A bunch of years ago I worked as a floral designer for a small flower shop. When I first started, I worked with another designer but eventually he moved on and I became the main florist. There was a woman hired part time to assist me with corsages and boutonnieres for an upcoming wedding but the brunt of the order fell on my shoulders. Due to the fact that the flowers ordered were fresh and not silk, they couldn’t be arranged until the morning of the wedding. This part of the plan didn’t bother me at all. Floral design came very easy for me. The part of the plan that did concern me was the fact that our usual delivery person was going to be out of town so getting the flowers to the church on time was also added to my list. The van used to deliver the flowers had been experiencing a low tire all week but I was told it was cheaper to add air to a low tire than it was to fix it so that is what was what. The wedding was being held at a tiny little country church I had never been to and the disturbing part of the floral delivery was the fact that the bride’s mother, the bride and our “out of town” delivery person all gave me different directions!
My helper and I were able to finish the floral order quite easily so the fact that this day ended ugly had nothing to do with getting the flowers finished. Together we loaded the order into the lop sided van and it wasn’t long before I realized it had some additional issues. It was a hot July day and the air conditioning didn’t work which is not at all advantageous when you are delivering fresh flowers that have a tendency to kick their blooming process into high gear if they’re not kept cool. As if that wasn’t enough, the van also smelled like a chicken coop!
I said a prayer and headed out of town with my 3 lists of instructions hoping I would eventually find this little country church before the wedding started. I went several miles and then I got lost and then I panicked and then I calmed down and eventually I decided I was in the general vicinity but do you suppose I could find that church?
The answer is nope, not at all, not a clue and at a time in the past before GPS units and cell phones.
The bride’s bouquet was in the passenger seat for some reason and every time I see one of those time lapse videos online now, that shows flowers blooming right before your very eyes, I think of that bouquet. Those white roses were unstoppable! They were blooming like crazy! I’m not exactly sure but I think I may have had a conversation with them about staying in bud form but that would have happened during the panic phase and those details are still a bit sketchy.
Eventually, after driving a couple of miles past the imaginary sign that said “Your Wit’s End” I found the church and several people that wanted to kill me. They were nice but you can tell when 15 assorted people randomly say “We wondered if you were ever going to get here!” that there was some frustration going on. I can’t say I blame them and the wedding did eventually end in divorce and I have often times wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that the flowers arrived a bit late on the wedding day.
In reality, I know the reasons for divorce have nothing to do with the wedding flowers arriving late in a stinky, hot van with a low tire and a frazzled stand in delivery person but I still felt bad about the circumstances that really were beyond my control. I am no longer a floral designer but those fresh flowers could have fostered a bit of the procrastination I now exhibit. I’m not sure if Don will ever fully grasp some of the factors that may or may not have contributed to that part of me that drives him crazy at times but I do know he loves me and that is, after all, the only thing that matters!