The Flower Blog

Where Were You on 9/11?

Posted by Sat, Sep 03, 2011 @ 12:21 PM

Della Gillespie Mendenhall

There are a few days in our lives that we can remember exactly where we were and what you were doing. With the 10-year anniversary coming up in a little over a week, it brings back the memories of that day.

I was going to Butler University as well as being a high school senior. I had just gotten out of an early class at Butler and was driving back to my high school when the radio DJ announced the World Trade Centers in New York had been hit by a plane. Honestly, I thought it was a joke. It took a few minutes to realize this was no joke, this was for real.

When I got to school, there was a somber atmosphere.  Every classroom had TV’s on watching the news.  There was no way the teachers would be able to get our minds off the terrible tragedy that went on that day.

I asked my sister, Sarah Gillespie, to tell me about that day because she was working here at Gillespie Florists. 

As was usual every morning, I had the television on Sarah Gillespiethe local news, quietly in the background. As I was preparing to head out the door to work, an anchor broke in suddenly with news that a plane had crashed into an office building in New York.

Details were scarce, but it appeared to be a horrible, unthinkable accident. I put my things down and watched the events unfold before my eyes. When the second plane hit the World Trade center, it became apparent to the media that this was no ordinary accident. I became uneasy; worrying what other places might be attacked.

I finally tore myself away from my television set because I was 20 minutes late leaving for work. When I got into my car, I turned on the radio to continue listening to the latest on the events unfolding that day. As I traveled, I heard about the plane crashing into the pentagon. Suddenly, I was overcome with fear that the plane flying above me might suddenly crash into a building here in Indianapolis!

When I got to work, surprisingly, the two or so people who had come in “on time” were not aware of what was happening on the East Coast. We turned on the radio so we could all listen together. We worried, waited and prayed as more details came the twin towers new yorkacross the airwaves. We do not have a television set in the store but someone brought one from their home during their lunch break so we could listen and see what was going on all around us. Once the planes were grounded, it was oddly quiet, as our store is located within a few miles of the airport. There was less traffic. It was very eerie and stayed that way for a few days beyond the attacks.

We have no record of any sales that day… we did have deliveries that were previously scheduled that we delivered, but no actual new sales in the twelve hours that we were open. Only one sale the next day (the 12th) and no sales again on the 13th.

We at Gillespie Florists want to thank all of the firemen, police officers and other emergency crews who risked their lives to save others.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost loved ones on that day. 

Where were you on 9/11? We’d like to know. Leave a comment on our blog.

Topics: Seasonal, informational

Cascades making a comeback?

Posted by Thu, Sep 01, 2011 @ 04:50 PM

Sarah Gillespie Cascade Comeback!

I have met with five different brides in the last three days and just finished writing up
estimates for each of them today. I noticed an interesting trend that I have not seen in
quite a while. Three of the five brides have asked for a cascade style design instead of the very popular hand-tied, clutch style design. I’ve got to say, as someone who has carried a cascade bouquet at her own wedding, I am thrilled to see the cascade style making a comeback!

Cascade with white orchids

What is a Cascade?

What is the difference between the cascade and hand-tied clutch styles? Well, many differences, actually! From a design standpoint, the cascade style bouquets require more skill and time to put together. The designer will use more supplies and generally design in a holder for better shape and flower placement. Hand-tied bouquets are made just like they sound… hand-tied! Not to say that this is an easy task, by any means! The flowers are gathered and placed carefully in a bundle to balance color and variety (care must be taken not to shatter the flowers against each other). Once the desired shape and color balance is achieved, the bouquet is bound with floral tape. The floral tape is topped off with an attractive ribbon to cover the mechanics of the binding.

cascade with iris and orchidsAnother difference between cascade and hand-tied styles are the basic shape of the bouquet. Cascade style bouquets tend to be “teardrop” shaped (round and full at the top, then tapering down towards the floor). The bride holds the bouquet handle on the holder that the designer uses to build the arrangement. Hand-tied style bouquets are generally round and full, with the natural stems of the flowers left long where the bride places her hands to carry the bouquet.

Another difference can be price, depending on your flower choices of course! Cascade style bouquets take more time to design, thus increasing the labor cost. Often, more stems and blooms of flowers are used in the design of a cascade bouquet, especially if cascading greenery AND flowers are used.

The bottom line is personal preference. I chose a traditional cascade for my traditional wedding. Your wedding should reflect your personal style and taste too!

Schedule your wedding appointment today!

Click Below To Get Started!

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Topics: weddings

Fall Mums 2011

Posted by Wed, Aug 24, 2011 @ 03:21 PM

Della Gillespie-Mendenhall  FAll Mums in Wagon avon, IN




 

Fall Mums are in at Gillespie Florists!

