Thursday, December 30, 2010

2010 Favorites!

2010 was a great year for Bella Flora!  We added a custom line of linens, chair covers, and events decor rentals to our floral design services - and were very pleased at the overwhelming response!   We were published in the Knot for the first time, and will be featured in the upcoming issue of Vow for a fabulous wedding we worked on over the summer.  We were also voted "best of" by the Knot and Wedding Wire.   All in all it was a great year, and we are SUPER excited for what 2011 will bring!

Here are some pics from our favorite events of 2010:


Friday, November 12, 2010

Pictures of the new showroom (before the party!)

Fabulous Food by Chef By Design and Gourmet Bake Shoppe!  They made our work room look pretty!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Unique Wedding Ideas - Name a star after your partner!

We LOVE this idea!!  Has nothing to do with flowers or linens, but is super romantic and original.


Unique Wedding Idea: Many brides or grooms struggle with the dilema of what to get for the love of their life as a wedding gift. On this most important of all occasions, it has to be something extra special... and very romantic, but somehow the ideas just don't seem to flow. We found a unique idea that we absolutely love - the perfect solution... For a very small fee you can have a star named after your sweetheart as a wedding gift to them. Yes, an actual star in the sky. Stars have been named after celebrities, dignitaries and other special people for years. Bet you didn't know that you can do this for the person you love as a unique and utterly unforgettable gift. When you name a star for someone you love you also receive a parchment certificate, available framed or unframed, with the name of the person you are naming a star after, the dedication date, and telescopic coordinates of the star. You'll be sent a booklet with charts of the constellations plus a larger, more detailed chart with the star you've named encircled in red so future generations may identify the star name in the directory and, using a telescope, locate the actual star in the sky! It really is the gift of a lifetime. What could be more perfect for the person who is the star in the story of your life? It's an excellent idea as an anniversary gift for special people in your life as well. Get more info.
 


Courtesy of Super Weddings.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Style Shoot Photos (by Andi Grant Photography)

 Here are more photos from the recent style shoot at the Church Point Manor by the fabulous Andi Grant.  Designs by Simply Perfect Events, Flowers, Linens, & Favors by Bella Flora, food by East beach Catering, cakes by Gourmet Bake Shoppe, Stationary by The Girl Tyler, Gowns by Pure English. 

Southern Porch Scene:



Monday, October 25, 2010

New Printable Linen Brochure

We just finalized our product line and pricing for 2011 - and added lots of new exciting inventory!  Here is a link to a printable pricing brochure.  We hope you can join us for our new showroom opening party on Nov 9th, and check out the tons of colors and fabrics we now carry.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Why You Should Always Find a Local Floral Designer

This is a great website!  Explains how to spot fake florists and why not ordering from FTD, 1800Flowers, & Telefllora save you loads of money.  Go local!!! 

The Florist Detectives

From: http://www.floristdetective.com/

You're a smart shopper

You know that the best flower arrangement value, quality and service on the web comes from dealing directly with the real local florist that will actually create and deliver your order.

Local-Florist-Pretenders.gif
Why would you want to trust that special arrangement to some guy sitting behind a computer terminal that doesn't know a gerbera from a gigabyte?
And how come it's so hard to figure out the actual local florists from the weeds of affiliate companies pretending to be 'your' local flower shop?
This site is dedicated to providing consumer information to answer those very questions.  Along the way, we'll highlight some of the seemingly deceptive and misleading advertising practices used by faux local florists to confuse, misdirect and plain-old fool the gift-giving public.  We'll also provide resources to help you find real local florists.
It's tactics used by deceptive floral wire service affiliates, the ones that generate the letters we receive from defrauded and deceived consumers, that prompted us to create this site.  A quote from one recent letter sums it up:
"What should have been a simple, sincere gesture of sending flowers was cheapened by the actions of this (order gatherer) company.  Despicable."

