I'll never forget when I got the phone call from my friend Janet, who I also call my Virginia Mom, asking me to help her with her wedding. That she and Sonny were getting married and they were having a wedding with all the bells and whistles. I was overjoyed for the two of them and felt so honored that she had entrusted me with such a special occasion. You see, Janet is a very special lady to me for many reasons; for the love, support and leadership she has given me. She is 77 years old, a lung cancer survivor of 20+ years, widow of a 50+ year marriage and still full of life, love and spryness. Sonny is 80 years old and widower of a 50+ year marriage, still full of love and life himself. They both are very blessed to have found love once again, someone to share life with and not have to be alone. I am not a professional florist or coordinator, but a very talented lady and I just love helping others and using the talents I have been so blessed with. So when Janet requested my help, I was all over it. I remember sitting down with her the first time to start planning. The desires of the wedding theme, the invitations style, the guest list, the location, and then the flowers. When I asked what specifics she wanted with the flowers, she answered “I trust you and know you will make it beautifulâ€. Wow, she put all the thoughts and pressure on me. So, I asked what her favorite flowers were and what colors would she like or want. Even though it was near Christmas time, she did not want a Christmas themed wedding but yet one that showed the vibrancies of their love and life together. And that's where the designing began. She had chosen a beautiful blue dress for her special day and wanted some blue carnation flowers to match her dress as accents in her bouquet and other arrangements. So I really had to get creative then. I wanted everything perfect for her, for she deserved it, so I started looking for the flowers she wanted and to be able to stay within her budget. I had previously been searching for special colored flowers, for my daughter is getting married in 2019, and I am also doing the flowers for her wedding. Being from the old school, I am more comfortable going into a store and picking out what I want and purchasing it there. However, time and budget were major factors, so I decided to step out of my comfort zone and to order the flowers for Janet's wedding from Fifty Flowers. I read great reviews on them, their prices were great, the flower pictures looked beautiful, the customer service seemed to be great, and I was on a major time crunch, for I was only given a 6 week notice of the wedding, so here I go ordering from Fifty Flowers. Greatest decision I could have made for their customer service and product are way beyond AWESOME!
So I went online and placed my order of what I needed and what the bride wanted. Then, a phone call came in. The small white accent flowers that I had chosen were not available. I began to stress, but they took my stress away immediately. Offering suggestions and sending pictures for some replacements, I found a second perfect one. Oh but then, they were more expensive than the first one chosen, but they told me not to worry, they would only cost what the original white flowers I had picked out cost. I felt much better. They were very helpful and I was very excited about getting the flowers and nervous as well, for I had never order such a large amount of fresh cut flowers for such a special occasion and I wanted it perfect. Then, then next day, I received another phone call in reference to the red roses I had chosen. The team at Fifty Flowers did not feel they would be the better roses due to some circumstances, so they suggested another one. It was one that was a bit more expensive, but honored my original cost. I actually received several phone calls and text messages from Fifty Flowers before my flowers arrived, but it was all to keep me updated on my deliveries and to ensure that I got my flowers on time. I have never dealt with any company that I got such excellent customer service from. When the flowers were delivered, the packaging and care was amazing. And when I opened the boxes I something never really expected to see. They had to be the most beautiful, vibrant, healthy, fresh flowers I have ever seen in my life. Even better than ones I have cut out of my yard. OMG, was I excited. If you look through the pictures I have shared, you will see the flowers shortly after arrival in the buckets per instructions provided. I don't mean just one of the types of flowers, I mean all of them, had me in amazement. So not only did I receive beautiful healthy flowers right on time, but phone calls from Fifty Flowers making sure everything was good with my delivery. I told them, it was not only good but GREAT! Not knowing exactly how long it would take me to do all the arrangements, I wanted to make sure I had a few days to put them all together before the wedding, but also wanted to make sure the flowers would still look very fresh for the wedding. The team member I spoke to when placing my order made suggestions on delivery options, the earliest being 4 days prior to the wedding. I knew that would give me the time I needed and she assured me the flowers would still be beautiful. I trusted her suggestions and knowledge and went with it. Well, she was absolutely correct. As I said, the flowers arrived 4 days prior to the wedding day and I have posted pictures to show their beauty, then there are pictures from the wedding day after they have all been put together and they were still beautiful and healthy. Then I have shared a few pictures that were taken 3 days after the wedding, which means, I had the flowers in my possession for a week now and they still look as beautiful as the day they arrived. As I mentioned earlier, the bride wanted blue flowers, well, I couldn't find blue flowers in the type that she wanted or any within our budget. So I purchased some flower friendly spray paint and painted the carnations blue so the bride would have her blue flowers. Well as you can see in the pictures, the blue was perfect and the best part about it is that the flowers were so healthy that the paint did not hinder the life of the flower. The blue carnations were actually the last ones to go. The bride gave me the remaining arrangements that were left after her friends had taken some to enjoy. I wanted to keep a couple for myself, but suggested to her that we deliver the remaining to a nursing home for the folks there to enjoy and to honor their passed loved ones who had been in nursing homes. When I delivered the flowers to the nursing home, now 8 days after the wedding, they were still absolutely beautiful and they ladies at the nursing station could not believe their vibrant beauty. It was so humbling to be able to share such beautiful flowers. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures of the arrangements that kept just before I threw them out, to show how long they had lasted, but I had beautiful flowers for almost 4 weeks. I was totally amazed and in awe. I cannot say enough great things about Fifty Flowers and the beauty of the product they offer and their customer service. I will definitely be purchasing flowers from them again and would like to say Thank You to everyone at Fifty Flowers that helped me make Janet & Sonny's special day so perfect and took so much stress off me. No one is ever too old to fall in love and experience such beauty as the flowers from Fifty Flowers.