I love Fall Mums! They come in many colors and are very easy to take care of!  Gillespie Florists only carries the best of products. We buy from a local grower so we can go and handpick each mum!
We have Fall Hardy mums so, you can plant them before the first frost and they will come back year after year! There are many people that buy them every year and put the mum in outdoor pots to dress up their front porch. Typically the mums will not winter over in outdoor pots so if you want it to come back next year make sure to get it planted in the ground!
Our Fall Mums come in an eight-inch pot. Customers can purchase them in the pot for Take Out for just $6.95! It’s a great value! If you would like us to decorate and deliver it for you, we can do that starting at $24.95!
Plum Fall Mum Avon, IN 
Pictured here is a mum wrapped in decorative foil with wheat, a butterfly and all tied together with a beautiful bow! You can upgrade this with a lovely wicker basket! 
Large Double Mum Basket Avon, IN  
If you are looking for a “Wow” factor, you may want to get Plum Harvest. Plum Harvest has two mums planted into a large basket and accented with a lush bow!  This mum basket is huge and is perfect for someone who loves fall!
Watch this short video showing off some of our Fall Mums. It shows the great variety we can have on hand on any given day!

Love what you see and want to send someone a Fall Mum? Click below to order online now! It fast, convenient and easy!

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Topics: Videos, Seasonal

Truly Yellow Wedding Flowers!

Posted by Mon, Aug 22, 2011 @ 10:32 AM

Sarah Gillespie  This video shows our flowers enhancing a beautiful outdoor wedding ceremony, outdoor cocktail area and indoor reception area. The bride and groom decorated in the colors sunshine yellow and creamy white with tiffany blue accents.

The bridal features a braided wrap treatment that has become quite popular with our brides. The two textures of ribbon create an elegant look, trimmed with pearls along the wrap at the cross segments of ribbon.
Yellow & white bridal
The toss bouquet features long streaming ribbons to create a memorable photograph while sailing through the air to eagerly waiting single female guests!

The cake features simple daisy bloom accents and greenery. Amazing how such small groupings of floral accents make such a big impact visually!

Centerpieces grace the indoor and outdoor tables for guests to enjoy during the reception festivities. Notice the variance of height, style and color designed to make the room unified, yet unique.

The aisle bouquets feature white dendrobium orchids tied into the chair sashes- the
perfect tribute to the lovely bride as she glides down the aisle to meet her groom.

Let us decorate your venue! Call our contact our wedding specialist today!

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Topics: weddings, Videos

Mi Casa es Su Casa! Use Our Design Space!

Posted by Wed, Aug 10, 2011 @ 02:28 PM

Della Gillespie MendenhallDid you know?

Did you know people use our design tables and cooler? This is a world of DIY and we love to help! Our customers can save anywhere from 20 – 50% off the designed price on flowers when they buy them “Take Out”.

 

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What is Take-Out?

Take out flowers are flowers customers pick out of our current stock from our 500 sq ft cooler. We wrap the flowers in cellophane and the customer takes the flowers home to vase.  But sometimes our customers are on their way to the hospital, special occasion or event and want to have the flowers vased before they get to their destination. They will bring their own vase and use one of our design tables to create their bouquet.

*Our designers are happy to give tips and tricks for your first DIY; however they cannot design the bouquet for you!*

 

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I’m in Over My Head!

Sometimes we can have great ideas and want to "DIY" but things just aren't turning out the way we want them too. Don't worry; if your masterpiece is looking more like a master mess then you can still pay to have one of our designers to make something beautiful!  

 

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DIY Weddings

Brides need to stretch their dollar a lot further these days and a great way to do that is to buy “Take Out” flowers and use our design space to create the wedding flowers. Usually because the bride is very busy the day of the wedding, she will come in with her bridesmaids and create her wedding flowers the day before the wedding and then store her flowers overnight in our cooler and send someone to pick them up. 

Some brides pay a small fee to have a designer spend a dedicated hour with them to teach them how to create her bridal bouquet, corsages and boutonnières!  Read more about our DIY Wedding flowers here!

Want to book your DIY Wedding flowers? Click below to contact our Wedding Specialist!

 Contact our Wedding Specialist!

Topics: weddings, informational, DIY, DIY Flowers, Design onsite

My Guilty Pleasure: House Hunters

Posted by Wed, Aug 03, 2011 @ 03:24 PM

Della Gillespie-Mendenhall When I have time to relax and watch a little TV, I love to watch House Hunters! My husband loves to make fun of me for it because we are not moving but I love looking at houses! I love to see the prospective buyers talk about the potential in the home and what they might like to do with the property. I also love to disagree with those buyers and think about what I might do instead.  My favorite part of the show is to try and guess whicroom with stargazer liliesh house they will choose! 

Recently I watched an episode titled: Single in Seattle. It’s about a stylish single guy looking for a very small one-bedroom, one-bath place and he was looking in the downtown Seattle area. He had a crazy budget of $450,000 and I thought for sure he was allowing way too much money. But once they started showing properties, I soon learned prices are much higher in Seattle than they are here in corn filled Indiana.

stargazer lilies in a vaseThe property I liked the best was a houseboat. It actually seemed to be very open and airy. But what made it so inviting was a vase of Stargazer lilies sitting on a table in the living area.  It was simple and beautiful! The owner of the house probably just stopped by their local flower shop picked up 3 or 4 stems of Stargazers and popped them into the vase. No greens, no accent flowers, no fuss! It made me wish I had smellevision!

