Was I an Idiot to Order Flowers From a Local Florist?

I needed to order some flowers so I called up a locally-owned florist.  Now I'm being told that was a huge mistake.

So, I'll be honest. I don't buy a lot of flower arrangements. After the first few years of marriage, my wife revealed that she really doesn't appreciate getting roses and would much rather spend money on other things.  With our 25th wedding anniversary just around the corner, it's safe to say it's been quite a while since I bought flowers.

This week I was tasked with searching for flowers for my son to wear at a formal Valentine's Day dance. While looking up the number of the local florist, I discovered that two of the three florists I remembered going to in my town were no longer there. The one remaining florist had actually sold off most of its store and was now operating out of a small area in the back of another business.

Since I was looking for a boutonniere, I couldn't just stop at a gas station or supermarket to pick one up, right? So I had no choice but to try what was left of the one remaining flower shop. I stopped by on Monday and found that the store wasn't open that day, so I returned later in the week and dropped in during business hours only to find the lights off and the door locked.

I was boggled about what was going on. Were florists still a thing? If not, where the hell do I find a boutonniere? I decided to call the florist up and after a few rings a woman who sounded like she was 900 years old answered the phone. The very nice, sweet woman sounded surprised that I was ordering a boutonniere, but was happy to take my order and thanked me for my business.

After hanging up, I immediately texted my wife and asked her if she knew whether or not florists were still a thing of not. After going back and forth about whether people even wear boutonnieres anymore we realized that we sounded very old and were obviously out of touch with whatever was going on. We needed to find out where people bought flowers from in 2023.

After speaking to a few people about this it was explained to me that I was an idiot. According to them, people aren't supposed to buy corsages, boutonnieres or flower arrangements at independent florists anymore. Florists now concentrate mostly on weddings and funerals. "If you want flowers you go to the supermarket," they said.

Just like the supermarket has replaced independent bakeries when it comes to ordering sheet cakes for birthday parties, it's apparently also become the go-to place for flower orders. I guess I never noticed, but the floral section of the grocery store has a staff that takes custom orders just like the bakery or deli.

Honestly, I'm kind of glad I decided to order my son's flowers from the nice old lady with the last remaining florist in town. Who knows what the boutonniere will actually look like when I pick it up, or if it will cost me $100... but I'm happy to be one of the last people still supporting a locally owned business. Next time, though, I'll probably just pick one up when I stop in for a box of cereal.