Corsages and Bouts $

[StephKey]

we charge 25 to 30.00 for wrist corsages. seems like we are adding more and more bling. love love love the newer snap braclets. my kids are in highschool and they realy like them better. we glue everthing.

I haven't seen the snap braclets here in St. Louis, must be fairly new this year. Fitz Design has a lot of new ones, don't remember seeing the snap braclets.

 

[dfisher]

Tracy,
Thanks for the comment about the wholesale price.

We have the wholesale cost out there because florists want to be able to order from us, but I will think this through.

I appreciate your comment and I will work on a solution.

Also, thanks for the compliment about our designs, it makes me smile since I design a high percentage of them personally.

 

[yellowroses]

I love the Fitz braclettes. Not just for Prom. When I do a Bridal Consult, all I have to do is slip a braclette on the Bride or the Mom, (if she's there) and BINGO, SOLD!! I charge $40 - $45 for MOB & MOG if on a braclette. We also use bling and a touch of silver or opal glitter spray if desired. Our Prom corsages are alway the talk of the Prom with the kids and parents. Our Prom prices are pretty much the same for the high end stuff, but I believe you can create a very nice and pretty wrist corsage for less money, still give it a spritz of glitter and less expensive bling on an elastic wristlette. It will be interesting to see what kind of $'s the kids will spend this year.
We glue all of the time. We wire bouts and glue the additions like a blossom of dendro at the base of the Rose or Delph. Also glue in the bling. So easy.

 

[StephKey]

The technique that I use with the tubed Oasis glue is easy.
Just don't set the tube down on the table.
I use a very small, cheap vase to keep the tube upright at all times.
I've seen other designers insert the tube into a piece of dry foam.
Plus, I keep the nozzle clean by wiping it as soon as it starts to get yucky.

It wastes glue to make a puddle and dip. The glue solidifies quckly.

I never use pan glue on fresh flowers. Afraid it will burn them.
I know the floral adhensive does not.
I've been know to be tired and forget to put the last corasage or two in the cooler at night, after drying from Crowning Glory. When I've come in in the morning, they look as good as newly done.

Pan glue can be used and I learned in a floral workshop that the yellower the glue it doesn't burn you or anything else. But I stick with Oasis Glue and like you, I put it upright into an old coffee mug and clear the nozzle or spout as I go.

 

[dfisher]

Thanks Yellowroses -
I love that idea about actually putting it on their arms!!

I would like to add this to our marketing and selling strategies.

We have a number of florists who are very succesfull by selling corsages at the schools? This would be a great place for the girl to try on the bracelet and as you said BINGO.

You are getting great prices and that is one of our goals to help florists make more profit on their prom corsages.

Thanks again

 

[yellowroses]

If you have to leave the tube of glue sit upright for any length of time, just pop a pearl head corsage pin (cut short with a wire cutter) into the opening of the tube. Works like a charm.

 

[yellowroses]

We do go to the High Schools and do exactly that. Another great thing to do when you visit the High Schools is take a bunch of daisies and glue a dot bandaide to the flower and give them to the girls to wear. All they have to do is peel off the adhesive and stick them on. They stick them on thier faces, arms, fingers, clothes. Makes them really remember who you are. By the end of the day, teachers said that the Football players were wearing daisies. Fun!!

 

[StephKey]

Lori,
You make my day!!!

When I first designed the catalog, I designed it for just how you described it - so that you can use it as a selection guide.

Thank you so much for the compliments about the materials we provide - it really is our goal to help florists succeed in this area which can be very profitable.

I am glad you are seeing success after you took the time to "plant the seed"

On the website under support/marketing we have put some really neat ideas on helping to increase sales and profits for the prom season.

I would also be happy to share these ideas in more depth with you any time you want to give us a call.

We have become an excellent place to share ideas from all around the country, so feel to borrow some from us and share some of your successes at the same time.

We also have a place on the website where you can send us your design to see about having it posted on our website.

Here is a quick example of one of our strategies -
Have the prom magazines in your shop - they are a great tool that can tell you a lot about your young lady.

When they come into the shop, give them the prom magazines and ask them to find both their dress and the color of their dress for you.

Here is the extra special point - when the girl shows you her prom dress, she just told you her budget - for example if she has picked out a $400 dress, I would suggest starting her corsage order at a higher price point than normal.

And the reverse is also true - if she picked out the $150 dress, you may want to start with them at a more basic corsage.

Two other quick tips - did you see what kind of a car they drove in? are they paying with Mom or Dad's credit card? Good signs that give you a hint at what their budget is.

Thanks for your comments and please keep sharing.

Do you carry any type of CD that florists can put the different styles of wristlets on our websites, so that brides, grooms, and prom goers can choose from. Baisch and Skinner have a lot of your wristlets, but I haven't seen too many of the newer ones yet. I'll ask Glen when I go into the store next week here in St. Louis, Missouri.

Your information is very useful.

