Newport Florist and Gifts — Local services in Newport

I’m not one to leave reviews but I felt to after the poor service I received going through this florist. So I had my wedding flowers done in December , I live 5 hours away so I wasn’t able to do an in person meet up about what I wanted. I did, however send pictures of my wedding colors and pictures of bouquets that I liked so the florist had an exact idea of what I wanted. The florist, Tarrah talked over me a lot while we spoke on the phone. She told me pricing that she didn’t stick to. She told me she would text pictures of flowers and greenery they would get on their store so I knew what to expect. I never received any pictures. A lot of the flowers I wanted were out of season so we had to change the flower types but she told me she would put flowers on the same colors I wanted. Which were supposed to be maroon, peach and cream and some white with greenery as well. We spoke about it twice and she assured me I would be getting the colors I wanted but I’m different flowers. When the flowers were dropped off my bouquet was WHITE ONLY. Some green and absolutely NOTHING like what I wanted or asked for. Nothing we discussed. My maid of honor had to call them back and tell her my bouquet didn’t even match and was not at all what I wanted. I was in the middle of getting ready and of course This stressed me out being the bride. My maid of honor had to reshow Tarrah(the florist) the bouquet I had sent her weeks ago and she had to make a whole new bouquet and my maid of honor had to literally tell her point by point what to keep and what to take off. It was ridiculous. I was actually shocked by the whole process and by the service. My bridesmaids bouquets were beautiful but a lot smaller than I expected for the Price I paid. They eventually brought me the new bouquet and that one was beautiful. They also overcharged me what I was quoted. I have my budget and Tarrah worked everything into the budget when we spoke and she didn’t write any of it down so when I called back to pay she changed the pricing and over charged me 60 dollars. I had to email her after I was charged and ask her to throw in some greenery for free because she overcharged me and she agreed to it. She quoted me cheaper rices for the boutonnières. Overall, it was a night mare situation. Between overcharging and not really feeling like she was treating me as a pay customer and working with my budget, she was very pushy and over charging whenever she got a chance. That’s how it felt. The stress of everything is why I’m leaving this review. Wedding planning is very stressful and this experience was the worst customer service I’ve experienced. If you do business with this florist, take notes so you don’t get overcharged. Hold them accountable. The positives are that the flowers did end up being beautiful, the greenery beautiful but everything was way too expensive for the finished Product. The biggest negative was the bridal bouquet looking NOTHING like what...

Photos: 1st by Newport Florist, 2nd Requested Design, 3rd Other florist.

Super disappointed and saddened by my experience with this shop. I called a week before Valentine’s Day to order something unique. I sent specific photos of the request, asking for a blue-grey black arrangement (second photo) and acknowledging it was an odd request. I was assured they could make what I asked for.

The night before Valentines Day the designer sent me her arrangement (first photo). There was no grey or black. She asked if it was ok? I pointed out the disconnect and got no response. When I called the next morning they abruptly canceled the entire order and made me feel like I was a burden. Stressing “we’re not going to be able to make you happy.” The florist Tara also followed up with the text “Sometimes it’s just better to cancel an order than try to create something when you don’t have the materials the customer is looking for.”

I agree, if you can’t make what someone wants, you shouldn’t take the order in the first place. I understand it’s a busy day. I would have been happy to pay for the changes. I would have gone somewhere else a week ago if you couldn’t make this. So much for creating a special moment on a special day. What a sad waste of time for everyone involved.

Response to owner: The $50 budget was recommended by the first person I spoke with and confirmed by the second person over the phone (owner/designer) when I placed the order the week before. She stated "Yea, $50 should be fine because you don't want something big you're just looking to make a statement." I don't see how my three line poem was too complicated for you. I agree the delivery location was confusing due to there being no numbers on the office door, which is regrettable. There was a general air of you being overwhelmed by my order and me, at which point I feel you never should have taken it (since 95% of you business is in fresh) vs canceling it on Valentines Day. I found another location where I was able to place the "difficult" order and have it delivered within three days, I paid $87 for the arrangement and delivery, see...

I was gifted an arrangement of wildflowers in a simple, squared, green glass vase adorned with some rafea. The bigger wildflowers looked less than fresh, specifically two that I think were Black-eyed Susan and two others that looked like daisies dyed purple. Except for those bigger, wilty flowers, the arrangement was stunning. I loved its eccentricity with its small surprises mixed in (mint leaves, fuzzy grain stalks, babies breath, snap dragons and mini-daisies). Unfortunately, those bigger, not-so-fresh looking flowers wilted more in the next twelve hours and one of the Black-eyed Susans closed up and bent over, dead. The big, wilted flowers represented a minority of the buds, but were front and center, impossible not to notice. Since the arrangement was a gift (you know, the old looking a gift horse in the mouth thing), I didn’t say anything, but the giver saw them in person and wasn't happy. In the same position, I’d have felt the same. When I give someone flowers, I want them all to arrive fresh and perky. My friend, the gifter, called Newport Florist and informed them that some of the flowers looked bad or dead. The first solution offered by the weekend help was not very customer service oriented. Fortunately, the designer herself followed up on the next business day and made everything right. I love that Newport Florist wanted to make it right, Emily specifically. I like to support local businesses, especially when they welcome opportunities to completely please their customers. I wholeheartedly recommend Emily and Newport Florist for not only the beautiful arrangements, but also for the follow up if there is an...