Post # 1
Member
14 posts
Newbee
Hi Bees,
I’m just curious if this practice is unique to this one florist I encountered or if this is standard. I’m starting to look at booking a florist and started to email some local florists around where I am getting married. One emailed me back and said that in order to give me a formal quote, I needed to provide them with a $100 non-refundable deposit. Is this normal? It seems very odd to me to put down a deposit just to get a quote – especially when I have no idea if they are in my price range or if I want to book with them.
TIA!
Post # 2
Member
1309 posts
Bumble bee
That is not normal. I would go with someone else.
Post # 3
Member
2847 posts
Sugar bee
So when they give you a quote that’s $5000 over budget, they get to keep your $100? No thank you.
Post # 4
Member
222 posts
Helper bee
Very strange, I’ve never heard of that. My fiancé at the time rang a bunch of florists to get quotes, most of them gave him quotes over the phone, and some asked him to come in for a free consultation to get a detailed quote.
Post # 5
Member
129 posts
Blushing bee
No, I’ve never heard of that before. Before we got married, we were given quotes from florists without paying anything. I’d wait for replies from some of the other places you contacted!
Post # 6
Member
9186 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
plannerbee1118 : That makes no sense at all. Who is going to just give someone $100, non-refundable, with not the slightest clue what they’re going to get or how much it’s supposed to cost?
Post # 7
Member
264 posts
Helper bee
- Wedding: September 2017 - City, State
Definitely not. Quotes are free…….Find someone else, bee!
Post # 9
Member
7531 posts
Bumble Beekeeper
plannerbee1118 : Honestly, it really depends on the florist. It is fairly common for popular florists, because florals are so specific that you really have to be pretty detailed in what the client wants before you can properly give them a quote. It’s not uncommon for florists to spend a lot of time chatting with a perspective client about their wants/wishes and design ideas only to provide them with a quote and the client take it to someone else and get it done cheaper. Then that florist has put a lot of time and effort into desgin concept and the time to price it all out (which is very time consuming) only to not get the job. Note : I’m not a florist, but I am in the wedding industry. It might be different in other areas, but around here florists aren’t just florists but do total wedding design. They aren’t just dropping off centerpieces, but instead do overall wedding decor for the event.
Post # 10
Member
11371 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
It sounds like a consult and or design fee. As PP explained, if they are good enough that they can do this, and their services warrant it, great.
What does this “deposit” cover? Does it get you an hour consult / design meeting with price quote? If yes, okay. If no, run.
Post # 11
Member
1805 posts
Buzzing bee
Maybe they’re just making sure you’re serious before they spend a lot of time working on a quote?
I thought it was more common to give the florists a budget – say $2500 – and tell them you want a bouquet, corsages for 10 people, some flowers for the church, and centrepieces for 10 tables – and then they work to tell you your options. Then you can get more specific, like you want roses in your centrepieces, so they might make the centrepieces smaller to accommodate the extra cost of the flowers, etc… That’s how my experiences went. It’s just easier to give them a budget to work with from the start and they can work from there
Post # 12
Member
13999 posts
Honey Beekeeper
Nope, not common at all. I would not have worked with any vendors who required a non-refundable deposit to simply discuss working together.
Post # 13
Member
9387 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
no. I would never put a deposit before a quote, that’s ridiculous.
Post # 14
Member
1633 posts
Bumble bee
I’d look for someone else. I live in SoCal, where wedding stuff is pretty costly, and there are plenty of vendors, including florists, who will do a free consultation and quote.
Heck, even most lawyers will give you a free consult before you decide to hire them.
Post # 15
Member
427 posts
Helper bee
Not my experience with my florist, she gave me a rough quote over email with pricing about $xx per item. We met and she gave me a detailed quote with types of flowers and I paid 20% or so I think to reserve the date.
I’m also in Southern California. I did have 1 other florist I was considering over email say she had a minimum and I said since my venue was close to her studio maybe we could work together, but once I had outlined how many items, she said she needed minimum since our wedding was around a “holiday” aka Easter.
