Valentine's Day countdown

So, today is February 1st. I took my first Valentine's order today. I sometimes forget how fun it is after having 17 years in this floral industry. He was nervous, didn't quite know what he wanted, like most you guys out there. With so many choices out there, it's hard to choose.

With roses, orchids, lilies, tulips, gerbera daisies, chocolates, balloons, stuffed animals, crystal vases, plain vases..it's no wonder that you guys get overwhelmed. Well, worry not. We here at Capitol Hill Flowers are here to help.

Step one, find out your sweeties' favorite flowers. You can never go wrong if you build a bouquet with her favorite flowers. Step two, find out her favorite color. If the flowers she loves aren't available, chances are, we've got her favorite color covered. Step three, does she like sweets? What woman doesn't! We've got some amazing gourmet chocolates. So if she loves her sweets (besides you), then attach some to your order. Step four, cuddly bears? We've got those too! Step five, are you having this delivered to her at work? then attach some balloons! This will ensure that everybody in her office knows that someone (you) love her and wanted to make this Valentine's Day special. Plus, she'll be easy to spot in a crowd with some balloons attached to a gorgeous bouquet, chocolates that she's savoring and a teddy bear that is a great reminder of this holiday after the flowers and chocolates are long gone.

So, give us a call: 206-325-5068 or look online: www.flower4gift.com . If you want to hand pick your flowers to make this extra special, we can help you over the phone or you can come on in. I encourage you to order early! Valentine's Day is Tuesday, February 14th!!! Make this a memorable day for you and your sweetie.

Valentine's Day and Flowers

You may or may not be interested in knowing how Valentine's day came into existence. Long story short, a young priest name Valentine, lived during the 3rd century in Rome, was imprisoned by the ruler, Claudius. While he was imprisoned, he fell in love with his jailer's daughter. He was executed on Feb 14, 270 AD. Valentine sent a letter to his love, signed it "From your Valentine...." an expression we still use today. Valentine later became a saint and the day to honor him was declared to be Feb 14.

Today, we continue to honor St. Valentine and recall the history of Valentine's Day each year on February 14 by celebrating our love for significant others, friends, and family. For thousands of years, the middle of February has been a time for fertility festival celebrations, so it is no wonder Valentine's Day flowers are often the Valentine's Day gift of choice around this time of year. For centuries, flowers have symbolized fertility, love, marriage, and romance.

The tradition of sending flowers, most notably red roses gained popularity in the 1600s. But the red rose as a symbol of love dates back much further. This again can be attributed to the Romans as it was believed to be the favorite flower of Venus, the Goddess of Love. Red is the preferred color, standing for love, passion, and respect.

We here at Capitol Hill Flowers in Seattle, can have flowers delivered around the corner or around the world. We have a team of dedicated floral designers that cannot wait to help make this Valentine's Day a memorable one for you. You can call us 206-325-5068 or order online http://www.flower4gift.com/ and we will ensure that your floral order is very well taken care of. With over 50 years experience in the floral industry we can guarantee that you will be happy.

From roses to gerbera daisies, orchids to calla lilies, stargazer lilies to plants, chocolates, balloons and cards, your Valentine's Day will be awesome. It's on a Tuesday this year...so order Early!! Want flowers delivered to your sweetheart at work? Order Early!! We look forward to hearing from you.

New Year Celebrations

With Christmas over and the New Year just days away, I know we are all full of new hopes and dreams for the year to come. 2011 and the small locally owned businesses, like ours, it was a very trying year, full of ups and downs. In this post, we would like to thank all of our patrons that made it a successful one.

For all of you that order direct, or choose to order flowers direct from your local florist, it certainly does make a difference, so thank you. Your contribution to the local economy does matter.

Now, celebrations are happening all over the city. Let us be your florist for the New Year celebration and the years to come. Capitol Hill Flowers does get the freshest flowers every day. We have a team of dedicated floral designers on staff always willing to help fulfill your floral needs.

Whether you call us 206-325-5068 or order online www.flower4gift.com, we can't wait to help you and make sure your holidays, anniversaries, birthdays, or "just because" days will have you being the "hero". We deliver all over the Seattle metro and can even have flowers sent all over the world.

We can do it all! Centerpieces, traditional or modern, vased arrangements, basket arrangements, basket gardens with green and blooming plants, orchid plants, green plants, wrapped fresh flowers (and not the cookie cutter ones you find in the grocery store), we have it all. Give us a try, you won't regret it!

Happy New Year!!

Thanksgiving is here!

The holidays are fast approaching..with Thanksgiving only a couple days away then a mad dash for Christmas. Yes..I am a procrastinator...probably like many of you out there. I can tell you that Thanksgiving holds a dear place in my heart and family. For me, there is nothing like surrounding yourself with the people that you love and that love you and "breaking bread" so to say.

With the turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the jellied cranberry sauce, the green bean casserole, the pumpkin pie...the leftovers...yum! But, you know what else makes this holiday great? The ambiance..the decore. Flowers on your table..whether it be a small centerpiece to something more elaborate that your local florist has whipped up just for you, flowers on your table or nearby, really do make a difference.

