The Flower Blog

Father’s Day is this Sunday and millions of children out there are scrambling to find Dad the perfect gift. Studies have shown that the Necktie is the most popular gift choice for Father’s Day. Don’t you think Dad has enough neckties? Don’t just get Dad something different this year, get him something he will never forget!

We make several bouquets with keepsake containers with Dad in mind. Year after year we get calls from customers who send Dad one of these keepsake arrangements and we always get rave reviews! Customers order these bouquets year after year because they say “He talks about that bouquet all the time!” So, really Wow him this year with a mini Jeep filled with flowers, a Ford Truck filled with plants or a Weber Grill filled with candy!

If you don’t see a keepsake container that Dad will go crazy for, Check out our Terrariums! What is A Terrarium? A terrarium is a miniature indoor landscape with living plants that are perfect for people who want to decorate their office or home with house plants but don’t have a lot of space and time to care for them. These mini gardens are easy to maintain and a popular gift for men!

If Dad isn’t much of a plant man, maybe you should check out our Gift Baskets! We have a wide selection of baskets that can include anything from Gourmet food, Fruit, Junk food snack to candy! Our Junk Food baskets are popular for Father’s Day, probably because they have everything you shouldn’t eat!

To get some other great ideas, check out our Father’s Day video!

Gillespie Florists is open 12 hours daily Monday-Friday from 7am -7pm (we’re open on Saturday and Sunday too, just shorter hours). There’s a lot that can happen in a day and here’s the synopsis of a typical day here at the shop.

6:45am - 7:00am: Duane and Nancy come in to open the store. Nancy will start filling orders for plants, planters and Terrariums. When needed, she also designs beautiful corsages and dish gardens. Duane begins his day filling fresh flower orders.  Both Nancy and Duane will help customers as needed until the Customer Care staff arrives. Many customers stop in on their way to work, so the first hour of the day can be pretty exciting! Several days a week, Sarah is at the local wholesalers buying flowers during this hour.

8:00am - 9:00am: Two drivers, Debbie, Sarah and Sheila come in. The “Delivery Pool” driver loads up the morning deliveries for outlying areas and drives to a central location downtown, where he/she will meet with 30 other drivers in an industrial type building. The “Local” driver loads up the morning deliveries that have destinations that are nearby. Debbie, a member of the Customer Care team, will answer phones and assist walk-in customers.  Between customers and phone calls, she wraps “sunshine” bouquets (our very popular $3.95 take-out bouquet). All staff members will assist customers and answer phones when needed. Sarah, the Operations Manager, is responsible for ordering flowers from around the world, processing orders in the Order Control Department, routing deliveries/drivers, coordinating weddings and special events! Generally in this hour, you will find her in Order Control, processing and distributing orders to the design team. Sheila will design extra flower arrangements or help Duane with orders.

10:00am - 11:00am: Jacklyn and Della arrive. Jacklyn assists in the Customer Care and design departments.  Della is the “Web” Administrator and works on product development (to get new products to our website), write blogs, attend to our social media presence, work on PPC marketing and traditional marketing. Della is also the giftware buyer! Both delivery drivers are returning from their morning routes in the latter half of this hour. The drivers begin loading their afternoon deliveries and they will process new flower shipments, time permitting.

12:00pm: This is a crucial time of our day. Our “Pool” truck leaves at 12:30 and all orders for the greater metropolitan area must be ready to go with this driver. You will find everyone assisting customers, designing, processing flowers or loading a delivery vehicle during this hour. At 12:30-1:00, we begin rotating lunch breaks!

1:00pm - 2:00pm: Lunchtime!  Everyone gets a chance to catch their breath and a bite before the afternoon rush.  Duane, Elaine, Nancy and Sheila are working on orders for the next day and making extra bouquets. If Duane has weddings to work on for the weekend, this is the time of day he would get started on them.  Debbie, Jacklyn, Sarah and Della are all hard at work with the daily tasks assigned to them.

