Tuesday, January 12, 2010

not your mother's teleflora

i have got to say...the teleflora flower club on the southern living website is a whole new thing. i don't know what your feeling about teleflora has been before, but mine has been approximately this:





well no more! check out these gorg low arrangements, which are my favorite kind. i always love low ones because it's a high-impact punch of color in a small space and it's the most modern floral look, to my eyes. i also love how close together the different colors and flower types are in this style arrangement. but alas, they're usually more expensive than they look, because as always, design doesn't come cheap, and these are as much about vision as they are about floral know-how. well, teleflora is getting it right - right down to the wrapped banana leaves inside. and they're extraordinarily reasonably priced with many between $40 or $50, some for even less.











these aren't low, but they achieve the same concentration of color and modernity.




they've even cooked up some snazzy high-fashion ideas like this.






and some succulent and green items like these.







are you as impressed as i am? this has instantly become my new go-to for sending flowers and plants, and truthfully, you could easily order them for yourself for an everyday floral display or in preparation for a party or holiday.

LOVE!

note: make sure to use the southern living teleflora flower club link, as the regular teleflora website seems to be missing some of the freshest, most modern options.

all photos from www.southernliving.flowerclub.com

7 comments:

  1. The problem with teleflora as with many others is that the arrangements in the photo are interpreted by the local florist that gets the order.

    The results are, at best, mixed and at worst a cheesy half-dead mess. It is always best to use a florist you know even if it means calling your local favorite for a recommendation in another city.

    A dozen red roses is usually something any florist can handle. Anything more esoteric is a crap shoot (emphasis on crap).

    Have you used Teleflora with good results? If not, I'd be wary of making any sort of recommendation.

    There is nothing more gracious than sending a beautiful flower arrangement and nothing more tacky than sending one that isn't.

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  2. Totally awesome post! I laughed at the typical Teleflora arrangements, and we have the same taste in flowers!

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  3. C-
    Thanks for writing about our bouquets on your blog! I'm glad you found something that was more your own style. We offer things in many styles because 1) we have customers with very different taste and 2) we have florists with very different styles! With over 17,000 florist shops nationwide, there's a lot of room for variation. ;)

    You note that you don't find everything you want on the Teleflora.com site - I think it's all there but there's more places to look so some things may be more difficult to find. Glad you noted that you liked them on the Flowerclub site!

    -Nicole at Teleflora

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  4. I really like the one with the roses just peeking out of the top of the vase, where you can see the stems through the vase. That's a floral arrangement I've never seen before.

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  5. Anon - I totally get your concern, and for that reason, I rarely would order flowers online ever. What I like about Teleflora is that they provide contact info for florists all over the country that you can contact directly yourself to place your order. If you know of a good florist in the area you're sending, you can use them, and if not, you can use Teleflora's directory.

    You can then use their advertised choices as a means of common language to tell the florist what you want, otherwise you're just flying blind if you're not ordering in the flesh.

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  6. I love these, particularly the daffodils!

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  7. @Anonymous I second Carla! Especially if you order from a specific area of the country frequently, you can always specify a florist in your online order or you can go directly to their website by using our list of local members: http://www.findaflorist.com

    Florists are artists and, as such, have their own personal touch on things, so the bouquets are not always exact to what's pictured. What you see is more a guideline they'll follow, though if you want something specific, you can note that. The florist will see the note and do their best to be exact in that case.

    Another tip is to find a florist you like in your own neighborhood (again, findaflorist.com can help there) and go to their shop for out-of-area orders. Your local florist can use Teleflora's florist-to-florist network to have another florist they trust make and deliver the bouquet in the area you need it to go.

    I hope that helps answer your concerns!

    -Nicole at TF

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