Florists have ‘stories to tell’ on Valentine’s Day

PHOENIX — Floral shops will be flooded with customers ordering flowers to be delivered on this Valentine’s Day.

But sometimes customers send the flowers to the wrong person.

Jen Colvin is the owner of Ever After Florals in Phoenix. She remembers one customer in particular.

“I had a guy who was married and also had a girlfriend,” said Colvin. “He was ordering flowers for both women, and mixed the cards up.”

It happened years ago, in the days before cell phones. The man realized what he did, but not in time to stop the flowers that were intended for his wife, but went to his mistress instead.

As for his wife, he lucked out.

“The driver had to come back to the shop to get something that he forgot,” Colvin said. “When he got back, the person was in our store. That’s the only thing that saved him.”

Colvin made him another flower arrangement and sent the correct message to the man’s wife.

“The wife never found out,” said Colvin. The girlfriend obviously knew he was married. She got the mellow message that was meant for his wife, you know, the ‘Happy Valentine’s Day, I love you XOXOXO.’ The girlfriend didn’t get the juicy ‘I can’t wait to do this and this and that to you’ card that she was expecting to get.”

Colvin said she was politically correct and bit her tongue instead of telling the customer what she really thought of him.

As for other customers, it can be really emotional for florists when the see the messages people want on the flower arrangements they order and it doesn’t only happen on Valentine’s Day. She also arranges flowers for weddings and funerals.

“You get a lot of funeral work that really tugs at the heart strings,” Colvin said. “At certain weddings, maybe the parent just passed away, and the people are really having a hard time going through with the wedding.”

Colvin said that the floral industry has a lot of emotions behind it and florists have to know how to deal with customers and be compassionate with them.