Wretched Excess, and/or, would you sue?

My comment would be something like, I think $27,000 is ridiculous to spend on flowers, but can certainly see that if you're going to spend that kind of money on something, you expect it to be primo. This doesn't sound very primo. Certainly not worth more than $1,000 per centerpiece (gack).

I know that's very close to your second option, but I don't support the plaintiff exactly -- she might be lying about the wiltedness and dustiness and such for example. If it was in fact primo but the color was simply a bit off, and the guy had told her it was likely to be a bit off, than any sympathy evaporates.

I'm iffy about the too little water thing, but not sure how iffy. I had a row of fantastic hydrangea shrubs back in northern california, and remember being told that to get the most intense colors for, say, mantlepiece vases, I should put some water in the vase but not refill it. My dark purple-blue and sometimes red hydrangeas would last for months (lthough I took the leaves off) and after a year would get this sort of taupe brown beige look, also beautiful in its way.

However, one time I did that, and the flowers just plain wilted.

Presumably a professional floral designer would know. Hey, Tico....

I think the whole issue is just plain stupid. When I got married and the flowers were delivered that morning I started laughing. They weren't the flowers I ordered and the colors were awful. I thought it was funny. The florist apologized and I said okay. The end.

My initial reaction was going to be but then I was married by a Justice of the Peace so what do I know about excessive wedding spending?

I would just say that if I was spending that kind of money and didn't already have an ongoing relationship with a good florist then a trial run might have been in order -- for a dinner party or something -- to see if the florist and I had the same "vision". (I can speak high-end-fashion-magazine-speak when I try.)

I'm with Soz. Personally, I wouldn't spend $27,000 on a wedding, let alone on flowers for a wedding, but if I were giving the florist all that lovely money I'd expect lovely flowers--with samples in advance.

As a part time floral designer ....

Hydrangeas! -- our worst nightmare. (Well no ... actually gardenias are, but anywho ...)

Flowers are natural things, with all the vagaries that implies. That, to me, is a big part of their beauty. If you want something exact and identical and perfect, go with silk >gag< It's the only sure way.

Two weekends ago, I managed a wedding where the bride asked for rust coloured hydrangeas (among other flowers) in the table centre arrangements. Sometimes we can get them, sometimes not. Growers cannot guarantee what they will have in any given week. They are sold in buckets of mixed sizes and colours, so the florist may have to buy 3 times as many flowers to get the ones he/she needs. This particular colour just was not available so, yes, we substituted (but got the bride's permission beforehand). The choice was to change flowers completely or go with the pinky/green ones that were available. She opted to go with what was available. The colour was made up for with some gorgeous rust/burgundy dahlias.

Yes, you can change the colour of hydrangeas with dye in the water, but each flower will take it up differently. There are also spray-on dyes available, if you really want. (Fake! Not for me.) The florist could have tried either of these methods.

Hydrangeas (note the greek root "hydra" = water) are what we call heavy drinkers -- they need a lot of clean water, and need to be properly hydrated and rested (cool dark place) prior to using. So it's possible that the florist was guilty of not preparing them properly. It's also possible that water is spilled during the transporting, but the florist responsible for setting up should replenish that when the arrangements are placed on the table. On the other hand, if the wilting and browning was noticed at the end of the night -- well, it's possible that the heat caused the flowers to double their water uptake. Without water, hydrangeas wilt within an hour (but can be revived by totally submerging in warm water).

More than you wanted to know? :wink:

As for the price -- unless the arrangements were HUGE, or were in very expensive containers, I doubt the $27k was for the table centers alone. It probably also covered the bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, pew markers, arches, church standards, etc.

(BTW there's a lot of labour in corsages & boutonnieres. I can make a large table centrepiece in the same time as it takes to do a corsage.)

Hydrangeas also fluctuate in price more than most flowers. We sell them anywhere between $3.50 per stem to $15 -- depending on the wholesale price that we buy them at. Generally, the bigger and more colourful ones are more expensive, especially if they have to be imported out of season (which is now).

The worse tale of excess that I've heard was from a florist friend of mine. The total wedding had a $1 million price tag, the flower budget was $100k.

And yes, I agree that the trend in wedding excess is disgusting.

