Lennoxville Florist

whelmed by phone calls and voicemails left at the store. While they take down orders, they also need to order their flowers from wholesalers, who deliver to the store daily.

“We have to ask the customers a lot of questions. It helps us direct them as to how to take care of the flowers, depending on when they will be picking them up. Some need to be put in water immediately, some need to go in the fridge – it’s important to know the conditions the flowers are going into so that they don’t get damaged,” said Beaudry.

“We also offer our delivery service but trust me when I say that it’s nothing as simple as ordering pizza. Most times, we are delivering flowers as a surprise, so the people don’t expect to be receiving them. We need to track the recipients down before even contacting our delivery staff because there needs to be someone to pick up the bouquets. You don’t want to leave them outside if it’s too hot or too cold, and you don’t really want to leave them with customers either. We’ve already seen some nasty arguments between neighbours who picked up someone else’s bouquet and tried to keep it,” she chuckled.

“Mothers’ Day is definitely our busiest day. Usually, we’ll have men come in and they want bouquets for their wife, their mom, and their mother-in-law. We prepare a lot of bouquets in advance and encourage people to order from us a few days early and we hire extra delivery staff. Valentine’s Day can also be crazy, because it’s only one specific day rather than a weekend of celebrations,” admitted Beaudry. “People will wait in the store for over an hour for a bouquet. It’s always funny to see people panic as our stock of flowers, especially red roses, slowly decreases. It’s a small store and people will start bargaining together. People know each other from around town, and will recognize each other from year to year, because they always come at the same time of the day for their bouquets.”

Beaudry takes great pleasure in getting to know every one of her recurring customers. “You know people, you know their tastes. Sometimes, I have boyfriends come in and ask for bouquets and I have to remind them that their girlfriends don’t like a certain colour, or that they’re allergic to certain flowers. I often take notes so that we don’t send people a bouquet they won’t be able to appreciate,” she added.

Over three decades of business has made for many generations to pass through the Lennoxville Florist’s doors. “I have followed people’s lives through flowers. I arranged their bouquet for their prom at Galt, I made the floral arrangements for their weddings, I made bouquets for when their children were born, and now I make bouquet for their children’s prom, their children’s weddings, and their children’s children!” she said. “There is such a story that can be told through flowers.”

“Writing personal cards is sometimes quite funny. We try never to correct spelling mistakes when people bring in their own texts, because then it takes away from who that person really is. One day, a customer came in and asked me to write down something nice for his wife, something smart. He asked me to write down whatever I would like to receive if I were to get a bouquet,” she explained. “As a woman, I wrote something quite romantic and cute. His wife called me the next day, laughing, and said that when her husband phoned in a bouquet, I did not need to write something that sweet, because there was no way that was from her husband. A few weeks later, he called me again, and asked me to sign something completely random that I didn’t understand. His wife called me the next day and said she was so happy, because that was one of their inside jokes, so she knew it came from him.”

“Another couple used to always write in codes. I was never able to figure out what they were talking about. He would send her flowers every single week. One day, the delivery was made outside of my delivery perimeter, so I sent it to another florist for them to do the service. The florist called me and asked what they were talking about, and I told them I didn’t know, and it was okay that way. It was their little secret,” mentioned Beaudry.

One of the business owner’s biggest priorities is discretion. “I always ask my employees to be discreet. I can teach them how to make a bouquet but I can’t teach them discretion. It needs to be innate. If I tell a customer that I saw their boyfriend the other day, they will for sure think I saw them here at the shop, even if it was at the park or the grocery store. We don’t want people to start overthinking and wondering if their boyfriend is buying flowers for someone else!” she said.

Being a newcomer to town 35 years ago was a stressful ordeal for Beaudry, but she attributes her success to the people who welcomed her and made her feel like she was part of the community.

“This one woman really took me under her wing from the start. I was only 25! I had even once helped her decorate her entire house with floral arrangements. She had introduced me to all her friends as her florist and friend. Unfortunately, she passed away not long ago. Her nephew was put in charge of the funeral and was instructed by this woman’s husband that I was the only florist he should be going to because it was so important to his wife,” she recalled. “Her nephew called me and said he had no idea what to do, but that he was instructed to give me carte blanche for his aunt’s funeral bouquet. I think it was one of the nicest arrangements I’ve ever made. It was all pink and vibrant, just like her. When I know people so much that they live in my heart, it’s an easy task. It really felt like we had prepared the bouquet together.”

“I often have students who come help me around the store and one day after preparing a wedding bouquet, one of the girls said that she wanted something exactly like that at her wedding. She was only 18, so I didn’t think much of it,” she admitted. “Six years later, she called me to invite me to her wedding and asked that I prepare her own wedding bouquet, just like the one she had loved so much back in the day. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I didn’t remember what it was like, but I dug deep in my mind and did my best to recreate it. when she saw it, she began sobbing because she was so happy. She thought I would have forgotten what the bouquet looked like, which unbeknownst to her, I did! I definitely got lucky.”

When preparing bouquets, Beaudry always makes sure to ask questions. “Is this for your grandma or your girlfriend? It makes the world’s difference. Grandmothers like carnations much more than 20-year-olds, so we have to work with who the recipient is, and what kind of person they are. I can always tell when I really had fun with a bouquet, because those are usually the nicest,” she mentioned.

“You can really find the florist’s state of mind in a bouquet. Nearly 25 years ago, I had a customer walk into the store totally furious over a bouquet I had made. He asked me what my problem was. He was a very authoritative man, and to this day, I still get goosebumps thinking about this moment. He was so mad. I dropped and I told him that my brother had just died,” she said, in tears. “He apologized, but he said that he could see death in that bouquet, and he knew that that was unlike me. After that, it took me awhile to be able to make a happy floral arrangement again.”

“Floral design is like art. Just like an artist will express themselves in a painting, we express ourselves in our flowers. Sometimes, the truth can’t help but shine through. That’s why bouquets can be so special. When we’re in a good place, we’re really able to translate the emotions the customer wants to convey into the arrangement, and that truly makes for the best of gifts,” concluded Beaudry.