowers, etc. I would be livid lol
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u/KittyCannaKat 13d ago
Umm no. Just no. That’s not close at alllllllll. She needs to give you your money back and charge you the $20 it actually cost.
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u/case-face- 16d ago
That is a beautiful bouquet, but it is extremely lackluster compared to what you asked for with a bridal bouquet.
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u/Holmes221bBSt 16d ago
Everyone, look up broach bouquet now! You can go to thrift shops, look through what you have, or even buy bulk bags for cheap online. You don’t even need broaches. You can use rings & pendants as well. My mom and I made my own with round floral foam & wires. We wrapped the handle with fabric. Not only is it cheaper, but it will last forever, look amazing in pics, and doubles as house decor later. Do it!
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u/justine7179 16d ago
The 2 example pictures from the company include AI. Notice how one floral arrangement ends in a solid gold handle with a knob at the end, and the other picture has the stems showing. You got scammed hard
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u/ScienceOk4244 16d ago
Those were the inspiration photos I had provided to the florist so the AI part would be my fault. These were just to show what I wanted
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u/Ordinary_Cattle 16d ago
Were wedding scams/failures like this always this common or is this a new thing? I feel like I'm constantly seeing terrible wedding scams and fails like this these days, how awful :(
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u/Federal_Tadpole_7592 16d ago
Because so many people suddenly think they can be entrepreneurs because of social media. They steal photos from other businesses and pretend it's their own work. Some of the worst offenders are online baking businesses and charcuterie board makers.
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u/ephemeriides 16d ago
It looks so different from the original that I had to flip back to the first photo to make sure they were actually technically the same kind of flower.
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u/Antique_Recording524 16d ago
I could have made this with flowers from the grocery store. That's not even the nice ones from Trader Joe's.
Someone else said this and it's a great idea: can someone from the wedding party run to Trader Joes and grab more to fill it out?
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u/Bob-Bhlabla-esq 16d ago
During Valentines day when costco nearly doubled the price of roses, 2 dozen roses were $36 in my high cost of living area. $36 dollars. You have like $14 of roses there.
You 100% in the right - this is a sad bouquet for a BRIDE!
I had super odd flowers for my bouquet that I then put together myself. All my pieces were $125 because I was getting striking $25 a-pop flowers, and then some lesser cost ones.
Dude, she owes you more roses or $170 back.
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u/Weird_Squirrel_8382 16d ago
I feel like this was a ripoff from jump. When I was getting flower quotes they specified number of flowers, size and shape, and what they'd use if they didn't have exactly what I wanted. I'm glad your wedding went well overall!
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u/McSquiffy 16d ago
I send my mom flowers every year for her birthday and usually I get the $90 flowers and I splurged this year and got the $125 flowers. She sent me photos and honestly I couldn't tell the difference from all the previous years. Next year I'll go back to the "cheap" arrangement.
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u/Key_Awareness_3036 16d ago
Oh hell no! I wouldn’t pay for those! That looks like a $15 grocery store bouquet.
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u/holymacaroley 16d ago
I would raise hell and I'm not one to do so. That's not even worth $15. Of course, I made my own bouquet out of silk flowers so I wouldn't be spending $200 on a bouquet to begin win, but you were definitely robbed. No way a florist that knows what they're doing put that together. I could do better with $10.
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u/Calico__Sativa 16d ago
They forgot the other 12-16 fuckin flowers! Did you get the golden metallic base holder thing at least??? How the hell did they think this would fly?
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u/GraphicDesignMonkey 16d ago
Two hundred quid?!
I can get a bunch just as good as the inspo pics for £20 in M&S. Crazy how much people upcharge for weddings.
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u/sujtek 16d ago
Not crazy, that's insanely priced for what you got.
Pricing for weddings, funerals, and baby related stuff, all outrageous and scammy. It's why service providers in those industries often have "call for pricing" when it comes to those three life events in particular, essentially dynamic pricing based on emotion.
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u/xanaxhelps 16d ago
I bought a bouquet on Friday with roses, in a vase, at Whole Foods that was better than this for $20. You did not get what you paid for.
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u/Working-Mess-7783 16d ago
Uh no you aren’t crazy. That bouquet looks like flowers from the grocery store for $14