Florist News

this is for those of you who work mainly with silk Do you find them easier or harder to work with compared to fresh flowers and do you find you have a good choice of flowers to work with ? just being nosey hope you don't mind.

__________________

I know you said this is only for people who work mainly with silk but I have had experience of working with silks a few years back. In my opinion I would say working with silks is far easier than working with fresh flowers. You can tug and pull about silk flowers til they look right in a design but fresh flowers need a delicate and competent hand.
There are some very good silk flowers about now and there will always be a market for them. It is difficult to stock silks in a small shop though, people ALWAYS want a different colour/price/size to the ones you have in stock!! I gave up selling them 5 years ago due to that fact... now people asking almost daily if I stock them at all drives me bonkers- I can't win!!

Poor you Thanks for your opinion hun it's nice to hear what people think

__________________

I have worked with both fresh and silk flowers over the years, but now I am internet based it is 97% silks.
I have seen the silks evolve from the late 70's naff, garish colours, poor materials into glorious true to life blooms.
Okay, you can still get the cheap and cheerful naff flowers if you look
Lots of the internet businesses are ripping people off with the inferior flowers and charging an arm and leg for them.
Absolutely anyone can be a silk florist, daahlink. Not.
You see the tat they have on ebay and thousands of feedback, and you think, '' people like this c rap?''
Then you look at what the prices are, who can get a brides, 2 maids and 4 buttonholes for a Buy it now £14-99

There are many good companies out there as well, and I wish them all the best. It has taken me a long time to find all my suppliers and I think the flowers I use are better than average, but to be honest, the majority of customers cant seem to tell the difference between a 1-99 bunch rose and a £2-60 stem rose.


Silks are so much easier to work with than fresh, no bruising, no or minimal waste, constant supplies and wonderful variety.
BUT they can be very antiseptic, no glorious scents in the air, the feel of a satin like bloom. So no sensory rush.
But, I now have nails and no chapped or septic hands
Sorry for the ramble

__________________
www.floralpride.co.uk

I agree with floralpride. I enjoy working in silk.
I stock both silk and fresh flowers so that my little shop is bursting at the seams. lol. I have customers who would never consider having silk flowers in the house and others that use nothing else.
I do far more fresh weddings than silk, but saying that I am doing a small silk wedding for New Years Eve. Cost wise they are getting a much better deal than if they had gone for fresh flowers.
If customers are buying for someone in a home for the aged I suggest silk because I know that fresh will only last a few days in the heat in the homes.
There is nothing like the smell of a fresh flowers shop, and I love fresh flowers, but it is a big worry in stock loss.
The only real drawback I find in using silk is the foliage, they still haven't got it right. I have to hunt far and wide to get the quality that I want.

__________________
Rainbow

Quote of the day : We see the law around us every day.......justice is a little harder to find.

I used to hate working with silk but now don't mind agree with you regarding the foliage rainbow and if using really good silk they do look nice we use a lot of silk for graves for anniversaries most of our customers like the fresh greenery with the silk but a few do want all silk then the foliage causes problems

__________________

Wework a lot in both frsh and silk. The thing to remember when working in silk tho is if they don't look real enough they don't look convincing in an arrangement/design. Wer found the best way to use them is to treat them as you would fresh and theat way you get a much more natural look.

__________________
ME SO FAUN-Y...!!!

You have hit the nail on the head there, Chris.
If you use good flowers and also use them the same way you would fresh flowers, they should appear fresh.
The same principles apply to silk as to fresh work, and at the end of the day you need to know the same basics.

__________________
www.floralpride.co.uk

Xmas Eve, clearing up before going home and a lady came in. I need six cream roses for a vase. I had no vendella left. "What about them" she said pointing to six cream silk canterbury roses "are they for sale?" They are such a nice rose she had trouble believing they were not real.

__________________
Rainbow

Quote of the day : We see the law around us every day.......justice is a little harder to find.

Silk flowers have improved a lot in the last few years.I dont sell them as im opposite wilkos but i do silk weddings if asked, last year we did bridal and reception flowers in silk and i found easier than freshand we could do it all weeks ahead no headaches of fresh flowers!!!!!!!!!