It's important to shop local..support your local florist. If they're like us, locally owned and operated, your business makes a real difference! We are only a click away.. www.flower4gift.com or a phone call away: 206-325-5068. We'll be here for you..to help make your holiday as special as ever. Our experienced floral designers are the ones that answer the phone and help you through the ordering process. Let us help you create a memorable holiday.

From our family to yours.... Happy Thanksgiving!

You like your Boss? Boss's Day is the 17th!

I'm writing this blog from home today as I am sick with the flu. I texted my boss early this morning telling them of the situation and hoping that I could be in later today...but being the awesome people they are...they told me to get better and see you tomorrow. :) (Complete with smiley face.)

I have to say, that I feel so very lucky to have an awesome set of boss's. Being in the floral industry, we know of all the holidays that come up. If you're like me and want to show your appreciation to your boss, then don't hesitate to give us a call: 206-325-5068 or visit us online: flower4gift.com

We can help you choose just the right gift. From a great greeting card, balloons, plants (garden baskets), orchid plants, and of course, fresh floral bouquets hand crafted by our awesome designers. Not only will you be letting your boss know how YOU appreciate THEM, but you can also earn some great brownie points. lol. Remember, that we deliver all over Seattle metro and surrounding areas (Bellevue, Kirkland, Bothell, Lynnwood, etc)

So, if you have a boss like mine...the one's that wish you well when you're ill, listen to your outrageous stories, laugh with you (not at you..well sometimes at you), listen to your horrible singing and strange sense of humor, and work beside you, always helping you achieve something greater, then don't forget to tell them how great you think they are.

For Lee and Mimi, Amber and I think you rock! Thanks for everything you do for us.

You've got the Grad, We've got the Flowers!

Graduations are happening this weekend all over Seattle! They've put in the hours of studying/cramming for finals, sleepless hours spent in the library, bringin' home the grades AND now they are ready to Graduate!

You want to show them how proud you are? One of the best ways to do that is a party, of course (but that's after the graduation). Before the graduation and even at the ceremony, bringing them a wrapped bouquet of fresh flowers is definitely the way to go!

We can tailor it to your needs. IE: School colors, their favorite colors or flowers, etc. The flowers we have right now: Gladiolas, Snap Dragons, Delphinium, Sunflowers, Gerbera Daisies, Peonies, Oriental Lilies, Iris, even some Tropicals. We also have Graduation balloons!! We also have a great selection of plants, stuffed animals, chocolates, but your best bet is the wrapped bouquet. Easy to transport and looks great in photos!

So, if you're shoppin for your Grad, then give us a try. We won't disappoint! Stop by: 300 15th Ave E; Seattle, WA 98112; or give us a call: 206-325-5068 We're always happy to help!!

Support your local florist...and THIS is why!

Do you have a job that you love? Well, I do. I've been a floral designer for almost 17 years and
have seen so much change. Cap Hill Flowers has gone from a busy, busy florist (like 40-50 orders a day) to just half (sometimes less) during a slower day. I have some ideas of why. Here's one that really speaks to me and makes me extremely angry. It's called "order gatherers".

As consumers, it's easier to go online and order something that you want to give as a gift or even to get for yourself. I like to shop online...it's convenient. But here's where things start to go wrong. Say you want to order flowers. You go online. You find a website that fits your budget and promises all of these wonderful things. More than likely, you've just been misled by an "order gatherer".

An order gather is a business that typically does not own a flower shop, is not a florist, or is not even very familiar with the flower business. Typically these order gathers are web designers, or people with a marketing degree that spend a lot of money going out and promoting a brand or name. They typically make money in volume, selling hundreds or thousands of orders a week and wire these orders out to local florist.

To an outsider more orders means more business for the local florist. But this is not the case, actually many of the orders actually cost the local florist more money to deliver than they make. (Example: if you buy $30 arrangement from a order gatherer and then $10 for delivery, that's about $40. How much does the florist that actually delivers the flowers get?$21.00) that's right HALF!!! Here is why:

If you spend $30 for the arrangement and then $10 for "Delivery".

The order gather keeps the "delivery" fee (for their time).

The order gather also keeps 20% of the order, in this case about: $6; they made a profit of $16

Wire Service keeps about 10% of the order in this case they made a profit of $3.00

The florist delivering the flowers gets $21 and how much of that is profit?

Flowers cost about $10-$15 Wholesale, the Filler and Greens cost about $3, a $10.00 an hour employee to put the order together cost about $2.50, and the delivery driver cost about $8, so it cost the florist $23.50. So the local florist makes a profit of -$2.50

RECAP: Order Gatherer profit: $16.00
Wire Service Profit - $3.00
Local Florist Profit - -$2.50
Now I know why so many local florist are going out of business!!!

Yeah, so you got what you wanted. But at what cost?! Your local flower shop is one of the last real small businesses. Usually family owned, and if they're not family owned, I can guarantee you that the employees and owners certainly feel like family. From the 80 hr work weeks during Holidays, to the hour droughts during the summer, we are in this together. Buying the freshest product, cleaning the dirty buckets, watering the plants, answering the phones, sweeping up at the end of the day, arranging beautiful bouquets for our clients. We are here for YOU! Please be here for us! Buy LOCAL! Support your local flower shop, support Capitol Hill Flowers! Our lives depend on it.