ONE FLORIST'S SYSTEM
In Indianapolis, Ind., Gillespie Florists & Flower Delivery
tackles multiple proms every year in a big way—several
smaller proms and two larger proms, some of which
are on the same weekends. For each of the two larger
events, the shop will make as many as 200 corsages
and 150 boutonnières. As you can imagine, organization
and efficiency is critical in this shop, so they do as much
work as possible—make bows, prepare corsage bases,
etc.—well in advance of the proms.
Gillespie creates a prom bar for its customers, giving
them an opportunity to customize and personalize their
corsages and boutonnières. At the prom bar, bags are
provided for each customer to put his or her selections
into—leaves, ribbon samples, rhinestones and more.
Once each order is finalized, the "pre-kit" goes to
"order control," which makes call tags and sets the
pre-kits in a box for the appropriate weekend. Designers
then assemble the pre-kits, creating each design with
everything except the fresh flowers. is is done as early
as possible, often weeks in advance.
During the week of a specific prom, designers have only
to glue in the flowers and send photos of the designs to
the customers via text. Gillespie staffers always try to get
the call tags in the photos so that if a customer wants to
make changes, they can easily reference the order number.
Although the shop has lots of customers who order early,
it also has many who wait until the week of the prom—
or even the day of. Even for those late orders, staff still
follow the same process.
On the day of a prom, Gillespie continues to take orders,
and staff regularly make announcements about the wait
time. For customers who don't have time to wait, the
shop always has plenty of corsages and boutonnières
made up that those customers can "grab and go."
All images
on this page:
Gillespie Florists
& Flower Delivery
