People tell me sometimes that I’m good at what I do. They tell me I’m a good florist. I think I’m okay. I enjoy the work most days. I can make things balanced and pretty. Most clients are nice and tell me when I deliver the flowers that they’re beautiful and they love them. Boom. Job well done. Cool. Still…I usually attribute such reactions to the excitement and overall feeling of love on the day of the wedding, so, take that with a grain of salt.
Sometimes the people aren’t there when you deliver the flowers so you never know how they reacted when they saw them. Some don’t talk to you again because they just forget it when it’s over…you were paid…relationship done. Others have a bad experience for some reason or other…usually because of circumstances beyond my control…flowers aren’t their anal retentive exacting shade, a monsoon wipes out the daisy crop, or they rub a red rose on a white dress and are schooled in the fact that flowers have oils….and those are the clients that scream.
Things like that make my job hard sometimes. When someone complains, I take it personally and it shakes my sensitive little soul. I’m wracked by guilt (deserved or no) and I feel like I’m the worst at what I do and should never build bouquets again. The next job after one that’s gone bad is a minefield of self-doubt and questioning whether or not they’re going to like what I’ve created. When I hear raves the clouds part a little bit and I feel more prepared and competent. The bad math of it all though is that it takes dozens of good jobs to make up for one bad one.
Today I got a note in the mail from a bride. She married here and moved away. While working with her I was nervous because I never actually met her and all her requests were via email…and they were all VERY specific. She sent me pictures of the vases she had already bought and wanted me to use. She said that she wanted white Vendela roses or nothing. She send me photos of arrangements that she wanted me to mimic and then also told me to do my own thing. (“Do your own thing but do it like this.”…yeah…that’s always a fun one.) I was really nervous! I finally met her when I went to pick up the vases one day and while I was there she calmly added some jewels for her bouquet and informed me of a couple last minute changes to the vases. Uh-oh. That’s questionable. Minefield. Danger. Still, she hugged me goodbye, told me she knew it would be great, and then I never saw her again.
I got everything put together and then had to just leave all the flowers at the reception location. Flowers on all the tables, and extra boutonniere laid out for the groom, a little note on the tossing bouquet. Jon even shot some video of me during the delivery explaining some of what I was doing and how I go about my job. I’ll look for that and post it. I thought it looked lovely, but what if?….. She wasn’t due to arrive for a while and we had to leave, so that was that. I left not knowing if she was the type to rave, feign indifference, or scream. I hated answering my phone for the following week.
That was the first of March.
So that letter…are you dying to know what it said? Well. I got all teary because this bride gushed in a very sweet way when she had no ulterior motives. It’s one of the sweetest things that’s ever happened to me and I’m copying it here for posterity and so I can check back sometimes and remind myself that I do make it right!
“Ms. Lori,
Thank you, thank you for creating such exquisite cream vendela rose and lemon leaf masterpieces for our wedding months ago – March 1st. You are amazing! All guests were in awe of your creations. XO”
Once upon a working mom 