Saturday, September 6, 2014

The hunt for THE Florist

Hi, everyone!

 On the last week of August, Hon and I went to Dangwa to look for potential florists for the wedding.

 I spent four years in Manila when I was going to Nursing School in FEU but never have I gone to Dangwa. Neither has Kelvin, even when he has lived in Manila his whole life. 

 So to get things started, we hopped into a taxi cab and asked the cabbie to take us to Dangwa. When we got to Manila, I was looking at the street signs and waiting to see "Dangwa" posted on one of the signs. But to my surprise, Dangwa is not a street name! 

 The mecca of flowers in Manila was actually named after a famous bus terminal called Dangwa Terminal. But the row of flowers and vendors can actually be found along Laong-Laan and dos Castillas Streets. The Dangwa Terminal is found at the end of Dos Castillas Street.

 When we arrived at our destination, we each grabbed a cup of fishballs and started our search. 

 Boy, was Dangwa overwhelmingly gorgeous! There were rows and rows of flowers and shops and it was just beautiful. Our senses were greeted with the scents of sweet smelling flowers and eye-popping blooms of flowers in different shades.
Say hello!
 We were invited by a couple of gentlemen from the first stall called La Primera Nene's Flower Shop. 


Frank, who I assumed was one their personnel, offered to provide us with an initial quote. He first started by asking questions about the date, location, colors, entourage, and stuff. He then went to take notes on this piece of paper. 

 Now, if you are reading this and you are planning your own wedding, and you are looking for florists, it is important to have the following information ready when you speak to or interview a potential floral supplier:
  • Wedding date
  • Location - out-of-town fee may apply
  • Wedding theme
  • Wedding color - I told Frank that I wanted Coral but when I pointed to some flowers that I liked, he said that the color that I wanted was pomelo pink and not coral. Oh well!
  • Do you want them to provide flowers for any or all the following:
    • Church - aisles, altar, garden aisle, drapes, candle holders, etc.
    • Entourage - bouquet, mini bouquet. corsage, wrist corsage, boutonniere, petals, throwing bouquets 
    • Bridal Car
    • Reception 
  • Preferred flowers (if you've done your research before meeting with a florist, which is of course, we didn't do)
  • The number of people in the entourage and their roles
After 20 minutes of questions, flower selection, flowers 101, and pictures of their works from previous events, Frank has finally provided us with a final quote. 


Here is the breakdown:

 ENTOURAGE:
  • Bride's bouquet - Pomelo Roses - P1,200.00
  • Maid of Honor - mini bouquet made of carnation, gervera, and button - P800.00
  • Bridesmaids and Secondary Sponsors - wrist gervera P1,200.00
  • Flower Girls - basket with petals, and headress - P9,000.00
  • Parents' and Principal Sponsors' Corsages - P3,000.00
  • Freebies: bouttonieres, petals, throwing bouquet, car bouquet
  • Total Price for Entourage (with discount) - P7,000.00
CHURCH:
  • 10 Aisles
  • 1 Big Altar
  • 2 Small pillars
  • 3 Candle Holders
  • Total of P7,000.00
  • Delivery Charge - P1,500.00
Add them all up, and everything sums up to P15,500.00

Frank was nice enough; Hon and I were impressed with his ideas. He really knew flowers and his business.  He even showed us every single flower that he plans to add to the arrangements and named a few of them for me as I didn't have any earthly clue as to what those flowers are called. My flower vocabulary is only limited to roses and orchids in my mom's garden. Hon was very sweet and gracious that when I asked him as to what he wanted in terms of colors and flowers, he just smiled and said, "Whatever you want, baby."

Aww...

 I did feel, however, that Frank was pretty forceful in his ideas and even shot down some of ours. I also didn't feel that he was very enthusiastic or passionate about his business, products and services . Don't get me wrong, the man knew what he was talking about and he was able to answer all of our questions; he even taught us a few things. But there was something about him and I couldn't put my finger on it. But if I've proven anything in the past 8 months of planning, I learned to trust my instincts.

After thanking Frank and getting his contact details, I decided to try one more stall and ask for another quote. Hon was getting impatient and wanted to leave but I begged him to let me talk to one more store are he relented. I then met Dan, and I'm not sure as to the name of his store because there was no name on his paper.

Here is what he gave me:


I wasn't very impressed; Dan was so focused on giving me lower prices that he didn't show me any real flowers nor ask me a lot of questions. He was busy writing the prices down and we were done in less than 15 minutes.

That was also the time when I realized that I have not seen Hon beside me for a number of minutes and I got worried. When I left Dan's store, I couldn't find Kelvin on the street so I called his mobile.  

I was looking for him in the stores around me when I heard someone say loudly, "Sir, ayun po si Ma'am o!"

 I turned around and there my fiance was. He was holding a pink stuffed teddy bear and a wrist corsage made of pink gerveras. There were about three other grown men around him and they were all looking at me smiling. Hon was just standing there, holding his two gifts with a sweet smile on his face. I walked to him and wordlessly he handed me the flowers and the bear, who now goes by the name Dangwee."


I thanked him and he asked me to talk to the proprietress of the store where he got his gifts from. Pointing towards the store and saying in an excited voice, "Hon, go ask them din about the quotes. Parang ok dito."


Two minutes into our conversation and I knew she was it. She was going to be our florist. Jayzell, was a very nice and sweet lady. She was very accommodating and even offered to make a mini bouquet just for us to showcase their products and give us a feel of how the finished products would look and feel like. She showed us pictures and pictures of their arrangements and products and even helped us decide as to the color combination of the bouquets. She had great recommendations, questions, and she was very enthusiastic and passionate about the designs and color combination. She and her team went back and forth, getting flowers and putting them in this bucket so that we get a feel of the arrangement.

Here is a sample:



Isn't it beautiful? I can't wait to see these colors arranged into a lovely bouquet with ribbons and greens and yellows!

After a series of questions, discussion, recommendations and decisions, we finally have our quotation from Jayzell!


Not only was the package affordable, it was more stunning! She added more colors, types of flowers, she even offered to switch the secondary sponsors' wrist corsages to mini bouquets for the same price! Talk about awesome!

She also recommended that we add a glorious garden aisle and Hon wanted to add Stargazers! Beautiful! Talk about awesome ideas!

But to me, I just love how animated and enthusiastic she was as she was describing the arrangements and colors. She could really see her passion for her business and craft. I just love her!

We've found our florist, everyone! Woohoo!


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