Disclose substitution
Before the order, not after.
Why the flowers differ from the photograph
Because a photograph is a record of one week's market, and yours is a different week.
How we work
Say it before, not in the apology
Flowers are an agricultural product with a market that moves weekly. A named variety in a photograph may be unavailable, poor quality or four times the price on the day an order is made, which is why every florist substitutes — and why the honest ones tell customers that at the point of ordering rather than in an apology afterwards.
Delivery deserves the same candour. A fixed time cannot be promised through Florida weather, traffic and gated communities, so a window is the truthful offer. For a funeral we build backwards from the service time and deliver early, because that is the one occasion where late cannot be fixed.
And there is one safety point worth raising unprompted: lilies are toxic to cats, and they appear in a great many standard arrangements. Flagging them, and substituting on request, costs nothing and occasionally prevents something awful.
Our principles
Three beliefs behind the method
Give a window
An exact time is not deliverable.
Flag the lilies
They are toxic to cats.