I just went to a florist forum to which I belong, to see what was being said about this. Opinions were split (surprising to me, I thought they'd all be on the side of the florist). But apparently there is an email trail (the bride sent over 200 emails to the florist during the course of their contract), and repeatedly demanded things that her mother-in-law (who was paying for everything) would then change to reduce the price. Also, some knew the venue and claimed the lighting would effect the colour perception. Most interesting, though, was that someone found a NYC lawyers' forum discussing the case -- lawyers seem to be heavily in favour of the florist, mostly because the lawsuit is frivolous and overstated. Some claim that the bride (a lawyer) is trying to jumpstart her career and that it will backfire on her.

I wonder who she'll sue when she discovers her children have horrible personalities.

I was guessing the bride is a lawyer.

No, you didn't tell us too much about hydrangeas. Some year I'll post some of my vases.. I'm a slug re getting my scanner active.

I did have my sideyard hydrangeas clipped by others - found out one of them was one of the landscape contractors we gave clients the name of. It was for his girlfriend. #@#@#@#@#@#@

Another fellow rang my doorbell and asked, and I said he could have a few at a time if I could show him, and proceeded to give him some time on pruning and my interest in still having a good looking shrub alive with blooms. He came back a few times, always rang the bell first, and never failed my beginning advice. And yes, the hydrangeas he picked were for sale.

Nods, gargamel..

Some of this is akin to life as a landscape designer, contractor, architect, whatever, in that an amazing amount of people don't like the actual cycle of plant life.

Things crump. Petals fall off..


Y'know, perfect plants are almost creepy. Reminds me of some gardens.

Urgh, my biases are showing.

This may be petty, but is the bride correct?

>shrug< Too many unknowns. When the vases went on the tables, were they dirty, did they have sufficient water? Was she advised of the difficulty of getting the colour of hydrangea that she wanted? Did her mother-in-law request the less expensive ones? Were the hydrangeas inferior quality (the florist can go back to the supplier, if so)? Was the bride's life damaged to the tune of $400,000?

As my mother always says, in any dispute, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

I gotta say, though, that I think the florist was stupid not to settle with her for the original $4000 she asked for. Even if he wins, the damage and the time taken will amount to that. 4 grand was probably his profit margin. If she wins, and he doesn't have insurance, he'll probably be bankrupt.

Predicting florists throughout the land coming up with Weasel Sheets...

Sure I'd sue. It looks like pretty clear breach o' contract.

Forget the numbers. Forget even the fact that these are flowers. Just focus on the agreement, the meeting of the minds. And if the meeting of the minds guarantees certain colors then anything other than said colors is in breach.

The wilting issue is different as any florist in business for more than, say, five minutes, should have a clause in the standard contract stating that flowers wilt and have natural color variations, and that nothing's guaranteed beyond, say, four hours or 90 degree temperatures or the like. But delivery of markedly incorrect colors, and delivery of already damaged (wilted and dried) goods is not adequate performance of the contract.

The contract, BTW, was undoubtedly drafted by the florist (these things almost always are). Any ambiguities are to be construed as against the drafter.

Forget the emotions. Forget that it's a wedding. Forget that it's excessive. It's a contract. They paid an agreed-upon consideration for goods and services, neither of which met the value of said consideration. It sounds, actually, like a rather simple case to me.

Thanks for the clarity, Jespah.

Now, um, does the bride have to have photos of the offending bouquets at the time?

She spent all that money on a wedding and didn't hire a photographer to immoralize the occasion?

Photos would certainly help her case. She could get testimony from the 200 or whatever nearest and dearest at the wedding, but photos would really tell the tale.

Boy, like minds. I was thinking the same as osso re: the photos, and jes re: the contract, but somehow I'm feeling kinda sorry for the florist. That's a lot of money (the $27K) to be out in flowers, and the suit is for $400K - wow. I don't know how large the company is, but it sounds like a mom and pop organization. Of course, I could be wrong. It could be the flowers weren't wilting at all, just changing colour... and who knows what the contract said or what the real deal was - all we hear is what they've chosen or been allowed to say in public.

The other question: Is $27K a lot for flowers? For me, yes!! For Paris Hilton, no!! It's all relative.

I still haven't voted. Thinking, I'd rather have hydrangeas in pots... not as tossers. I'm aware this is irrelevant.