Tips to Avoid Being Fooled by Flower Order Gatherers

  • Check the Home and About Us pages for the physical address of the business.
  • Ask 'What is Your Address?' when you call on the phone. If they decline to provide it, consider calling another florist.
  • Check the Contact Us page for a local phone number.  It should match the area code of the location to where your flowers are being delivered. If the contact information consists of an email address only, be suspicious.
  • Call the local phone number. If it is answered 'Flower Shop' without providing the name of the florist, ask which shop you've called. If they provide a different answer than the one you've dialed, you may have reached a gatherer/broker.
  • On the phone, ask for the business' location and driving directions. If they fail to provide these details, consider calling a different florist.
  • Ask the florist to itemize all charges. Be especially cautious about companies that charge relay fees, same-day fees, service fees, shipping fees and handling fees.  Local florists generally charge for delivery (which you also pay through a broker) but the other surcharges are completely avoidable when ordering direct from the florist who will actually make your arrangement.
  • Google the phone number. If it appears under many different business names with different locations, be suspicious.
  • Be aware that just because an ad or website name says "City Name Florist", it doesn't mean the company is located in or actually delivers to that city.
  • If following a link from a search engine ad, find the site's home page. Order gatherer sites often contain directory-like links named after states, provinces and cities.  Each page will appear virtually the same except for the city name.
If you are a US consumer and have been deceived by a call center posing as a local florist or have been mislead by flower advertising, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wants to hear from you.

TV, Newspaper and Web Coverage of Phony Florists 

Phantom Florists - Fox 5 Investigative Report, Washington, DC
Buyer Beware: 'Local' Florists Might Not Be Local - WBNS TV10, Columbus, OH
FTC Warns Against Phony Florists Posing As Local - CBS 13, Sacramento, CA
Valentine's Day Flowers - 3 On Your Side, CBS3, Philadelphia, PA
Flower Shopping? Get Real - Human Flower Project
'Local Florist' Might Not Be - Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH
Ask questions in picking a florist - Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, OH
"The Internet makes it easy to order the crappiest, overpriced bouquets..." - SmartMoney.com
Hank Investigates: Phony Florists - WHDH-TV Boston, MA
Your Local Florist Might Not Be Local At All - WISN ABC12, Milwaukee, WI
Telemarketers Posing as Phony Florists - KSBW-8, Salinas, CA
Where Did Your Flowers Come From? - WCCO-4, Milwaukee, WI
Finding A Florist - Terri Gruca, Consumer Reporter, WCCO-4 Milwaukee, WI
Man Warns About Flower Scam - The Denver Channel - 7 News, Denver, CO

Friday, October 15, 2010

Bella Flora's Grand Re-Opening Party!


You’re Invited to
Bella Flora’s Grand Re-Opening Come celebrate the grand opening of the new Bella Flora showroom! Tuesday Nov 9th, 3PM-?

Drink, eat, and be merry while checking out our tablescapes, custom linens, Moroccan style flower market, and favors.  Funky flower displays and Christmas gifts/ornaments will be featured as well.  Lots on sale! Everyone welcome!




 
Where: Bella Flora - 1612 Virginia Beach Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23454 (Near First Colonial Rd, next to Ricks Cafe)

When: Tuesday, November 9, 2010 from 3PM – 7PM (or whenever!)

Phone: 877-662-4476


Contact Claire with any questions or for more info.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Style Shoot at the Church Point Manor
















Here are some pics from the insanely talented photographers that participated in Tuesday's "shoot out" at the Church Point Manor in Virginia Beach.  The shoot was organized by Andi Grant (www.andigrantphotography.com), and designed and executed by Lindsey Hocker of  Simply Perfect Events (www.simplyperfectevents.org). We provided help with the set design, flowers, linens, favors, and whatever else was needed.  The sets included a southern porch scene, a Moroccan scene, a vintage library, and a Halloween set.  More pics and credits for people that helped coming soon!!!   I swiped all these pics off Facebook sneak peak postings, I can't wait to see the rest!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

We finally have a blog!

So, we have finally joined the blog community...and are super excited!  I'm determined to find the time to post about our amazing clients and the events that we are a part of, as well as topics of interest that pertain to what we do.  I love reading other industry blogs, so hopefully you'll enjoy reading ours!  More to come soon, Bella Flora is revamping a lot right now; new showroom & shop under construction, new website under construction, new facebook format, and now our new blog...whew!  Lots of new stuff.  Not to mention our top secret BIG BIG project that is in the final stages that I really wish I could talk about.  Soon enough.
Happy Sunday!