 

[dfisher]

Stephanie,
Baisch and Skinner has joined a new program we have and now they carry EVERY ITEM we carrry. You can get all of our items there now.

For images, we can do 2 things. First, you can copy any of our images on the website, they are unlocked.

just "right click" on the image you want and then copy it. Feel free to use any of our images.

If you need something else, yes we can put together a disk for you.

Just as a side note, our designer will be teaching classes at Baisch and Skinner on the 9th of April. We teach a number of designs and we also share ALL of marketing material and sales strategies. While everyone loves the designs, the marketing materials are extremely effective.

Let me know if you need anything else. I will be happy to help.

You might go to our website and fill out the little survery to be registered for our $250 drawing we do every quarter.

Thanks

 

[twiggy]

We do go to the High Schools and do exactly that. Another great thing to do when you visit the High Schools is take a bunch of daisies and glue a dot bandaide to the flower and give them to the girls to wear. All they have to do is peel off the adhesive and stick them on. They stick them on thier faces, arms, fingers, clothes. Makes them really remember who you are. By the end of the day, teachers said that the Football players were wearing daisies. Fun!!

this would be fun for the shop too(since I'm not able to go into the school) when a prom customer comes in, usually her friends are with her, what fun to give a little daisy to wear to the girls as a ty for coming in .. even better to use those wild novelty daisies!

 

[StephKey]

Stephanie,
Baisch and Skinner has joined a new program we have and now they carry EVERY ITEM we carrry. You can get all of our items there now.

For images, we can do 2 things. First, you can copy any of our images on the website, they are unlocked.

just "right click" on the image you want and then copy it. Feel free to use any of our images.

If you need something else, yes we can put together a disk for you.

Just as a side note, our designer will be teaching classes at Baisch and Skinner on the 9th of April. We teach a number of designs and we also share ALL of marketing material and sales strategies. While everyone loves the designs, the marketing materials are extremely effective.

Let me know if you need anything else. I will be happy to help.

You might go to our website and fill out the little survery to be registered for our $250 drawing we do every quarter.

Thanks

Thank you Mr. Fisher and I will be at the class on April 9th.

 

[dfisher]

Yellowroses.

Another great idea! A suggestion we have is to take 12 corsages made up when you go to the school. 6 for students and 6 for "roving facutly"

The 6 for the students are for those girls who you know will show their off to everyone else and the other 6 are for those facutly members who are moving through the halls all day long.

Just as a note, Our designer will be doing 4 days of hands on classes in the Chicago area in the next 2 weeks. We teach a number of designs and we also share ALL of marketing material and sales strategies. While everyone loves the designs, the marketing materials are extremely effective.

Thans for sharing.

 

[dfisher]

Stephkey,
Please be sure to introduce yourself to our designer - Cory Brown.

Tell him we talked here. Bring lots of note paper, he will fill you with lots of great ideas and then after your prom let me know about all your success.

you can contact me through the website or at [email protected]

Thanks

 

[twiggy]

Twiggy,
Thanks for your note.

The answer to your question first starts with a question from me. What type of income level is your average family.

Here are some basic notes -

If you want to be cautious, start with our beaded items - the Classic Collection is by far our best selling items. Best colors here are Ice, Sugar, Champagne and Pepper. Any of the beaded items are value priced.

I would recommend the Boutonniere Holders - we do very, very welll with these items and they are great for helping to raise your average order. The Calla Boutonniere holder is the hot one right now.

The next group of products for us is Rhinestones and unique items. In this grouping Rock Candy is by far our best. It is our second best selling item behind the Classic Collection. For color, Dazzle is always the best color, followed by Licorice (black) and Cinnamon (red) Some people prefer the Hard Rock.

After that, we go into costume jewelry, The hot items here are Jelly Bean and Pop Rock.

If you have a diverse income base of clients you might look at our Super Sellers Sample Pack on page 21. This is, as the name implies, is our best selling items. This includes the best items from every collection.

Does this help?

Please let me know if there are any other questions.

Our website is www.creationsbyfitzdesign.com and feel free to call me at the office at 800-500-2120. We are here to help.

Thanks

thanks so much,
a little background- Last year was my first prom. I am the only one out of 3 here that has the JH prom book- the girls loved it and I upped the average price of corsages that had been sold by 10-15$
most bought designs with different flowers on the simple elastic band. a few had lights and a couple had the works ($47ish I think)

so this year I'm thinking of raising the bar just a little and offering some of your bracelets and also the jewels. I am taking a look at your site now .. what is the turn around time when placing an order? our prom is the 28th of this month and would like to have the order in the store by the 17th or shortly after. I better get on the stick, huh!

 

[dfisher]

OK, that helps me some
If you are looking to up it it just a little, I would stay in a few categories

Look at Classic, and Bubbly and Empress.

For a little upgrade - take a look at Rock Candy and Hard Rock.

DON'T FORGET the Boutonniere holders.

Here is a little tip - Ice Cream, Ice Princess, Queen Bee and Glitteraiti all have special prices this year.

