Bluume

I'd initially set up a meeting with Christine back in June after reading some positive reviews about her here on PW. We spent 2 hours going through the different kinds of flowers I might need with what she thought might be the cost. I found her to be nice and informative at that point, although the pace of the meeting could have been a bit more efficient. It was my first conversation with a florist however, and I didn't know what kinds of questions to ask at that point. She then promised to get me a quote over the weekend, so I was expecting something in the next week. However, I did not hear back from her for the whole week. I then followed up and asked her about the quote, with her response being that she would get it to me in another week. A week passed and I contacted her again, she said she was at a conference and forgot my materials. Ok, at this point I am slightly annoyed, but she promised me the quote when she got back. That date passed again and on my third attempt to contact her, she informs me that they're booked solid for this year (my wedding is not until 2010 though, which didn't make sense), and that she could no longer do my wedding!!! I asked her for a scan of the worksheet we'd filled out together on our initial meeting, so that I could have a reference for future meetings of what kinds of items I want, the least she could do I felt. No response there. I was severely disappointed in how long she let this drag on and the lack of professionalism.

Simply put: This vendor is unprofessional. We were initially attracted to Bluume/Outburst based upon her work on her website, prices, and the (premature) reviews on Project Wedding. Like the other reviews say, she is generally pleasant.

That's where the good comments end.

After an initial phone call and through a month of numerous email exchanges trying to schedule a meeting time, Bluume abruptly told us that our date is somehow unavailable after she originally (and firmly) said it was, without any advance notice.

With other vendors (or any vendor for that matter) it is a matter of courtesy to check up with engaged customers first whether they intend to go with someone else before giving a spot to another customer. We didn't get that. Not only did she drop us without rescheduling our meeting, but she didn't even have other places to refer us to--she referred us to Project Wedding.

When we checked back with Project Wedding, the reviews were updated and they confirmed our experiences. For the other reviewers, we're very sorry that an important day like your wedding was messed up by incompetence and unprofessionalism. We're almost glad that she cancelled on us so we can avoid having to deal with that kind of incompetence where it counts.

i am really disappointed in the way Bluume handled things. After many emails on our proposal, Christine just told me they can not work on our wedding anymore due to not having a contract signed. She did not tell me there was a deadline to sign the contract so I was surprised. The least she could do is communicate to her potential clients and recommend another florist since I will have to start from square one again.

If I could give no stars, I would. I had been working with Christine on our proposal, and told her that I was going to choose her as our florist. We hadn't signed any contracts, and just today when I went to make a possible addition to the proposal, she wrote and told me that they weren't going to work with anyone if they didn't have any contracts. Say what!?! Let's just say, that even from the beginning, I was a little hesitant in working with them since they were changing their name from Bluume to Outburst, and their studio wasn't done yet.

BLUUME was the only source of negativity and stress on my wedding day. Unprofessional and a bad attitude.

My husband and I met with Christine this Spring, after reading good reviews of BLUUME. We had to meet at a coffee shop because she was in the middle of a location move. We both really liked her, she seemed to get our vision and had good ideas, and helped us come up with a plan within our budget. I was excited because I didn't want to blow a huge portion of my wedding budget on flowers (I'd rather feed my guests well, and have a great party in a great location). But I still wanted something nice. She seemed so sweet and enthusiastic, we thought she was perfect.

Her contract was a little disorganized, and she had put in the wrong numbers for some things, but she fixed it so I didn't worry too much about it at the time. Paid the 50% deposit.

Months go by, and I haven't heard from her, even though there were a few things in her proposal left to be finalized. Three weeks before the wedding I start trying to track her down. This proves difficult. Email goes unanswered, then voicemail. Finally I reach her by phone and she says email is the best way to reach her. Yes, I tried that, thanks.

I'm ready to make the final payment, but there is no final contract. After more delay, we receive the final contract - only a week before the wedding. The contract is full of errors and ambiguities, so I spend about half an hour fixing and send back to her a corrected version. No response. I mail a check anyways, with another copy (she doesn't take credit cards).

Now, if this were the end of the story, I would not be nearly so worked up. A bit annoyed, disappointed, maybe, but not enough to go out and post negative reviews about someone.

