I thought I was all cool about getting married and stuff, and flexible and laid-back and everything else that most brides are not. And then I read this article on CNN, about a bride who is suing her florist for $400,000 because they put pastel pink flowers in the centerpieces instead of rust-coloured ones, and also because the hydrangeas were wilted and brown, and presented in dusty vases without enough water. And I totally felt for her.
Seriously, I understand how upsetting that can be, since pink and rust are nothing alike. And also, it's not like this was a budget wedding--apparently, they shelled out over $27,000 for the flowers. Which is waaaay more than we're spending on our entire wedding. I would definitely be upset if the flowers were the wrong colour and all wilted, too. I probably wouldn't sue for $400,000, but I'd be really angry. And anyone who spends that much on flowers is obviously someone who wants and expects her wedding to be perfect, and cares about things like the fact that everything in the whole wedding was done in rust and green, and that pale pink clashes horribly with that colour scheme.
Also, just to do a bit of math--we are planning to spend about 7% of our wedding budget on flowers. Assume the same for this woman, and you're looking at a wedding that costs almost exactly $400,000. Coincidentally, the amount she's suing for. My feeling is that anyone who spends that much on their wedding is the type of person who will then feel like the whole thing was ruined by the hideous centerpieces clashing with everything else at the reception. She was probably really upset as soon as she saw them and that probably interfered with her enjoyment of the very expensive day. I would personally never think of suing a florist over pink vs. rust coloured flowers, but I would also never dream of dropping anywhere near that much money on flowers to begin with. And if I did, I would damn well expect them to be fresh, un-dusty, and the exact right shade of rust.
So I can sympathize with her. Am I right? Or are my days of sanity over?
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14 years ago
I think it's totally justified to sue. (maybe not for $400k but...) It's your one special day and it would really mess with my head if something wasnt absolutely perfect. (well at least as far as colours. some things are bound to get messed up, but colours shouldn't be one of them).
ReplyDeleteMy florist pissed me off on the big day too. I wasn't "I'm gonna sue your ass mad", but it did put a little blemish on the day. The problem? I wanted bouquets of just daisies. No babies breath, no greenery. Just white daisies tied up with a yellow ribbon. The flowers arrived with, you guessed it, babies breath and greenery. I just picked out the crap I didn't like, and vowed to express my anger when I returned from my honeymoon. I did no such thing. :-)
ReplyDeleteIs it me, or do flowers seem to be the most-often screwed up wedding element?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, for the amount of money she paid, she should have had what she wanted. Obviously I would never motivate to sue, but I don't think she's totally out of line (obviously mental and rich, but not out of line).
One thing I learned in dealing with the florist is that when they say, "We'll try to get these flowers, but due to availability, we may have to make substitutions," is to tell them you want to know ASAP if they're substituting.
ReplyDeleteI wanted chocolate brown calla lilies and they weren't available. But I had no idea until the florist dropped the flowers off. The flowers he substituted for the boutonnieres were so small, I asked him to go back out and get a rose to beef them up a bit.
It would've been less stressful if I had known ahead of time that he wouldn't have been able to fulfill my request, instead of finding out on the actual wedding day, when I already was stressing out.
So I feel the bride is justified to sue, although I'm not too sure if the amount is reasonable.
I can certainly sympathize with spending that kind of money and expecting to get what you asked for and not getting it. Though, I think that rings true for any service you pay for. Suing for the $400K? I really don't know if I could do that, but I'd certainly demand some sort of retribution.
ReplyDeleteIf I spent $27k on flowers, they'd better be damn perfect. I would also be angry, maybe not to the point of suing for the cost of my entire wedding, but they would certainly hear a piece of my mind.
ReplyDeleteJess,
ReplyDeleteI emailed you the sand ceremony stuff, but my email froze right after I sent it - let me know if you didn't receive it. Thanks!
Here is my problem: I think it is kind of ridiculous to demand a specific flower and color or to think those things are important. If you need rust-colored hydrangeas (or whatever) to be happy on your wedding day, then that is a problem right there. But do I think the florist was wrong to use a totally different color and type of flower than agreed upon? Yes. Do I think it ruined the wedding or should have ruined the bride's day? No. But maybe I would have had different feelings if the flowers at my own wedding hadn't been fantastic (and less than $1000, I think).
ReplyDeleteOh, if someone is charging her that much for flowers, she deserves to have them done correctly.
ReplyDeleteBut, really. I can't wrap my head around any of it; the amount of money spent on the flowers, the wedding. Oh, my head might explode.
I think you are sympathetic, and professional and expect others to be professional as well. But I hardly peg you as a bridezilla!
I highly doubt you're a bridezilla, but I also kind of doubt that this lawsuit will go terribly far. One of the things I read about the situation was that the florist said they'd try to match the color she wanted "as best they could." That sort of gets them out of any specific performance, but who knows what the true contract was.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's Bridezilla-ish to expect to get what was agreed upon and paid for.
ReplyDelete