3:00pm - 4:00pm: Sarah and Nancy leave between 3-4pm. Before leaving she makes sure we are all on task and all orders have been processed. Our delivery drivers are usually finishing up deliveries in the latter half of this hour. As the drivers return, they will check to see if there are any additional deliveries to be made, check to see if there  flowers that need processed and assist the designers with clean-up before leaving for the day.

5:00pm - 600pm: Duane usually leaves around 5pm but is always happy to stay longer if needed! Sheila leaves between 6-7pm. Business also picks up for the 5 o’clock rush because customers stop by on their way home from work. This is my favorite time of day because most flower shops are closed and customers are pleasantly surprised to see us open!

7:00pm-7:30pm: We close at 7pm (sometimes later, if we have orders to finish or customers to assist). Jacklyn, Sheila and I get the drawers balanced, finish cleaning up and go home!

There you have it! 12 hours in the life of Gillespie Florists!

Check out our latest video of what we have in stock in our cooler below!

Top 5 Bestsellers for Prom 2012

The Prom season is officially over for us here at Gillespie Florists and I like to print product analysis reports to see what we sold more or less of to help me order supplies for next year's Proms. While doing this I thought, "why not share with everyone our best sellers?"


5. Three Alstroemeria Corsage - GFP7

In fifth place is the Alstroemeria Corsage! Alstroemeria lilies are not well known for being a popular corsage flower but here at Gillespie’s we use them quite a bit. We love using them in conjunction with other flowers; customers also usually like them by themselves. The corsage pictured here is the base priced Prom alstroemeria corsage on our free wristlet. Many customers chose to add on an upgraded keepsake wristlet. Alstroemeria lilies come in dozens of colors, which makes it easy for us to make the perfect match to your dress!


4. Three Mini Carnations & Two Sweetheart Rose Corsage - GFP5

In fourth place is the Three Mini Carnations & Two Sweetheart Rose Corsage! This is a combination of some of our most popular corsage flowers; no wonder this corsage is in the Top 5! Roses and Carnations come in a wide variety of colors therefore matching to your dress will be a breeze! This corsage works really well with multicolored dresses because of vast opportunities to mix colors.
The corsage pictured here is the base priced Prom alstroemeria corsage on our free wristlet. Many customers chose to add on an upgraded keepsake wristlet as well.

3. Dendrobium Orchid Corsage - Flower Bombe - 12PN06

In Third place is the Dendrobium Orchid Corsage! I think this one is popular because the classic Mother’s Day corsage is the cymbidium orchid corsage. although the cymbidiums are far too big for most teens taste, girls still want to emulate their Moms by wearing a similar type of flower. Dendrobium Orchids come in a limited colors but are still very versatile; thanks to new dyeing techniques the number of available colors is increasing!
If we cannot match your dress with the color of orchid, we can use white dendrobiums and match your dress with ribbons, leaves, beads, tulle and rhinestones instead! The corsage pictured here shows a keepsake wristlet, item #GFPBC!

2. Three Mini Carnation Corsage - Bauble On - 11PN12

In second place is the Three Mini Carnation Corsage! This corsage is so popular because of the versatility of colors! Carnations not only come in lots of colors but they also tip very well. Tipping is when we take a paint and tip the edges of a flower with it. Tipping can be harmful to some flowers but carnations tend to hold up pretty well with it! I believe carnations are so popular because they hardy enough to survive a night of dancing!
The corsage pictured here shows a keepsake wristlet, item #GFPAM

1. Three Sweetheart Rose Corsage - BoHo - 10PN24

In first place is the Three Sweetheart Rose corsage! Roses will always be a favorite among teens! Prom corsages are sometimes the very first flowers they will give or receive. Teenagers may act like they don’t pay attention to Mom or Dad but they do! They see Dad getting Mom roses for their anniversary or special occasions so the first flower that comes to mind is of course, roses! The great thing about roses is they are coming in more and more colors every year and that makes it very easy to match or compliment your dress! The corsage pictured here shows a keepsake wristlet!