I get a call the morning before my wedding. The flowers we planned on having are stuck in customs in Miami. OK, so what do we do. She makes a couple of other suggestions, wants to replace my parrot tulips with dahlias - the only other flower in my budget and my colors. That doesn't work for me, but she keeps pushing the dahlias. I ask about orchids. That would cost 3x as much. And no, she's not willing to work with me on price AT ALL even though she's calling me the day before my wedding with this situation. She very snottily says to me - this is not in my control, there is nothing I can do. This happens in this industry. She must have said that ten times. Basically, shit happens and its your problem, even though you are paying me over $1,000 for some stupid flowers. When I ask her to be constructive, to help me find some sort of alternate plan that will work, she snottily replies that she suggested dahlias, and she can't control my taste or my budget, either. At this point things are getting heated. I'm sorry but if you are in an industry where this "happens," then you need to develop a better way of dealing with it. I manage to cool off and find an alternate choice (who cares about our carefully planned color scheme?), and without any further ceremony she hangs up.

She then blames me for payment being late, even though it was late because I was waiting for the contract. Even though she didn't say anything about this in that horrible phone call, just a few minutes after we are off the phone I get an email. She claims she didn't receive my check in the mail, and demands a cashiers check. Um, it's Friday and I'm on the way down to my wedding in Monterey tomorrow and I have a million things to do. When am I supposed to do this? Oh, by the way, her "location move" is apparently still in progress, as I discover when I drop off my extra dress fabric at the front door of this house with a yard full of trash. I try to call her several times that day about logistics and she has stopped taking my calls. She returns neither my calls nor my Matron of honor's calls about logistics of dropping off the flowers.

When she arrives the day of the wedding she is horrible to me, arguing about the cashiers check that I didn't have time to get. I offered her a replacement check. No. Here I am an hour before my ceremony and she is scowling and being nasty. Are you serious? For a final payment of $600 at a wedding with a $25,000 budget, you want a cashiers check? And you are going to piss off the bride and scold her to get it? Are you mad? I am so grateful that my brilliant photographer whisked me away from her for photos where I could stare out at the bay and cool off, and my family and party jump in to gather the cash.

The flowers themselves, you ask? Meh. Pretty skimpy for what we discussed. The bouquets were sadly small. The entrance table arrangement that was supposed to be a dramatic statement piece is pathetic. Whether that was because she was pissed at me, or how she markets herself as a "budget" florist, I can't say.

Now we get to the rented vases. We had been told that she would either pick them up for a $85 fee, or we could return them ourselves. Turned out we didn't have room for them in our car once we packed everything else up. So we call her the day after we get home to let her know we need them picked up. No response. Email. No response. I'm guessing she's going to try to keep the deposit on the vases, I don't know, because it is almost a week later and I don't know how long the hotel will hang on to all these vases.

Thank God I only used her for my bouquets!

Let me just say this vendor was the ONLY sourse of stress on my wedding day as far as vendors are concerened. DO NOT USE THEM!!!

Here is my experience: I was called the day of my wedding only to be told that my final payment had not been received, and that certified funds were all that would be accepted...I told her I had mailed it out days prior and it should have been recieved. She said she'd double check and call me back. An hour later I called HER back since she hadn't called yet. No, she didn't have it. Let me just say I got married on a SUNDAY...all banks are closed! Furthermore, it's the day of my wedding and you call me? You couldn't call the day before? A week before? Fine -- I'll run around a town I'm not familiar with and get your money. Then the delivery person was supposed to be at my hotel at 2; at 2:15 we stared calling Christine every 5-10 minutes. No answer, no return call. At 3 the "delivery person" (probably her mom) shows up. No flowers. They left them at the venue. 3 hours before an event on a hot day with no refrigeration. Orchids! Furthermore I'd like to see what I'm paying for since Christine never sent me pictures of a mock bouquet as promissed. I should have insisted she go and get them but seeing as how we were leaving in 30 minutes for the venue and it was a 15 minute drive each way it seemed pointless. First mistake. My bouquet, which I had envisioned since I was 5 -- was HIDEOUS! I just about cried. I hated it... And, come on! $145 for 10 calla lillies?!?! PLEASE!!! It was to be a cascading pageant style. It was the kind you stick in a vase and send to a hospital room for God's sake! I mean how hard is it to see a picture provided by a bride and recreate it? I could have done it better myself.

