If you are going to celebrate some special occasion no matter it is a birthday celebration or a wedding anniversary, flower decoration can be the most difficult part. Sometimes, you have to spend a fortune on high-quality bulk flowers.
Fortunately, today, there are many options for cheap wholesale flowers to throw a party and make it special: from a wholesale market open to the public to an online wholesale distributor. In this article, we will guide you through all the stages of buying flowers and explain the ins and outs of working with wholesalers.
Flower Market or Wholesale Online Shop: What’s Better?
If you already know the theme of the party and have an idea of what flowers to look for, you can find an incredible selection and fantastic deals when buying bulk flowers. Make a shopping plan and start by researching local sellers and find a wholesaler that is open to the public:
- Many cities have wholesale flower markets where you can buy fresh flowers daily or several days a week. Usually, they open extremely early, so we advise you to get up around 3 AM to have the best deals and the widest selection. However, if you live in a small town, there may be no such market nearby. In addition, it may turn out that merchants work only with large wholesalers or you cannot order the necessary flowers ahead of time.
- Luckily, you have another option to purchase flowers — they are available for sale online. Many websites offer wholesale flowers to both florists and consumers and deliver selected flowers directly to your door. Such stores are known for providing their customers with a bunch of extra features: for example, online retailer FiftyFlowers allows you to arrange flowers by color and make your own bouquet.
What to Keep in Mind When Picking Bulk Flowers Online?
The list of flowers on the wholesaler’s website can be truly enormous, so before placing an order, it’s better to do some research and select the types of flowers you need. Otherwise, the process can be quite overwhelming and you run the risk of being stuck on the store page for hours.
Before ordering flowers in bulk, use the following tips:
- Think carefully about the color scheme and the future composition or bouquets. Don’t forget about accents, greenery, and hard goods (vases, containers, balloons, and funeral forms). Remember that not all wholesalers have these items in their arsenal; often, you must order them on other platforms, taking into account the delivery time.
- Don’t forget to consider the season. Of course, wholesalers offer peonies, chrysanthemums, tulips, and others regardless of what time of year it is. However, during the flowering season, such positions will cost significantly less.
- Depending on whether you want to decorate a place indoors or outdoors, the requirements for flowers will be different. Light and delicate flowers can quickly lose their freshness in the sun, so they are best chosen for indoor events. Outdoors, more persistent, brighter, and cheerful flowers are used.
- Attach a visualization of the party decoration to the order so that the wholesaler understands what to focus on and is not limited to suggestions for replacements or additions.
Feel free to contact the flower wholesaler’s staff for help: they are professionals in the selection of blossoms within the established budget. And be sure to clarify the perks that come with buying large batches. For example, with the FiftyFlowers brand, you can always count on free shipping when ordering huge quantities of flowers.
Mistakes That Beginners Make When Discussing an Order with Wholesale Florals
Experienced florists are well aware of the do’s and don’ts of bulk flower ordering, while beginners usually make 3 typical mistakes:
Request certain shades when ordering the color of flowers
Depending on the variety and type of flower, its shade may not correspond to your ideas. Discuss in advance with the consultant what color palette you need to focus on when ordering. This ensures that you and your supplier have the same color in mind.
Send a photo from an Internet search engine with a request to sell just such blossoms
As a rule, photographs have been color processed and may not reflect the true color of the flower. Name the variety of flowers you need, or better, refer to the photo from the page of the wholesaler with whom you want to make a deal.
Do not take into account the region in which the flower is grown
Beginners forget that local blossoms have a shorter growing season, which affects stem length, color, and bud size. If you’re more interested in longer-stemmed, larger-headed roses, buy flowers from regions with more hours of natural sunlight, such as Colombia or Ecuador.
Receiving Your Order
So, you have successfully placed an order and waited for the agreed day. Here are some tips to help you when you receive your order.
If you pick up flowers from a wholesaler yourself:
- Inspect together with the staff your bouquets in search of damage. Agree with the seller on the possibility of replacing the items that do not correspond to the order or are damaged.
- Bring your own buckets for flowers that don’t handle transport without a water well.
- Check your invoice before leaving to ensure that no unsolicited services are included and that prices and products match your order.
If you ordered flower delivery to the door:
- Check your invoice, packing list, and received items. In case of any discrepancy, contact the seller as soon as you can.
- Immediately check the order for spoilage and contact the wholesaler if you received multiple spoiled bunches. Do not wait long to claim a bad product; otherwise, the supplier may cite processing errors, storage temperatures, and other factors that lead to product deterioration.
Find out in advance how to ensure that the flowers are in the right condition so that they do not spoil by the time of the event. Treat flowers and greenery as soon as possible with special preparations to maintain maximum freshness for a long time.
