May 28, 1914. 



The Florists' Review 



18 



HERE COMES THE BRIDE" 



When a woman weds it is the most momentous event of her life; neither she 

 nor her family will overlook any shortcoming in the wedding flowers. 



UNE, the month of brides, ia 

 the most important on the 

 calendar for any florist who 

 makes a pretense of cater- 

 ing to the best trade in his 

 town. The reason lies not 

 so much in the extra quan- 

 tity of high class work as in the un- 

 equaled opportunity to make or mar 

 his professional reputation. 



A big wedding is an advertising op- 

 portunity par excellence. 



Woric that Is Watched. 



Earely does any florist handle an or- 

 der for flowers that receive the critical 

 attention that is given to every wed- 

 ding outfit. Not only do the flowers 

 count for a great deal 

 for or against the florist 

 with the bride and her 

 family, but the number 

 of guests usually is 

 large and everything 

 connected with the wed- 

 ding gets critical inspec- 

 tion. The flowers are 

 more discussed and long- 

 er remembered than is 

 the ease with any other 

 work of the florist. 



It is an old saying 

 that "a carpenter is 

 known by his chips," 

 which is almost the 

 same as saying thai a 

 florist is known by the 

 work he turns out for 

 weddings. Let it be good 

 work. 



"Penny Wise." 



Not many men can do 

 good work without good 

 materials, and no man 

 can be sure of his wed- 

 ding decorations and 

 bouquets unless he uses 

 first-class flowers. Nev»er 

 is it BO well as in June 

 to sacrifice a dollar or 

 two of immediate profit 

 as an insurance against 

 the loss of much trade 

 and many fat checks 

 should a wedding job go 

 Wrong through fhe use 

 of inferior stock. Buy 

 dependable flowers, even 

 if they cost a little 

 more. 



Bemember that each 

 wedding means a new 

 home — a new customer. 

 The florist who has the 

 wedding order has the 

 inside track: He can 



Government statistics show florists 

 can count on there being 90 weddings 

 per year for each 10,000 of popula- 

 tion. The following is the percent- 

 age of weddings in each mont|i of the 

 year: 



January .. 8% July 7*^0 



February.... 5% August 8% 



March 61c September )0<^ 



April Zlc October... 10% 



May 9')fc November. 9% 



June 13% I>ecember . 7% 



cement the bride's family to himself, 

 and can gain the new family as his cus- 

 tomer, or he can lose them both, ir- 

 retrievably. If ever it is "better to 

 be safe than sorry" it is With wedding 

 flowers. 



Making a Reputation. 



Once get a reputation in the matter 

 of wedding flowers and the work will 

 come, including orders from many of 

 those who have patronized other" flo- 

 rists on less important occasions. 



To gain a reputation for one's wed- 

 ding work something more is needed 

 than good stock and the will to ple&se. 

 The florist should have a complete 

 equipment of the up-to-date acces- 

 sories — and he should 

 keep them in perfect 

 cgndition. When not in 

 use they should be care- 

 fully protected from 

 deterioration. A dirty, 

 dusty kneeling stool is 

 neither an asset nor an 

 advertisement. 



Accessories. 



The florist who has 

 equipped himself to take 

 care of anything that 

 comes along in the way 

 of wedding work has a 

 great advantage over 

 the man who tackles the 

 orders catch-as-catch- 

 can. There must be, first 

 of all, baskets for the 

 bridal party. These are 

 offered in such infinite 

 variety, including novel- 

 ty shapes and materials, 

 that hardly any florists 

 can afford to carry more 

 than the staple styles. 

 It is possible, however, 

 to get the novelty bas- 

 kets quickly, if need be, 

 from the supply houses. 

 Then there are bouquet 

 holders and scarfs. 

 These all progressive re- 

 tailers can carry in 

 stock, as they can be 

 used for other work 

 than weddings. A nov- 

 elty outfit in this line 

 consists of staffs for the 

 entire wedding party, 

 the flowers to be at- 

 tached to the upper part 

 of each staff as is shown 

 in the shepherd's crook 

 illustration in this issue. 

 These staff outfits coin- 

 cide with the present 



