Preparing for Valentine’s Day at Jane Bidwell Flowers
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and like many other florists, the orders have already started coming in! It takes over a month in the shop to prepare for one of the single busiest days in the floral industry. In early January I start work with my floral team to create ideas for Valentines inspired bouquets, hand-tied’s and arrangements. I also look back on the previous year’s sales to gauge the amount of roses I will need to order. By mid January I begin to work with my suppliers to secure a good rate on the most popular Valentine’s Day Flower – the red rose. This ensures I am able to sell my red roses at a very competitive price. I also order in a vast selection of sundries, such as rose boxes, red ribbons and a lovely selection of cellophanes.Around this time I get promotional posters printed, and make sure the Jane Bidwell Flowers website has a Valentines banner on the front page. Towards the end of January my team and I begin to prepare containers with oasis, clean all new vases, prepare cellophane wraps, makeup lots of florist bows and shred vast amounts of ribbon to use as tie! Every morning on the week of Valentines, we arrive at market at 5.00am so that we can get the freshest flowers for our customers. A day or two before Valentine’s Day, boxes and boxes of roses arrive at the shop and it takes all my staff members a good day to strip them all of their thorns!!! They are then conditioned and treated so that we can sell them at their prime. On the day itself we can have up to 5 drivers delivering all over The Waterside area, Marchwood, Totton, and Southampton. We also have 3-4 florists in the shop making up hand-tieds, bouquets and arrangements forthe last minute purchaser!!! I hope this has given you a little insight into the workings of my shop before, and during one of my busiest times. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me on 023 8084 4114. Jane x 