I need some advice please....

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Lady Biker Florist

Lady Biker Florist

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Jan 12, 2003
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I have to give an estimate for 24 eiffel tower vases (they are providing vases) consisting of 10 dendrobium orchids, caspia, bear grass and plumosa fern hanging down long. Includes set up - I would just go their early in the day and make them there.

Question 1: Does anyone know a reliable source for buying 240 stems plus a few extra at an excellent price?

Question 2: They want them lightly sprayed a very light pink. Has anyone ever done this, what happened? I will do my own test tomorrow as they are buying a sample.

Question 3: If you paid $1.45 per stem, what would you charge if you were doing 24 of these (vase provided)?

Question 4: Would you include your set up and delivery as a separate fee?

Thanks very much to anyone who takes the time to answer my questions. I guess it's obvious this is not our norm. Your input will help me make my decision.
 
Lady Biker Florist said:
I have to give an estimate for 24 eiffel tower vases (they are providing vases) consisting of 10 dendrobian orchids, caspia, bear grass and plumosa fern hanging down long. Includes set up - I would just go their early in the day and make them there.

Question 1: Does anyone know a reliable source for buying 240 stems plus a few extra at an excellent price?

Question 2: They want them lightly sprayed a very light pink. Has anyone ever done this, what happened? I will do my own test tomorrow as they are buying a sample.

Question 3: If you paid $1.45 per stem, what would you charge if you were doing 24 of these (vase provided)?

Question 4: Would you include your set up and delivery as a separate fee?

Thanks very much to anyone who takes the time to answer my questions. I guess it's obvious this is not our norm. Your input will help me make my decision.
Click to expand...


Patty there is a varigated pink and white dendrobium called Erica...you can get it from V&T orchids in Miami...ask for Villy.....you should be paying maybe 90 cents a stem....

Work away from the shop is more expensive than doing it in the shop...have you considered using lollipop bouquet holders...they should fit down in the the towers.. and you could camoflage the mechanic with some of the fern....much easier and less stressful to make them at the shop, go to the facility...have the vases ready, drop in the bouquets...add a touch of fern and maybe add a few more stems of dendro's or hanging ferns on site than schlepping all of that....
Write your proposal up for the personals with a total, the ceremony with a total and the recpetion woth a total then at the end of the proposal, do the following:

Personal flowers $ 000.000
Ceremony decor: $ 0000.000
Reception decor: $ 0000.000
Event delivery/setup/pickup: $ 000.000 ( figure 25 per hour per employee or whatever fits in your neck of the woods....do not forget to include you time as well....
PS: You do have a contract for them to sign....the answer is yes....yes yes...I can email you mine if you need one in a hurry...call me at the shop 954-741-8900.....hope this helps!
PSSS...Get a tower from them and take it to the shop and experiment on the height and width etc of what you want to do....take a picture and write down your recipe...sounds stupid but whne the event comes up you have it in front of you...lots can happen in between....keep us posted...good luck!
 
Just buy light pink... far easier and nicer than spraying them.

And, what Sher said. :)

V
 
agreed and here is more info

Try Orchids & More, ask for Cameron 866-877-2966. And yes Erica is good and there are a couple more in the blush pink family, Cameron can steer you in the right direction there and probably for around $1-$1.35 each. But go for the longest stem varieties as possible for the drama.
And to breakdown pricing, this is what I would do.
24 @$75 each = 1800.00
Setup & Del = 275.00
Total before tax = 2075.00
And NO, they do not get a discount for buying that quantity.
I only say that, because it kinda sounded like either you or them felt this appropriate
And like Sher, feel free to call me at the shop 806-373-6613 if you need anything else.
Good luck!
Parie
 
Sher said:
Work away from the shop is more expensive than doing it in the shop...have you considered using lollipop bouquet holders...they should fit down in the the towers

PS: You do have a contract for them to sign....the answer is yes....yes yes...I can email you mine if you need one in a hurry...
Click to expand...

Is that what it's called a lipop holder? Really don't know what that is. Do you have more info on this item so I can find it.

And yes, I will take you up on that offer of emailing me a copy of your contract. The event is not until Oct 14th (1 week before Sweetest Day).

They said they know this is going to be the most expensive part of the wedding whoever gives them the best price on these also gets the wedding flowers. I am not one to compete on price alone, that's just not my goal, but I do go overboard on personal customer service and I make sure they know they can trust me 100%. I go out of my way to make sure they know they will have no worries if I am doing their flowers and also I will be the one making them personally. They got this idea from the Interent and I think when they find out the real cost of these designs they are going to be quite surprises. They do know that they cannot just buy the flowers cheapa nd end up with the look they want, so maybe they won't be so shocked, we'll see.

Glad to learn dendro's are available in a light pink, learn something new every day here at flowerchat!!! Love it!

Thanks to all!
 
That Was A Typo

i TRIED TO SPELL LOLLIPOP AND THE (LOL) DID IT'S THING...WILL SEND YOU A WORK SHEET AND CONTRACT IN A FEW MINUTES...GOOD LUCK! DID THIS POST IN CAPS TO SEE IF THAT MADE IT CLEARERE...NOT YELLING HAHAHA.
SHER
 
Nix the dendro's. I gave her a price and she said it was quite a bit more than she wanted to spend. I told her I'd work on coming up with an idea that was in her price range. She wants to spend about $40.00 a piece. I don't see any reason why that's not do-able. Definitely light pink flowers, though. I'll be working on it. Sher, I got your email/attachments. Thanks so much for calling me today, lots of helpful info I can use, I appreciate it. I decided to tell her the price before wasting a lot more of anyone's time. Something parie said made me think I should tell her the price right away. Sure enough it was Internet sites that made her think the price was going to be lower. We're very simple folk in a very simple town and I don't see why I can't come up with a profitable design within her budget using less expensive flowers. We'll see!
 
Patti -

I had a post vaporize earlier where I stated that we can and do provide the recipe you stated above for less than $40. Our dendrobs cost $6/bu (Anna's in pale pinks) so with the fillers, foliages and labor we would have bid less that $40 for those designs.

If you can get your COGS down, dendrobs are great - fast, effective and elegant. I can't think of another flower that gives so much effect for so little effort. Time is money. See if you can find a better price for your ochids - or come up with a fast way to delivery the best show for her $40.

Also - hope you get a good look at the vase - some Eiffel Towers have very small necks and require an Oasis Wedding Belle (as Sher described above) for anything that requires more that a few stems. In that case, $40 isn't enough for all the work and product you'll need.

HTH
 
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