We sell keepsake bracelets with our corsages about 40% of the time! Here’s a quick look at our Top 5 Bestselling
bracelets!

5. Triple Threat Bracelet - Dazzle - GFPAX
4.  Diamond & Pearl Bracelet - Sugarplum - GFPAZ
3.   Sophisticated Lady Wristlet - GFPAH
2.  Cream Pearl w/ Rhinestones - GFPBG
1.  Dancing Butterfly Bracelet - Midnight - GFPBD

Our Top Selling keepsake boutonniere holder this year was:

Silver Boutonniere Holder - GFPJ

The great thing about our prom corsages is that there are thousand of combinations! We have over 100 ribbon choices, dozens of leaf, bead and tulle choices! We of dozens of keepsake bracelets to put your corsage on and most importantly we have hundreds of flower combinations! Best of all, don't see what you need? Just ask! We would love to help you get the perfect corsage for the perfect night!

See the perfect corsage on our site and want to share it with your friends or your date? There's an easy Facebook and Twitter button on each product!

Check out our Prom Corsages and Boutonnieres by clicking below!

Watch the video below to see our designer favorites for 2012!

Last year, We at Gillespie Florists thought it would be fun to have a Prom King & Queen Contest! So, We held it again this year and it was a hit! Prom customers only needed to post their picture on our Facebook Fan Page wearing our flowers! We then asked our Facebook fans to "Like" their favorite picture or make a positive comment about it to determine the winner. We had several people enter but there can be only one winner!

And the Winner is...

The Results are in! Our Prom King & Queen for 2012 is....

Kelli Huffman & Tim Oconnor!

Kelli  & Tim each get a $25.00 gift card to Gillespie Florists and Kelli will be crowned with a tiara and flowers!

They had a whopping 68 "Likes" and comments on their photo! Congratulations!!

Kelli wore a three-sweetheart rose corsage similar to the one pictured here. Leah's was pink, black & silver and looked great with Tim's matching sweetheart rose boutonniere!


As a Thank You to everyone who entered the contest, we want to offer you a free Sunshine Bouquet! Just stop in the store any time, give us your name and we will give you your Sunshine!

Those Contestants are:

Meredith Warbinton & Quinn
MacKenzie McKnight and Christian Ewoldt
Allyssa Ashcraft & Sergey Dawson
Madison Raine Fines & her date
Brenda Danielle & Nick
Taylor Purcell & her date
Hannah Todd and her date
Carly Thomas & her date
Holly Wood & Griffin Goldman
Debbie Trowbridge
Glenda Pierce Sluss

Thanks again to everyone who entered the contest! Until next year!

For the second year in a row we asked Prom customers to post a snapshot of themselves wearing Gillespie Florists flowers on our Facebook Fan Page to get the chance to be crowned the Gillespie Florists Prom King & Queen! Voting is today and tomorrow!

Here is what our Prom King & Queen Hopefuls had to do:
·  Take a snapshot wearing Gillespie's Flowers.
·  Post it on our Wall.
·  Tag everyone in the picture.
·  Gillespie’s adds the picture to "Prom King & Queen Contest Album".
·  Then they ask friends and family to "Like" their photo or make a positive comment on the photo.
·  One week after the end of Prom Season, we will tally up the "Likes" and Comments and whoever has the most wins!

What do they win?
The Queen will be crowned with a tiara, flowers and both King and Queen will be awarded with $25.00 Gift Cards to Gillespie Florists!  And don't forget, Bragging Rights!

Want to help decide who wins?

Click Here to go to the "Prom King & Queen Contest Album" and “Like” your favorite Now!

Winners will be announced on Facebook May 26st!

Check out our Fabulous selection of Prom Flowers!

