Beware 2G roses/freshroses.com

[ars11]

I'm planning to do my own flowers for my wedding, and was going to use freshroses.com as recommended in Bridal Bargains. Thank goodness I ordered a sample bouquet. The roses, whether standard or the more expensive premium, were smaller than a quarter. The spray roses were nice, and opened to be about the same size (very slightly smaller) than the premium roses. Had I ordered from them, I would have needed dozens and dozens per arrangement. Please be sure to order sample bouquets so you don't wind up stuck two days before your reception! NOTE: ATTACHED PHOTOS ARE OF PREMIUM ROSES.

[Grumpy]

oh my, thanks for the warning.

[quinncx]

I am looking at 2G roses also and ordered the test bunch. Both my mom and I were blown away and I am definitely ordering flowers from them for my wedding in June. The roses were large, none failed to open, the colors were magnificent, and the flowers lasted over a week in my mom's house.
I have pics but not with me- I'll try to add them to this later for people who would like to see samples of the flowers. I definitely would not count out 2G roses!

[indigo997]

I wonder if it has to do with the season.
There's a long, in-depth thread on the wedding channel message boards from a bride who also ordered the sample roses. She then posted pictures each day. She did say that it took 2-3 days for them to open up and be at their best. She was happy with them though.

[Glinda]

I ordered the test bunch from freshroses.com and was very underwhelmed. My roses were also really small, and many never opened or didn't open fully. I was not impressed. Many of my roses were badly bruised or had little holes--and not just in the outermost petals! I swear to you, I followed the handling instructions exactly, so I don't think that was the problem.

[ebeliene]

I ordered from 2G roses for my wedding last year. The test bunch run went flawless. The flowers were large, fresh and beautiful. I thought I was in floral heaven. The actual order for the wedding, however, encountered shipping issues with FedEx and it remained at the LAX depot. I was left trying to find flowers for our wedding in rural Maine during a holiday weekend on 24 hours notice. Thank goodness for family and neighbors who sacraficed their flower gardens. 2G did promptly refund my money but that didn't help get the flowers we planned on to us.

[septembride]

I was very disappointed in my experience with 2G roses. I tried to order 160 blooms of gerbera daisys, which would equal out to 4 trays. The cost per tray was $50 (not that bad) but then when I went to check out the shipping was first quoted at $190! They say on their web page for gerbera daisys that for 3-4 trays the shipping will be about $75, but due to some sort of gliche on their site the shipping quotes are larger than the actually shipping costs they charge. They say that they will adjust it within a couple of days and email you with your new shipping costs. Well, to my surprise when they emailed me they reduced the price to $130. To me this was still outrageous and I asked what the deal was. I was told that they had switched growers and they had to charge more because of the special shipping involved. Tell me if I am wrong, but wouldn't it be wise to change your website then? After some researching I discovered they had the highest shipping charges for gerberas than for any other flowers and theirs was the highest for any other wholesale flower site Needless to say, I felt like I was ripped off and canceled my order.

[emk]

Here is my experience with 2G roses and my recent wedding on November 13, 2004 (long recap):
After reading the bridal bargains book, I ordered a test bunch of roses in November of 2003 -- I figured the quality and color would be more representative of what I would receive the next November. I was pleased with the sample bunch -- opened well, large, and beautiful -- my plan was to order 300 Vendella roses.
Not wanting to take any chances or have any surprises, I had a bunch of Vendella roses and supplies shipped to me a month before the wedding -- I wanted to do a dry-run of making bouquets, boutineers, etc. My fiance (now husband) and maid of honor were pleasently surprised by how beautiful they were and how well the practice arrangements turned out. So much so that we decided to increase the wedding order to 400 roses. 2 weeks before the wedding I re-confirmed my order that was to arrive before noon on Thursday before the wedding.
The Thursday before the wedding a few family members and friends took time off of work to help me de-thorn and prepare the roses for arranging on Friday. We waited and waited and waited -- no roses. Finally we reached someone at 2G roses and discovered that our roses had been shipped to a different state (which they admitted was their fault since we gave them the correct address). What was most disheartening was that customer service was not apologetic or sympathetic to our predicament. We were informed that there was no way they would arrive on Thursday, but would come by afternoon on Friday. We had the roses re-routed to where we would be on Friday and crossed our fingers that they would arrive. They did, but they were pretty beat-up by then. We counted at least 40 that arrived decapitated and many others that were unusable. We did the best we could with what we had and sacrificed the large arrangement we had planned for the church.
Eventually we were refunded our shipping, and the customer service rep who had helped me during the ordering and confirmation process saw to it that we would get a partial refund for the damaged flowers. So there was some restitution. But for the inconvenience and stress, I cannot recommend them.
Given the number of similar stories I see on the message board, I'm guessing that the next edition of Bridal Bargains will not contain as good of a review -- it's a shame, because the idea is a good one -- but maybe it's not very practical given the time-criticality of a wedding.

