Florists in Lafayette, LA

Florist Services

While becoming a florist doesn't require any formal education, floral designers must know how to care for the plants they use and which ones work best for which season or event. Additionally, a skilled floral arranger must also be familiar with the cultural symbolism behind each flower. For instance, carnations symbolize beauty and pride while daisies represent innocence and purity.

If you plan to give someone a flowering plant as a gift, then a good florist can direct you to the right one. They may also help you choose flowers to convey platonic or romantic love.

Many floral designers provide a host of services to meet customer demand throughout the year.

Pre-Arrangements
Most florists, whether they work at a chain or independent flower shop, both online or in a brick-and-mortar store, offer pre-arrangements of flowers. This means the floral designer has a selection of roses, tulips and other popular kinds of blossoms designed in arrangement that customers can simply buy on the spot instead of telling the florist what kind of flower pattern they want.

Have you ever purchased a get-well basket featuring sunflowers or an array of springtime flowers for Mother's Day? If so, you most likely bought a pre-arrangement that the floral designer put together ahead of time.

Buying a pre-arranged bouquet is a great option if you don't know what blooms or plants to purchase but you need flowers for a particular occasion.

Pre-designed arrangements are not original, one-of-a-kind designs, but the upside to buying pre-arrangements is they already come with a fixed price attached. Customers may simply walk in and spend $50 on a Valentine's Day bouquet as opposed to paying the florist a commission for an original design that could fetch a much higher price.

Custom-Made Arrangements
Having both an eye for design as well as good people and customer service skills is a must for any florist. These professionals work with clients to find the best flowers and custom-designed arrangements appropriate for the event or occasion. A commission to create a table piece, wreath or other type of design is typically much more expensive than a pre-arrangement, as it may not be made up of plants the florist already has on hand.

Events and Occasions

There's always a demand for florists and their creations year-round as people celebrate and commemorate the special moments in their lives. Whether you're getting married or remembering a loved one that just passed, flower arrangements and wreaths are traditional items we all use to help mark the important dates, stages and occasions in our lives.

Weddings
One type of event most floral designers work on is weddings. Professional florists will collaborate with the bride and groom to formulate a design scheme that complements the event's overall colors and layout. Depending on what the couple wants and can afford, a floral designer may create the bridal bouquet along with streams of flowers for the wedding venue, table arrangements and vases for the reception afterward.

The prices for hiring a florist to do a wedding vary broadly because it not only depends on how many blooming plants you want, but also how widely available the particular flowers are.
More exotic types of blossoms, such as orchids, are pricier than your typical rose. Your bill could also fluctuate depending on how complicated the design is to make and if the flowers you choose are in season or not.

Keeping that in mind, florists are like any other tradesperson - your bill will reflect the materials they used and the time and labor that went into making up the designs.

Some floral designers also charge delivery fees to transport the flowers, vases and other materials to wedding or reception sites. Remember, it's not only the bride that needs flowers. Bridesmaids and the mother of the bride might also carry corsages and the groom and groomsmen sometimes festoon their jackets with boutonnieres. Don't forget about the flower girl, as well.

In all, the average cost to outfit a wedding with flowers is about $700. Some florists advise people to set aside 10 to 15 percent of the ceremony's budget for floral decorations.

Funerals
Funerals are another major life event we commemorate with flowers. Florists may furnish sympathy flowers for the observance and lay sprays or baskets of plants around the church, synagogue or funeral home to help attendees with the grieving process. Designers also make floral wreaths and crosses to set up at the venue or in the cemetery, as well as special casket arrangements so family and friends may show their respect for the deceased.

Many customers choose traditional roses, lilies and carnations to send to a bereaved family, but florists are also able to personalize arrangements to your liking.

Just like other ceremonies that call for flowers, the price depends on the number of blossoms and what type of plants you want, along with the complexity of the arrangement. A complete funeral floral package that includes sprays along the casket, flower decorations for the venue and flowers for the participants can run from $200 to $800.

Meanwhile, the usual sympathy bouquet or vase runs between $40 and $80.

Mother's Day
You might think Valentine's Day would be the busiest day for a florist, but the day of love comes in second place behind Mother's Day. According to a number of studies, people do more online searches for flowers in anticipation of the May holiday than they do for Valentine's Day.

In fact, this day is inextricably linked with flowers, as Congress first issued a Mother's Day proclamation in 1913 asking all federal officials to wear a white carnation to commemorate their mothers.

