Pat Gibbons Floral

I was given Pat's name by a friend's friend. We set-up an appointment and I went to her home in El Cerrito (from San Francisco) to meet with her. She showed me her portfolio, which she described as "outdated", and we chatted for about an hour and a half. I brought a number of pictures to give her an idea of the look I was going for, but she never really seemed to get it. We agreed that she would continue to hold my date, and that we would talk again after she had sent me a contract to look over. A week and a half later I emailed her to check in on the contract. I was resigned to using her because of the referral. She emailed me back saying that she had "just" booked someone else for my date and was sorry but would not be able to help me. I reminded her that she was holding my date and still hadn't sent me a contract. This didn't seem to mean much to her.

I found her response to be very bizarre, unprofessional and inconsiderate. It took a total of four hours for me to get to and from her home and view a portfolio that was "years" out of date, just to be told that she decided to work with someone else.

Unless it's love at first sight, I wouldn't suggest relying on this vendor.

Pat was great to work with and her flowers looked beautiful! We turned to her with two months left before the wedding because we had "fired" our previous florist. Pat agreed to work with us and we met a couple of times to discuss the wedding flowers. Pat created stunning arrangements - a bouquet for the copper pot one of the bridesmaids carried, aisle decorations, small floral arrangements for the cocktail area, gorgeous garden-y lush arrangements for the guest tables, and stunning flowers for my hair and for the hair of my three bridesmaids and for my mom. The flowers for the cake were also beautiful!

Past also created the centerpieces for the rehearsal dinner at the Claremont Country Club. Those were truly amazing!

We spent more on flowers than we had planned to, but it was worth it. While Pat is not one of the less expensive florists, we found that her professionalism, punctuality, talent, and creativity were the more money we spent on flowers. And our wedding looked more beautiful for it!

We spent about $2500 on flowers. Floral centerpieces for guest tables - lush garden-y arrangements that included hydrangea and lilac were $100 a piece.

Pat's floral arrangements are just incredible. My bouquets were exactly what I wanted, the centerpieces were beautiful, and the flower-decorated arch was stunning! She is also very nice to deal with and was very flexible with our timing.

I would highly recommend Patricia Gibbons to anyone seeking a talented, reliable and non-nonsense florist. I interviewed a handful of florists before deciding on Pat. While some of the other florists were very nice and enthusiastic, and comparable in price, it was often difficult for me to get into contact with them. Pat, in contrast, was a consummate professional from day one. As you’ll see if you look at her past work, she has a very artistic sensibility—her arrangements have a signature style—but she’s also a real business woman, which means that she’s very efficient and straight-forward, both in person and on the phone, and very reliable. I decided that what I really wanted was someone that I could trust to make good aesthetic choices on my behalf, and to take all the responsibility off my—and my mom’s—hands on the day of the wedding. Pat did a wonderful job at both: she created exquisite pieces that perfectly complemented the swatches of fabric and other materials I gave her as a sample palette, and she showed up early, set everything up beautifully, and was finished well before everything started. I didn’t have to lift a finger, which was exactly what I wanted.

I think your meetings with her, of which there will probably be two—an initial consultation + a follow-up-—will be most productive if you bring, to that first meeting, a budget, a list of the pieces you need (# of bouquets, bouts, aisle arrangements, etc.) as well as pictures of the types of flowers and arrangements that resemble what you’re looking for. If there’s a specific flower/color you really want, or a flower/color that you just hate, let her know. The more specific and concrete you can be about what you want, the easier it will be for her to please you. At the end of the day, though, I’d suggest remembering that you hire a florist because they know more about flowers and flower arranging than you do!:-) As I look over our photographs, I’m increasingly impressed with the combinations of colors and textures that she chose. I don’t think I would have chosen them myself, but they really were more unique, sophisticated and lovely than anything I could have envisioned.

I first worked with Pat in 2006 for my middle daughter's wedding. Pat's name came up several times from our other vendors (Katrina Roselle Cakes being one) and after interviewing 4 florists we found her very professional, certainly the best fit in personality and style. She seemed to "get" the look we wanted and her work is not "trite". After meeting with her twice (driving to El Cerrito from Saratoga & San Francisco respectively) we trusted her instincts and experience and just let her run with it, communicating easily by emai and photos. We could not have been more pleased with her work - the flowers were exceptionally beautiful, creative, on time and on budget. She transformed the room with her work.

Pat is now working with us on my eldest daughter's September wedding. It's a completely different look and venue. Working with her again has been a joy. Pat's many suggestions have been practical and creative as she keeps the process moving steadily along.

We still have one daughter to go and look forward to working with Pat again, hopefully in the not-too-distant future!

Pat did the flowers for my Easter wedding this past March. I would recommend her highly! I found Pat to be very easy to talk to and she understood what I was looking for. When I met with her, she had lots of pictures for me to look through, which was very helpful. I was able to show her what I liked and what I did not want. I really liked that Pat worked with fruits and herbs in addition to flowers. I ended up giving Pat a color palette to work with and my budget constraints, and she chose the most beautiful fresh, local flowers for our arrangements. Pat was also great when I had to change the cake table flowers at the last minute and add on two flowergirls right before the wedding. I also found Pat to be very responsive by both phone and email.