Had to pick between wholesale local flowers vs cheap imports for a wedding last month

I was prepping for a wedding in June and had to choose between a local farm 30 miles out or this big distributor out of state. Local stuff was $2.50 a stem for peonies and they had limited colors. Imports were like $1 a stem and way more variety. I went with the local farm because the bride wanted that farm fresh look. The peonies arrived with some bug damage on a few heads. Had to strip petals and rearrange the whole centerpiece setup the night before. The bride loved them anyway said they looked more real. But I lost money on that job with all the extra labor. Has anyone else taken a loss to go local and regretted it or was it worth it?

3 comments

3 Comments

uma_taylor471mo ago

Man I feel this in my bones. I once went with a local grower for a bunch of anemones and half of them showed up looking like they'd been through a blender. Spent three hours at 1am picking out the wilted ones and trying to prop up the survivors with tape and toothpicks. Client said they looked "so organic" which I guess is code for "barely holding together." Worth it for the pictures maybe but my bank account still hasn't forgiven me.

grant.felix1mo ago

Have you ever considered that maybe the issue isn't the grower but how you're handling the flowers once they arrive? I've been using local growers for about eight years now, and yeah, sometimes the blooms are a little rough around the edges, but that's part of the deal with real, locally grown stuff. Anemones especially are just fragile by nature, they don't ship well from anywhere. Instead of picking them apart at 1am, maybe you could ask the grower to cut them a day earlier so they're sturdier when they get to you. I've had way better luck that way, and the "organic" look actually becomes a selling point if you lean into it. @uma_taylor47, I get the frustration, but I think the grower's doing their best with what nature gives them.

josepha321mo ago

Wait, you used TAPE and TOOTHPICKS on anemones?