[charleighsue]

I ordered roses from 2G roses and had absolutely no problems. They were beautiful, arrived on time, and everybody wanted to know who my florist was. My best friend is getting married this summer and I will definitely recommend them to her. They are closed when they first arrive but if you follow the directions they provide and have done your homework they will open quickly and make amazing arrangements.

[JanineM]

I for one put a lot of stock in bad stories about a company, expecially when I hear the same thing more the once or things are well documented like with the photos. I am always very happry for those who get what they want when and how they want it, as it should vbe, but it is when things don't go worng that I worry. No, I do understnad noone is perfect and that any place can make a mistake of have a problem. It is almost impossible to make everyone happy in this industry, but even for a Vegas wedding one will only be willing to risk so much. I was so excited when I read about this site in the book, but now I don't think I will trust them with my wedding.

[NolaWed1206]

>I ordered from 2G roses for my wedding last year. The test
>bunch run went flawless. The flowers were large, fresh and
>beautiful. I thought I was in floral heaven. The actual order
>for the wedding, however, encountered shipping issues with
>FedEx and it remained at the LAX depot. I was left trying to
>find flowers for our wedding in rural Maine during a holiday
>weekend on 24 hours notice. Thank goodness for family and
>neighbors who sacraficed their flower gardens. 2G did promptly
>refund my money but that didn't help get the flowers we
>planned on to us.


I have had more trouble shipping stuff to family in Maine via Fed Ex. My advice is don't order anything that ships via Fed Ex to your area. They're horrible.Especially during holidays.I had to learn that the hard way.:(

Has anyone tried any other floral direct shippers that worked out better for them?Anyone you highly recommend? I want to do my own flowers and need some good (affordable) suggestions. I want to get premium long-stem white roses, blue belle eucalyptus, and lilly of the valley (with greens).

[JanineM]

You know what? After reading the horror stories and then seeing the Spring Martha Stewart Weddings spring '06 issue with the tissue paper flowers on the cover, I may just do that! I saw pics of one bride who made them for her own wedding on another board. She did them in mostly blues and they were amazing. I doubt one can get any cheaper then tissue paper flowers and possibilities are endless!

[Chelee33]

I will be getting married in August 2008 (lots of time to plan!). I noticed that a lot of these posts were from 2004, so I hope things have improved with them by now. I will order a tester from them this summer to make sure. Any new stories about 2G?

[qwickone]

I'm also really interested in more recent feedback. My wedding is Arp 2008
Thanks!

[jane]

I have used freshroses.com multiple times, very successfully. Last year for my daughter's wedding, we ordered 300 premium roses (7 different varieties). They arrived on Thursday not looking like much. We used them Friday evening for the rehearsal dinner and they were pretty. By Saturday evening they were beautiful. They stayed on the church altar for Sunday service and were gorgeous. They were then passed out to the homebound and anyone else who wanted them. major parts of my congregation were thrilled for several more days and functions. A month later we ordered another 75-100, again - wonderful. We have used them for several more functions, and I plan on using them for 3 more events this sprin. Order a test bouquet. You will be initially unimpressed, but within two days it will be a lot of fun, within 3-4 days you will be thrilled. (Pull off the outer petals for table decoration.)

[Juniper]

Hello- I was wondering if you ordered your test bunch from 2G? I did not order a test bunch first but I did order 250 roses from them a couple months ago for my wedding in september 2008, so I am curious about your experience. It seems to be the most recent. Thanks!