Isn’t it amazing how something so simple can change a room? You don’t have to be having an open house to get flowers! Stop in to your local florist and pick up some flowers to give a room in your house a completely different feel…and smell!

Don’t have time to stop in? No worries! We’ll bring the flowers to you! Just click below to select your room changing bouquet!

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Topics: informational, trends

That’s What You Get When You Drop Ship.

Posted by Fri, Jul 29, 2011 @ 12:18 PM

Patrick Gillespie

  “Well, that’s what you get….”

That was the response given by the package delivery person to the patient at St. Francis Hospital in Beech Grove, Indiana when he observed the broken pottery pictured here.

Drop Ship Planter

Upon receipt of their package, the patient insisted the parcel carrier make a notation of the broken container.  However, the patient must have felt unsure of the outcome of his complaint because I received a call from him claiming that the dish garden (planter) he received from Gillespie Florists was broken.

While on the phone with the patient, I put in and order for a replacement of this planter; not knowing at the time it was not our product. I noticed during the call that indeed an order was placed by one of our corporate clients.   When our driver arrived there to replace it, I received another phone call from my driver.   Although our dish garden was in the room, with the yellow daisies and ribbon in a wicker basket as described by a member of our design staff on the order, the patient insisted that the planter in a broken ceramic container wrapped tightly in saran wrap complete with a black and gold card was ours! Because an order had been placed by our client and I had already committed to the replacement of the product (even though it wasn’t our product), I instructed my delivery person to leave the replacement planter and return to the store with the damaged product from the drop ship florist.

Whether you are a florist doing business with a “drop ship” program as this was, or a consumer looking for convenience, value, savings, or responding to incessant pop-ups or radio ads instead of using a traditional florist, you will most likely experience a feeling of:

“Well, that’s what you get…”

If you want to send something special to a loved one, be sure to call your local florist. Your local florist will work hard to earn your confidence and will add the personal touch no drop shipped product ever could.

Gillespie Florists always adds a personal touch to each design. Click below to see our custom products!

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Topics: informational

Get 20% Off When You Vote!

Posted by Tue, Jul 26, 2011 @ 01:56 PM

Della Gillespie Mendenhall Baroque Garden in Indianapolis IN, Gillespie Florists

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vote for Us!

The A-List Competition is on! Help us get voted THE BEST FLORIST IN THE INDIANAPOLIS AREA! As an added bonus, if you vote for us and bring in proof of the vote you can save 20% off your next $10.00 (or greater) IN-STORE purchase.

Here is How:

Go to:

http://wrtv.cityvoter.com/gillespie-florists/biz/93649

Click on [Vote for Us]

Complete the short registration form.

If you are a new account on the A-List you will have to go to your e-mail and confirm that it is you on the Indy Channel A-List e-mail in your inbox.

If you have an A-List account, log in and vote for us!

Once your confirmation page pops up and says you voted, print that page and bring it in to us for your discount!

Contest Ends: Aug. 19th

 

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Topics: Sales, informational

Indiana Grown Flowers

Posted by Fri, Jul 22, 2011 @ 12:00 PM

Della Gillespie Mendenhall
We proudly tell customers daily that we get flowers from all around the world.  That doesn’t mean we don’t get flowers from right here in Indiana! In the spring we get tulips and daffodils. During the summer we get a large assortment of flowers from local growers! The great thing is, not only are we able to get flowers that we can also get in winter months out of state but we can also get flowers native to Indiana only and would not be able to get them at any other time of year!
 

I made a short video for you to show you what we got from one of our local growers this week. But every week they have different things available so don’t think that’s all we’ve got! You’ll just stop in the store every week to see what’s new! Of course we are also carrying our regular stock of fresh flowers so there is always tons of variety!  You'll also notice a picture of my English Bulldog named Pearl! She comes to work with me on most Saturdays and Loves kids!


We also buy many of our plants locally.  Such as green houseplants and blooming plants. Like poinsettias at Christmas, Mums in the fall and hanging baskets in the spring! 


We use some of our local flowers in many of the Summer Bouquets! Check them out now!
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Topics: Seasonal, informational

The Dog Days of Summer!

Posted by Tue, Jul 19, 2011 @ 06:28 PM

Susan Gillespie
What do dogs have to do with the days of summer????

The dog days of summer refer to the time of year that the days are long and unbearably hot.  They respond by lying around all day panting and waiting for the heat and haze of the day to fade into evening cool.  
 
 
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Unlike dogs, we cannot afford this behavior.  Don't just lie down and take it!  Try a refreshing and exhilarating walk through our 500 square foot cooler at Gillespie Florist's.  Not only will your temperature be dropped but you will also be surrounded by incredible beauty and the mixed natural scents of several varieties of flowers.  This temperature is maintained at a perfect 36 degrees to keep all the flowers from around the world at their peak of freshness.  
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While you take this leisurely stroll you may wish to pick a few to take home to your kitchen table.  A cool reminder that even though it may be hot and dismal outside; bright colors and sweet fragrance of fresh flowers will always brighten your day. Drop by our store today for a visit and leave the laying around to the dogs!

Don't have time to stop by? Check out our great summer bouquets on our website!

Summer Bouquets 

Topics: Seasonal, informational