We ship 99% of our orders the same day. If you placed on order over the weekend, it would go out on Monday - then shipping is 4 - 5 business days from Ohio to NV.

We can also send 2 day or 3 day.

You might also check with your wholesaler - are you near Las Vegas?

I am in the office if you have any questions and need to call.

Thanks

 

[twiggy]

I don't see information on the website about the Laser or Disco collection- am I missing something?

 

[dfisher]

Twiggy,
Our catalog is the first of it's kind - there are 2 catalogs in one.

The catalog has both Fitz Design and Milton Adler in them.

Laser and Disco come from the Milton Adler Company

 

[CurlyWillow]

Would love to see pics!

We currently charge:

$25 for wristlets with added upgrade for the 'bling' and the Fitz bracelets.
$8 for bouts (I may incorporate the 'bout' holders from Fitz this year...they look really nice)

Here in Jacksonville, FL the 'prom moms' demand TINY corsages for their tiny daughters (these girls look like they'd be lucky to be a size 2!) and we end up having to make these tiny little corsages or else face the wrath of 'PROM MOM'! It takes a bit of creativity to give them 'fabulous' with so tiny a product but we do it and have had success. We usually end up with 6 dendro blooms or 5-6 spray rose blooms...with added filler....bling...blah blah

Also, if you use a LOT of orchid blooms at prom time like I do, you might want to order them in bulk from Hawaii if you don't already. I order a box of 1000 assorted (white, var. , and lavender). If interested, just post here and when I get to the shop on Monday, I'll post the company info...

I'm going to set up a station this month to 'test' the gluing methods discussed here and see how it goes....as I had stated before, we only wire and tape...it's time consuming but produces a very sturdy product.

Anyone willing to post pics of their corsages and bouts? I'd love to see how everyone else's look!

Thanks!

 

[twiggy]

I'm going to set up a station this month to 'test' the gluing methods discussed here and see how it goes....as I had stated before, we only wire and tape...it's time consuming but produces a very sturdy product.

Anyone willing to post pics of their corsages and bouts? I'd love to see how everyone else's look!

Thanks!

Just remember to have some patience when using the glue at first- it can be a mess, but as you practice you will get the hang of it. J from JTV has a great webisode about gluing corsages.
you will find gluing will produce a sturdy corsage as well

we want to see your pictures too!

 

[Joe Mioux]

We used to use the oasis glue (can with the plastic bottle attached)... but we were going thru those things like crazy in prom season. Most of the designers pour a little puddle and dip the flowers into the glue, but the majority of it got wasted b/c it would dry up, especially if they were doing other tasks in between. It wasn't the glue we used, but the glue we wasted. If they use the bottle sometimes that is worse. If they don't let a little "booger" of glue dry up on the tip of the bottle, then the entire bottle can dry up. Keep a close eye on the waste with the oasis glue.

About a year ago I bought about 6 mini (4") glue pots and we use those. We've had at least 60 weddings and probably 1000+ corsage orders since then. We have had no problems, and we have saved a ton of money since we switched. I bet at least $300/year. It's much faster and quicker with the mini glue pan vs. a larger glue pan. Less space in between each dip.

huh? I started out using hot glue, but got advised here not to use it because of the problems associated with it. However, I never had any problems. Maybe it's time to go back as I can't stand using Oasis glue for the same reasons you point towards.

Again, the only problem I could foresee with using any kind of hot glue.....from either a large glue pan or the mini pots like Heather mentioned is the simple fact that hot glues are not made to hold fresh flowers and greens. You are running a a risk of the flowers popping off the corsage.

I did the hot glue thing, Oasis Pan set just high enough to liquify. No problems, although all we have to do is make a corsage stick it in the fridge and then take it out. Cheap experiment for our own peace-of-mind.

Pan glue can be used and I learned in a floral workshop that the yellower the glue it doesn't burn you or anything else. But I stick with Oasis Glue and like you, I put it upright into an old coffee mug and clear the nozzle or spout as I go.

doesn't that make the coffee taste bad?

I have seen florists use hot glue sticks, the whiter kind in the glue pots. I never said anything, but for some reason I cringe when I see that. I was told a long time ago that was a big "no-no".

Just remember to have some patience when using the glue at first- it can be a mess, but as you practice you will get the hang of it. J from JTV has a great webisode about gluing corsages.
you will find gluing will produce a sturdy corsage as well

we want to see your pictures too!

I have zero patience when it comes to "those things" (aka corsages and bouts) The faster I can get that job done the better.

Actually, the gluing technique allows me to turn that job over to some of the non-designers who like to decorate the corsages with all the associated do-dads.

One other thought, back in 1989, I hot glued Lomey stake holders (the little circle things that look like a wagon wheel) to the base of 30 10 inch Lomey saucers. An 18 inch stake (riser) was added along with a 6 inch saucer on top. All of this was hot glued.

I used this for cutflower work, stuck those glued up things in the fridge manny many times without a single failure.

Again this was the high temp glue, not the pan glue. Just something to thing about.

joe