So I had told the delivery person to make sure my check that I had mailed out a week prior not be deposited. Second mistake. I should have cancelled the check but seeing as how it was a Sunday, Monday was a holiday and we left to St. Lucia for our honeymoon it was nearly impossible and I (stupidly) trusted them still. We got back from our honeymoon and they had tried (unsuccessfully) to get paid a second time and deposited my check! I got charged $30 and she will not refund me the $30 because "she got charged too" UH, HELLO?!?! It was your error that you deposited it!

Let me digress a bit for the next part and say I had contacted Christine a few weeks prior and asked that she label the corsages and boutineers so there was no confusion the day of about who got what. Get to the venue and guess what? All corsages and boutineers are in 1 box (per type) with no lables. I spent 30 minutes of my 60 minute slot for portraits trying to remember who got what and write down a list for my assistant to make sure it was correct. (Again, I should have insisted I saw them before the "delivery person" left.)

Why am I writting this review? Quite honestly to make a point with the vendor. Had you contacted me after I called you and left a message when I learned of your bank error I would have been ok. Had you not waited another 3 days to contact me after I wrote you an email 3 days after my phone message I would have been okay. Had you reimbursed me the measly $30 you rightfully owe me I would have been okay. But now it is my mission to see that you do not get any more bussiness and ruin other bride's days. i suggest all other unhappy brides join me in this mission. Next stop? TheKnot.com

Christine was pretty easy to work with in the beginning. I gave her a budget and she worked with us to stay within it. The centerpieces came out pretty nice, however, I was disappointed with how small the bouquets were and with the cake topper. I also did not like that we had scheduled a delivery time almost a year in advance, and she changed it at the last minute. It seems that she books too many weddings in one day and is unable to give the attention we would like for each wedding. I don't know if I would recommend her to any of my friends.

I had a overall mixed experience with Christine. It was kind of difficult to meet with her and she canceled on our initial meeting three times without advance notice. It wasn't a good first impression but when I finally decided to meet with her, she was nice, prices were very competitive and her work looked great.

One of the things I felt was lacking was the business aspect. I had to follow-up and make sure my checks were received and that my rental deposit was mailed to me timely. Some of the information on my contract was inaccurate. I also wanted to confirm things with her the week before the wedding but she didn't contact me back until the day before my wedding. When she finally returned my calls, she said there was a change in their policy, potentially increasing the price of my contract. Thankfully, we were able to work out that issue but it was a little stressful for me to hear something like that the day before the wedding. Normally, I would understand the change in policy if she told me earlier but the contract was already set for 6 months prior and I have received no notification regarding that.

Other than that, I must say her actual work on the bouquets and especially the altar pieces were beautiful. In the end, she did complete everything that was stated on our contract. But I could understand some of the other brides' mixed reviews as well. I was willing to forgo the organized business aspect of her service to the competitive prices and floral work she offered. If you are willing to do the same, then I recommend her. If not, I recommend a vendor that will be more proactive and prompt in his/her customer service. Personally, if I had to do it again, although the prices were great, I would probably pay a little more for better customer service and less stress before the wedding.

My wedding hasn't occured yet either but, I have to say go with Outburst Flowers. I feel at ease that Christine will meet all my needs and then some. I met with her and she helped me vision my wedding and the overall look. She was very HONEST and helpful. I know that my wedding will be phenominal because of the addition that my flowers will bring to my wedding. Amazing prices and amazing flowers. You can't beat that!!!

Our flowers looked AMAZING! We ordered 8 bouquets, 18 corsages, and 30 boutonnières and when they all arrived they were all labeled and well organized, not to mention absolutely beautiful. Our centerpieces for the reception we also gorgeous. The Bluume staff was friendly, helpful, accommodating and experts in their field.

