I am a huge advocate of choosing vendors that truly match each client’s tastes, style, budget and personalities.
I am the same way when I ‘pick’ my clients and hopefully clients do the same when they ‘pick’ me as their wedding planner.
At the same time, I like to think of myself as a planner who can truly adapt to different people, communities and personalities. All of my brides in the past have been very different one from the other but the majority have a common thread – which I think is the reason we are attracted to eachother – they are all women with strong personalities who appreciate the finer things in life but who value their dollars and want a classy, elegant and unique affair with the ‘best of the best’ yet without being excessive (that’s a long common thread..lol).
While I really care about finding the right client-vendor match, once in a while, I fall in love with a vendor and am so confident about their abilities/adaptability/creativity that I have a hard time working with others.
One of these vendors is Paul from Fleurs des Jardins because he truly is an INCREDIBLE florist. He is also a very special person who brightens up my day whenever I see him.
I have never once been disappointed with an arrangement or bouquet that Paul has created and let me tell you…..I can be picky and prejudiced about flowers. Paul laughs at me when I say things like this but I have very strong feelings about certain flower-related issues:
My Likes:
- garden\fresh cut looking flowers
- tulips, lily of the valley, gladiolas, peonies, amaryllis
- white & green flower combos
- low full centerpieces
- bouquets of one type of flower
- florists who bring extra flowers to events….just in case
My Dislikes:
- fat boutonnieres for men
- orchids mixed in with other flowers
- dyed flowers
- gerberas
- perfectly round centerpieces
- drowning flowers in a vase
- red roses especially at weddings or on Valentine’s Day (*Hope Jason is paying attention!)
- crystals hanging in vases or those jelly balls
- florists who show up late
Here are some of Paul’s creations though these photos don’t do his work justice (we both suck at taking photos at our events)…..
Check out this super cool bouquet he made for a bride composed of individually stitched petals to create a single big rose bouquet:
And one of my fav boutonnières:
I have given Paul carte blanche (almost!) for my wedding and am sooooo excited to see what he will create.
I may love working with Fleurs des Jardins but I also truly appreciate the work of so many other Montreal florists namely Alain Simon Fleurs, Yves Chenier, Westmount Florist, and so many more. We are lucky to have such talent in our city even though our climate doesn’t allow us to have great flower varieties all year round.
Quick story for anyone considering trying to make their own floral centerpieces: 8 years ago, a bride really wanted peonies for her wedding and insisted i order them from a distributor and place them loosely in a vase. What I didn’t know is that peonies need time to bloom…lots of time. I received about 250 little tight balls smaller then golf balls and had to spend the entire day massaging them with sugar water to open them up a little. True story, real nightmare.
Lastly – little side note: Once at Paul’s a few weeks ago, this man came in on a Friday night at 6 pm to pick up flowers for his wife (yes, his wife and not his mistress) and Paul explained that he did this every single Friday since he got married. That is truly a beautiful gesture…just saying……(Hint Hint to all you men out there……flowers are not only useful during special occasions or to get out of the dog house)
TANIA
FLEURS DES JARDINS: www.fleursdesjardins.com
ALAIN SIMON FLEURS: http://www.alainsimonfleurs.com/
YVES CHENIER: https://www.facebook.com/public/Yves-Chenier
WESTMOUNT FLORIST: www.westmountflorist.com/