Every year on Memorial Day weekend, my Mom and Dad drive to Greenfield, IN to visit the gravesites of my mother's parents and grandparents. My parents decorate the grave sites with permanent botanical flower saddles, designed in the favorite colors and flowers of our deceased relatives. When I was young, my siblings and I would make the journey with our parents. At the time, I didn’t understand the significance of the gesture, but I do now...

For our family, Memorial Day is a time to gather together to reflect and share wonderful memories of our loved ones who have passed away. We meet at our Aunt and Uncle's house in Greenfield and we travel to the cemetery together. After we place the saddles on the graves, we go back to their house and we have a big cookout. While the children play in the backyard, the adults share stories and count our blessings.

You might think that this would be a sober occasion, but it’s not! We laugh until we cry, enjoy the company of others and relive the great memories!

This holiday weekend, get your family together and remember your loved ones... Enjoy your family!

Something you may not know about Memorial day is that it was originally Decoration Day and originated from the American Civil War.

Last year, I blogged about the 2011 ‘Glee’ Prom and had positive feedback so, here’s the scoop on what flowers our favorite characters wore to ‘Glee’ Prom 2012!  First and foremost, I noticed that there more characters on ‘Glee’ wearing Prom flowers this season compared to season. As a florist, that makes me very happy!

No Dino Flowers!

The theme for the 2012 ‘Glee’ Prom was Prom-asaurus.  Although there weren’t any flowers from the Jurassic era, there was plenty of variety in the types of flowers worn to the prom. Like last year, the characters wore carnations, roses and orchids. However, this year, daisies made an appearance and so did keepsake bracelets!

Most Memorable Corsage

The most memorable corsage in my opinion, was Rachel's because of the story behind it. Rachel, Blaine and Kurt decide to have an Anti-Prom party. Because Finn was nominated for Prom King, he felt obligated to attend prom. After a surprise from Quinn, Finn decided to ditch Prom to be with his girl! He gallantly showed up to Anti-Prom and talked everyone into going with him! Before leaving for Prom he gives Rachel a corsage. She wore orchids again this year but with a twist- light pink dendrobium (which was a great accent color for her dress). Her corsage looked similar to the one pictured here, including the keepsake bracelet.

Favorite Corsage

I absolutely loved Quinn’s corsage! In my opinion, her corsage way way too big last year (it engulfed her hand)! This year, her corsage was the perfect size and beautiful! Her corsage was placed on a keepsake bracelet that sparkled and shined.  The corsage had perfectly matching lavender ribbon, white accents and white roses(I think). It’s hard to tell what the exact flowers are when these girls are dancing all over the screen! Quinn’s corsage was similar to the one pictured here.

Boutonnieres

I did not care for Kurt’s Boutonniere. It was too simple for my taste-just a tiny pin-on mini-carnation. It’s not that Kurt has to have some humongous boutonniere but I certainly expected more style for him! Though I liked Blaine’s boutonniere, I was surprised by it, too. He had on a large white carnation with a metal boutonniere holder, which is very cool and the style you would expect to see this season.  However, if you look at episode from last year, he wore almost the exact same boutonniere. The only difference was that the carnation in the holder was pink instead of white. I was expecting a little more pizazz from them both! Blaine’s Boutonniere was similar to the one on the right.

Principal Figgins’ Boutonniere was a pleasant surprise! He wore a daisy boutonniere similar to the one pictured here. Daisies are becoming a more popular Prom flower choice. We design with daisies frequently in corsages and boutonnieres here at Gillespie’s. Principal Figgins pulled off his look with style and looked very comfortable in it!

In Indianapolis, our Prom season is coming to a close with only two weekends left.

 If you are a GleeK like me and want ‘Glee’ Prom flowers to accent your style, click below!

Mother’s Day is as much about the children as it is about Mom. Letting your kids be a part of the gift giving process will provide them a way to express their individual love for Mom. It really is the thought that counts! Here are 5 easy to make gifts that you and your family can do together for Mom.

