Surprisingly, this business practice includes most big name flower operators. Direct2florist on the other hand is a bunch of florists grouped together to help win back and provide customers with their full moneys worth.

A new and unique way for customers to order direct, Direct2florist is home to real local florists in USA, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. The site places the customer in direct contact with the florists. 100% flower money goes to the florist.

flower delivery by local florists

Without expensive commissions taken by the middleman, customers are receiving better value for money. Direct2florist charges a service fee on each order, this is clearly displayed on the order and Direct2florist receives that service fee. The florist receives the flower money. Simple good value from a simple website that provides excellent service via 1st class real local florists.

People are sending flowers every day for a whole range of different purposes, whether your trying to impress someone, to showing your sympathy. Sending flowers is a great way to express yourself and will always get a warm reception to whom they concern.

So next time you wish to send flowers, think, do you really want to lose 25% commission? Or do you want send beautiful fresh flowers direct from the real local florist. To find your local florist visit:

www.direct2florist.com

Flor Del Monte, Inc in Chicago, Illinois

The ease of the system allows florists to set themselves up with a professional online ordering website where the florist displays their own work, at their price, which they receive in full. Florists are able to set up in minutes using the easy to use D2F control panel. New members to the site include Novelli Floral and Greenhouse and Everyday Flowers both florists are brand new to D2F and are based in United States.

Shops upload pictures of their work, their shop and set their delivery areas. The process takes 10mins
Are you a florist interested in receiving orders direct from the public at 100% flower value?
visit D2F Sign Up for more information.

The assembling of flower arrangements for different occasions needs talent and a special eye and colour co-ordination for the intricate detailing necessary. World skills courses recently held in New Zealand demonstrate the very high standards of floristry the students are learning. Learn more information about Floristry courses at World Skills from Flonzi.org.nz

Florist World Skills

Miss Elles Winning Piece

1st Place piece and ‘Best in Show’ at the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show 2008. The brief was for an arrangement to promote a child’s toy. Different flowers were used to create texture and bright colours to make the piece stand out. Swirls of Flexi Grass was used on the outside edge to give that sense of movement. Flowers used in this design were: Aster, Santini Chrysant, Gerbera, Hydrangea Florets, Brunii and Astrantia.

Florist, Christopher Ablett received 10/10 for workmanship, materials & design skills, organisers commented “it is an outstanding piece of work”

You can contact Miss Elles Florist at:
MISS ELLE’S FLORIST

22A North Bar Without
Beverley East Yorkshire
HU17 7AB

Tel: 01482 860909
Visit Miss Elles Florist Website

Direct2florist Control Panel Screen Shot

The D2F system is different because it sends orders direct between members, with no middlemen. This presents great savings to florists that currently use services like Interflora or Teleflower or FTD to send orders to each other. These long established traditional services charge florists and customers fees and may present time barriers between florists, especially if the order is international. By using simple internet technology Direct2florist saves time and cuts the traditional middlemen out of the order process. On Direct2florist florists are able to securely send orders to each other, see each others designs, speak to each other and pay each other. The fee is a transaction fee per order which is paid by the customer, making the service free to the florist. In the UK the transaction fee is £3 and in New Zealand the fee is $6 making the service very low cost to the customer.

This new service will help grow the network of real local florists on Direct2florist. The aim is to develop a world wide community of florists all receiving orders from the public and from other florists, all using one simple web based control panel.

Florists that have already used the system say this is great news for the industry as the new system presents great savings to florists and their customers.

To help brides, grooms and their families enjoy this time of planning, a specialist wedding online service directory has been created, listing a number of businesses recognised in Australia as experienced professionals. You will find accessories, accommodation, wedding cakes, dresses, wedding favors, flowers, wedding gowns, hairstyles, invitations, wedding poetry, rings music & songs, wedding speech and wedding vows, wedding planners, flowers, bridal gowns, hairstylist, bridesmaids dresses and bouquets, reception venues, wedding photographers & videographers, florists, musicians and DJs and wedding accessories, marriage celebrant, you can even plan your honeymoon all right here.

Work by wedding professionals can be seen on the site, here is a stunning wedding photo by Icon Film Productions of a married couple at Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Courtesy of Icon Film Productions & Weddings Only Directory

There are also photos of wedding arrangements, table decorations and wedding bouquets to be found on the site. All in all, this is an excellent resource if you are plaaning your wedding in Australia. Click here to visit Weddings Only AU

What’s behind does matter

A simple background is key to a great product picture. You want customers to focus on the flowers in the picture, not the people or products lurking in behind. Buy a few coloured fabric swatches to use as a background and make sure the fabric hangs flat – either wall, stand or the back of a chair. Avoid black, which can drown out detail or white, which is hard to light (unless you have a light tent, see our web site for more info) and go with a solid colour

Light it up

You need to properly light your photos to capture the true colours of the flowers and avoid any dark shadows or overexposed area. Often the camera’s flash out the image and produce using a soft light source that shines from behind you – either a window with natural lightening or a 100 watt bulb a carefully positioned piece of white cardboard, held just behind the camera can also help redirect light onto your product. Play around with the lighting and see what works best.

Get close and snap away

Fill the picture frame with the design so your customers can see all the finer details – either step closer to the design or zoom in to get a nice, tight shot. Kneel down so you are eye level with the product or invest in a mini tripod to make sure you take steady, level shots. Take both horizontal and vertical pictures as well as a few different angles to showcase the various aspects of the arrangement.

Putting those pictures into use

If you’re a tech whiz, then playing with editing software can sharpen or lighten your photos. Their area numbers of editing programs available to buy as well as a few free online editors. But if your happy with the way the pictures look, then select our favourites and print away, keep a back-up CD with all your images just in case you want to print more. Organise your designs into themes in a photo album or portfolio so they are readily available when customers asks.

Let the we see what you’ve got

Add the new photos to your web site so potential online customers can view samples of your style. On the web, you don’t need large files – the bigger the file, the longer the photos will take to load your site. Similarly, many web site providers won’t allow you to upload large files. There are a few simple ways you can go about reducing the size of the file to make them web-ready. Make sure when you’re shrinking a photo you keep a copy of the original saved somewhere. Many photo editing programs have an option that lets you shrink the picture, but you can also do it for free online (and you don’t have to download a thing) at www.shrinkpictures.com or www.easyphotoresize.com. These sites allow you to shrink by a percentage or reduce them to a certain pixel size. Figure out which size looks best on your site and keep all of the pictures uniform size.

Once you get the hang of your camera and your software, it’s always easier the second time round don’t forget to update your print and web portfolio frequently with your latest and greatest!

Article taken from the Canadian florist magazine (August / September issue)

“The recipients of our flower arrangements, unknown to us were out of the country celebrating their wedding anniversry in FIJI.

Not only did Cottage Connections for fine flowers NOT leave the flowers that they intended to deliver, they contacted us by phone telling us of the above, and THEN committed themselves to deliver a fresh flower gift on the return of our friends in accordance with the original instruction according to our order.

My wife and I consider this care to be beyond normal expectations and we are only too pleased to declare our 5 star rating to this business.
Regards to all;

Pat and Bill Edwards.”

Any comment or guidance that you can offer as a florist will be greatly appreciated.  We want to do all we can to make this an effective tool for you.