Christine was very sweet and great to work with. I told her my view for my wedding and she was able to easily recommend flowers that would create that look and would be in bloom during our wedding date. They are considered "Luxury Flowers for Less" and the prices were great, but there were compromises. I wasn't able to see samples of everything, just my bouquet and half of what the centerpieces would look like. She claimed that their studio wasn't done yet, I don't even know where they actually work out of. The day of I was hoping to have my flowers by the early afternoon to have for our pre-wedding photos, but come that time they hadn't arrived. When I called they said that they weren't going to arrive until closer to 3:30 an Hour and a Half before the ceremony start! In all the chaos when they arrived there were some mix-ups, my sister ended up carrying the toss bouquet and the boutonnieres (missing the satin ribbon we requested) were sent down to the ceremony site barely in time so I don't know if everyone ended up with the correct ones, also our rose presentation to our mothers got spoiled when someone simply handed the roses to our mothers before the start and my husband and I were unable to present them ourselves. If you know exactly what you want and the names of flowers it is helpful. All our flowers looked absolutely amazing especially considering the great cost, but I got confused and asked for flowers that weren't correct because I was misinformed (mix-up with Casablanca lilies and calle lilies). Make sure to look them up yourself before in the event you don't get to see samples. All in all we got many compliments on our centerpieces and we were even given extra flowers the caterers were able to use to decorate their buffet. I was also pleasantly surprised when Christine called me to tell me peonies (which I desperately wanted) were still in bloom for our date. I was disappointed to find they usually aren't still in bloom at the end of June, but I was able to have them in just my bouquet to make it extra special. My bouquet was absolutely stunning and the staff puts a lot of effort into setting up the site!

Choosing Bluume for our wedding was by far the BIGGEST mistake my husband and I made in planning our wedding (everything else about our wedding was perfect and wonderful! But I digress…). We met with Christine about 8mon or so before our wedding. Right away, we both felt like she was a very sweet person and very on top of things, so we decided to go with Bluume. About 2-3 months before the wedding, I asked her when I could get a picture of what the centerpieces would look like and also if she rented out apothecary jars (which we needed for a candy station). She assured me she would send a picture soon, and that yes, she had apothecary jars, which she would get me prices. Sounds good, I thought.

As the weeks went by and I didn’t hear from her, I started to get a little concerned. I sent her a few more emails, which she did not reply to. She finally responded and said she would get it to me asap. Well…a week and a half before the wedding, she sent me an email saying that she had actually offered the apothecary jars to another couple first (though she hadn’t mentioned there being only one set to me) and that they had decided to use them! Worse, attached to the email was a picture of the centerpiece and it was exactly as I feared…nothing like my husband and I had wanted.

My fiancé immediately called Christine, hoping to get this resolved quickly (we were quite willing to accept that we may have not been clear in our wishes or there was some kind of miscommunication). Instead of great customer service as we had expected (ya know “Oh I’m sorry. Let’s get this worked out” kinda thing), she proceeded to ARGUE with him and say stuff like “well that is not what you said at our meeting” and such! She called back a few days later (now less than a week before our wedding) at 11pm to argue more with my fiancé! I honestly didn’t want to piss off any of my vendors that close to the wedding in fear that they wouldn’t show or something (plus my stress level was too high as it was) so I told him to just forget it. Though she was determined to be “right” she said she would add the elements that we found lacking from the centerpieces.

On the day of the wedding, I personally didn’t see Christine, but I was told that when she arrived and our wedding coordinator (a saint…see my review for Thomas John Events) proceeded to question her about some details, she began to argue with her as well! My fiancé’s mom called my fiancé to check to make sure everything was ok, and decided to put her on the phone with him. Apparently she had NOT added the elements as discussed and proceeded to argue with him more…on our wedding day!!! After getting off the phone with him, she apparently threw the phone back at my future mother-in-law and stormed off.

I understand misunderstandings and miscommunications, but there is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for being rude to anyone in my family or anyone involved in the wedding at all. Christine is the worst businesswoman I have ever met and her customer service is abominable. She is sweet until she had your money, and then is incredibly rude and disrespectful. PLUS after the wedding, she ignored all our emails/voicemails; therefore it took over a month and threatening legal action for us to get our deposit back. AVOID BLUUME/OUTBURST FLOWERS AT ALL COSTS!!!

Christine was very sweet and great to work with. I told her my view for my wedding and she was able to easily recommend flowers that would create that look and would be in bloom during our wedding date. They are considered "Luxury Flowers for Less" and the prices were great, but there were compromises. I wasn't able to see samples of everything, just my bouquet and half of what the centerpieces would look like. The day of I was hoping to have my flowers by the early afternoon to have for our pre-wedding photos, but come that time they hadn't arrived. When I called they said that they weren't going to arrive until closer to 3:30 an Hour and a Half before the ceremony start! In all the chaos when they arrived there were some mix-ups, my sister ended up carrying the toss bouquet and the boutonnieres were sent down to the ceremony site barely in time so I don't know if everyone ended up with the correct ones, also our rose presentation to our mothers got spoiled when someone simply handed the roses to our mothers before the start and my husband and I were unable to present them ourselves. If you know exactly what you want and the names of flowers it is helpful. All our flowers looked absolutely amazing especially considering the great cost, but I got confused and asked for flowers that weren't correct. Make sure to look them up yourself before in the event you don't get to see samples. All in all we got many compliments on our centerpieces and we were even given extra flowers the caterers were able to use to decorate their buffet. I was also pleasantly surprised when Christine called me to tell me peonies (which I desperately wanted) were still in bloom for our date. I was disappointed to find they usually aren't still in bloom at the end of June, but I was able to have them in just my bouquet to make it extra special. My bouquet was absolutely stunning and the staff puts a lot of effort into setting up the site!