1. Recycled Puzzle Piece Photo Frame
Don't throw out your puzzles with missing pieces. There are plenty of crafting opportunities waiting. This is an easy to do project and Mom will love the end result! A personalized photo frame! Let your children pick out their favorite picture of themselves and build a puzzle frame around it. Follow the link for a supply list and super easy instructions!

http://www.makingfriends.com/recycle/puzzle_piece_photo_frame.htm

2. Bouquet of Photo Flowers

Looking for a bouquet of flowers with a little personal touch? Make this precious keepsake for Mom or Grandma this Mother’s Day and they will cherish it always. You can bring these photo flowers to your local florist and have them add it to a fresh arrangement for you! Mom will love the smell of fresh flowers and always cherish the photos! Follow the link for a supply list and instructions.

http://crafts.kaboose.com/bouquet-of-photo-flowers.html

3. Create a home video for Mom.

My siblings and I made a Michael Jackson Music video for Mother’s Day one year and she still has that tape to this day! As you can imagine, it was pretty comical with 5 kids and 2 dogs running around the living room all dancing terribly to “Bad”. She says it is a gift she will never forget! She mentioned it the other day and it is what inspired me to write this blog! So, get out your camcorder and create mom a music video she will never forget!

4. Potpourri Sachets

Almost every woman loves air fresheners! This is an easy project for you and the kids that Mom will really use!  Potpourri Sachets is a versatile air freshener because you can put them anywhere! From your rearview mirror, your dresser drawer,  Fill pretty little organza bags with potpourri to give Mom! Follow the link for a supply list and instructions.

http://www.makingfriends.com/winter/valentine_potpourri.htm

5. Create A Fresh Bouquet for Mom

We have Dads come in with their kids to pick out flowers for Mom and it is the sweetest thing to see! They come back to our cooler and Dad helps them pick out flowers that they think Mom will like. A salesperson is always nearby to assist! Then Dad lets us know if he would like one of our designers to create a bouquet for Mom and have it delivered or if he would like us to wrap up the flowers to take home. If you decide to take the flowers home, it makes a fun project for the kids and it won’t hurt the wallet either! You can save 20% - 60% by taking the flowers home and vasing them yourself! Make it even more memorable by video taping you and the kids making this special bouquet! 

Is Mom out of town this year? Need us to deliver a beautiful custom made gift? Click below to go to our website!

Glowing Prom Flowers? Is this for real? Yes, it is! We excited to introduce Galassia Flowers Fluorescence corsages into our prom collection!  This product enhances the natural beauty of flowers, and takes flower color to a new level by giving them a spectacular glow!

For their beauty to be revealed, they need ultra-violet (UV) light supplied by custom-designed illumination device and a specially formulated solution applied directly to the flowers.  These unique devices are imported from Adelaide, Australia- a city with a strong reputation in plant science research and development.  We are honored to be one of the few florists in the United States that can provide this product to our customers!  As a matter of fact, we learned about this product from networking with a florist in Las Vegas, Nevada.  

Galassia Corsage - Lights on in lighted room!

How does it work?
First, we create a one of our signature corsages and design it on the Galassia bracelet with the lighted device attached. Next, we spray Galassia special formulation of fluorescence on the entire corsage. Then, when the big night arrives, the corsage is worn on the wrist, complete with an adjustable band.  The device has a convenient on/off switch so you can decide when to light up the room! 

Galassia Corsage - Lights on in dark room! 

The product works best in a dark room and produces a “black light” effect. The battery life is 6-8 hours but the formulation can last for months!The photos above are showing the same corsage in a lighted room and in a darkened room. Wow! What an amazing difference!

If you want the Galassia Flowers Fluorescence on your corsage, Contact us at 317.273.1100 or use our convenient Contact us form!

Check out this video of our glowing prom corsage in action!