Many children wish their mothers well on the day by sending a bouquet of carnations, roses, violets or tulips.

Valentine's Day
Coming in second place as the busiest holiday for florists is Valentine's Day. When Feb. 14 arrives, so do many people looking for arrangements to send to their loved ones. Just like Mother's Day, this holiday is very lucrative for floral designers. Americans typically spend tens of millions of dollars on their significant others every Feb. 14, and flowers, especially long-stemmed red roses, are a popular way to show someone you care.

Valentine's Day goes to show that a gift of fresh-cut flowers never goes out of style. However, it does go up in price - quite a lot, actually. The price of a bouquet of roses usually doubles on Feb. 14 before it goes back down the next business day. Expect to pay up to $100 for red roses from a flower shop on Valentine's Day. Therefore, if you're looking for a deal, it's smart to buy your bouquets a few days ahead of time and keep them in a vase with water so they stay fresh.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah
The holiday season is also one known for festive floral arrangements. Many families look to florists to come up with a Thanksgiving table set piece or a traditional cornucopia featuring plants with autumnal colors and gourds. Many churches and individuals also spring for flowering plants to help usher in Christmastime. Many florists sell living yuletide decorative plants such as ivy, holly, poinsettias, mistletoe and even miniature Christmas trees.

Many flower shops and floral arrangers also design centerpieces especially for the eight nights of Hanukkah. Online and brick-and-mortar florists offer blue and white flowers, usually arranged with candles in between the blossoms.

Easter and Passover
Religious holidays held in spring also keep flower shops busy as they design orders for families, churches and synagogues. Many shoppers are on the lookout for bunches of mixed flowers pre-arranged in bouquets or vases by florists. Lilies, as well as daffodils and tulips, are especially popular around these spring holidays.

Hindu and Buddhist Ceremonies
Flowers, especially the lotus, figure prominently in Hindu and Buddhist religious ceremonies, as well as in these two ancient religions' wedding customs. Many florists provide garlands of flowers to decorate and festoon the functions with.

Other Occasions
Remember that it doesn't need to be a holiday to purchase flowers. Floral designers also make commissioned or pre-arranged flowers to take to sick relatives, friends and colleagues recovering at home or in the hospital. Many florists also make designs for newborn babies, too.

What Else a Florist Can Help You With

While the majority of their work is devoted to making eye-catching and pleasing creations with plants, florists can help you with much more than just finding the right flowers for your next event or party.

In fact, a good floral designer can be a fountain of knowledge. These experts can inform you of the best ways to take care of your plants or how to properly cut the stems of flowers to ensure they last longer in your vase.

The next time you're out buying an arrangement, ask your florist which type of vase to use with which flower and how much water and plant food you should use to prolong the life of your bouquet or potted plant. Even though retail florists don't usually grow the blooms or plants themselves, they do know the best ways to keep your arrangement looking fresh for longer.

Online Florists Versus Local Shops

Local flower shops or gardening stores used to be the only game in town when it came to selling real or fake floral arrangements until supermarkets and drugstore chains entered the business by offering inexpensive pre-arrangements for holidays and other occasions. However, the number of brick-and-mortar florists is further on the decline as more customers choose to purchase bouquets, wreaths and other greenery online.

Even though one exists in a virtual capacity while the other is located in a physical setting, there aren't too many differences between online and brick-and-mortar flower shops.

Many online stores offer pre-arrangements of flowers you can purchase, as well as the ability to form your own design and decoration.

Online flower shops, in fact, work with wholesale florists near your area to ensure they deliver your order promptly. Since cut flowers don't have a long shelf life, these Internet-based companies essentially take your request and contract it out to a florist in your locale to design it and drop it off at your home or office.

While purchasing flowers online is convenient - you can shop any time of the day without leaving your house - there are a few things the online stores cannot offer patrons. You can't smell the sweet fragrance of tulips or roses in cyberspace and you can't touch the petals or leaves before you buy the plant. Additionally, when you buy a bouquet over the Internet, you're basing your decision on a stock photo of the item instead of the actual one that will arrive at your doorstep.

Not all varieties of roses or violets look the same and an approximation of a flower isn't the same as the specific one you could end up receiving.

This is one advantage physical brick-and-mortar flower shops have over their online competitors. Making the trip to your local florist means you can actually get the chance to stop and smell the roses.