My wedding hasn't occured yet either but i wanted to write a review for Christine and her team also. Actually, i think they have been my best find yet!! I met with Christine at a local spot and we talked about how I envision our wedding will look like. I didn't have an exact idea, but more of a feel of what I was going for. She knew exactly what i was talking about! Her turnaround time (for the quote) was just a couple days and her prices are just AMAZING! I actually didn't want to write this review in fear that she would get too popular and then she'll raise her prices! Like noegirl, I feel very lucky in finding Bluume and cannot wait to see their work!

EDIT:

My wedding was a month ago and decided to follow up on this review that I wrote for Christine/Bluume flowers. It is really difficult for me to say this but I was a little disappointed in Christine in her services the day of the wedding. I understand our wedding was on a busy wedding weekend however, if you promise to be at the venue a certain time, i expect you to be there.. within that hour.. My DOC was going frantic because the florist didn't show up until 45 minutes before the ceremony. Luckily, there was only one thing to drop off for the ceremony and rest of the flowers were for the reception area..

Another reason I was disappointed with Christine is because of my bouquets. Before the wedding I discussed in detail and showed Christine pictures of the bouquets that i loved... The day of the wedding, my bouquet was small and it wasn't how i pictured it to be...My heart sank when the assistant brought them over to me. I also wanted my MOH's bouquet to be a little larger than the other bms...but it was the same size. Now Christine did offer to fix that for me but it was after the ceremony and I was waiting to go take pictures w/ my photog... i didn't have time for her to fix the bouquets..

The last reason why I was somewhat disappointed in Christine is because of her assistant. My DOC was going to pull her hair out because of this person. The bouts didn't come w/ flower pins!! So when my DOC asked the assistant if she had extra, the assistant pulled out her phone and said "wait, let me ask christine" (christine wasn't even there!). The assistant even asked my DOC for scissors!! DOn't you come prepared to a wedding w/ all your florist gadgets? *sigh*

The 2 stars is for the reception flowers. All my guests loved them and so did i. They were exactly how i pictured them to be. (pib) We had a lounge area and that was decorated beautifully too. The -3 stars is for the tardiness, assitant, and the bouquets..

Her prices were very reasonable and she is a sweet person, and my flowers were beautiful. They just weren't how i imagined it to be... I would suggest any bride that goes w/ christine to ask for mock pieces and discuss with her in detail in what you expect/want from her. I know my review may sound like i'm being bridezilla-ish but when a vendor tells you she totally understands what look you're going for and her portfolio is exactly how you picture your wedding flowers to be and she returns you with something different you can't help but to feel really disappointed in them.

My wedding hasn't occurred yet, so I’ll have to update this afterward.

I do want to say though that so far I love working with Bluume. They have great modern designs at fantastic prices. I have really enjoyed meeting with them and I have confidence that I will love my flowers. I’ve been working with Christine who really seems to understand the overall effect I’m trying to create. I feel like I got lucky in finding Bluume!

Christine with Outburst Flowers (formerly called Bluume Flowers) was great to work with from the very beginning. I brought my cousin with me for the very first meeting, and my cousin even remarked that Christine was easy to work with, creative, budget-conscious on my behalf, knowledgeable, and reliable. Some florists get annoyed when they have to work with a budget-conscious bride, but Christine was very understanding and flexible.

She was always prompt with returning my calls or answering my questions via e-mail, and she was very thorough with my written estimate while detailing everything that we had discussed at our first meeting.

When it came time to see a sample of the bouquets and arrangements we had discussed, I was SO pleased with everything!!! Christine has a really good eye for texture, color, shapes, height, and arrangements. She is also a very hard worker and I am so glad that I went with Christine and Outburst Flowers.