RAVE: Bobo Botanical

[andrea]

I just wanted to give a big shout out and thank you from the bottom of my heart to Bobo Botanical (3435 California Ave across from Swedish Hospital) and its florist and proprietor Anka Bobo.

I just got married on Memorial Day weekend, and everything was absolutely wonderful. It was just as I had imagined it and more. However, the week beforehand that was not the case. I had contacted a local WS vendor to purchase all my flowers in bulk for my wedding, as we have family friends who are florists over on the eastside who were going to be doing all of the arranging. All I needed to do as purchase the flowers I wanted for them to use. So, being the lifelong WS resident that I am, I decided to go with the floral dept at the Metropolitan Market as they always seem to have such a nice array and good selection of flowers. My mom, sister, and I meet with the floral manager and placed an order for bulk flowers to have ready for the Friday before my wedding. We shook hands and I was told I would be getting a call back within the next day with what my bill total would be with what flowers they were able to order (as flowers have been so off this season).

Well, for whatever the reason, the Met Market never got back to me. After a few days of waiting for a call back, I finally phoned the floral dept and played run around for a few hours before I finally spoke with the floral mgr who told me that in fact they would not be able to place and order for my flowers anymore, as they were just far too busy with other orders for actual arrangements for that week to be able to help me anymore.

Honestly, the actual conversation I had wasn’t a very pleasant one, and my shock at the blatant rejection and the rudeness of the mgr and his last minute turndown and dismissal of me was almost more than this bride to be could handle. And no we didn’t sign a contract, nor was there a bill of sale rung up, but I think that a hand shake and a promise of a prompt phone call is just good old-fashioned customer service, even if it was to tell me that there was just no possibility of them filling my order anymore due to unforeseen circumstances. I do think that making me wait out the week to find all that out on my own right before my wedding is just a poor, poor business mentality, and again, very weak customer service. Needless to say, I will not be buying flowers from Met Market anytime soon.

You may wonder where the RAVE part of this post comes into play…well, as noted above, when the Met Market dropped me like a hot potato a week before my wedding, I was a wee frantic for a few moments. I phoned my mom in this panicked state (isn’t that what mom’s are for? Thank god for her!), and she got on the phone immediately to call local WS floral shops to see who could possibly take the order. And here is where Anka Bobo and Bobo Botanical saved the day!

Within an hour of my call to my mom, I was on the phone with Anka and she was taking down my flower order. She spent the following Saturday morning out with her vendors looking for flowers for me and ordering what I wanted and what she thought would accentuate those flowers. She kept in continuous email contact with me, and I was never out of the loop with what she was doing and what she had suggestion-wise for me When the flowers arrived on the Friday before my wedding, she retained and maintained the flowers in her shop’s coolers until Saturday afternoon when my friends were doing the arranging. Anka even took back some poorer looking flowers to her vender that Saturday morning to pick out better looking flowers to make up the difference. She literally spent a whole week, from Saturday to Saturday, helping this crazed, busy bride out, and she wasn’t even doing the arranging of the flowers!

The flowers she picked out for me were absolutely gorgeous, more than I could have imagined. Plus, her price was in my estimation a steal in comparison to the Met Market, or even Costco for that matter! Many guests at the wedding commented on how beautiful the flowers were, and. I still have, a week later now, a bouquet of some of the roses, freesia, and mums on my kitchen table, and they are as vibrant as they were last weekend. That in conjunction with the fact that Anka was so incredibly kind to me, that her attention to detail was impeccable, and her desire to make the week before my wedding that much less stressful was so very appreciated by me. She even sent me an email the day of the wedding to thank me for my patronage of her shop, and to wish me every blessing in my marriage. How frickin’ cool is that!? No other vendor I used did that. Therefore, I would like to RAVE about how cool Bobo Botanical is. If you find yourself needing flowers (or gifts) anytime soon, may I recommend them to you with the highest of regards!

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[TheVelvetBulldog]

Andrea: Congratulations and thanks for posting this. I didn’t even know they existed and now I’ll go check them out.

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[andrea]

Thanks TVB…anytime I can support a local business! and I hope you’re feeling better :)

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[beachdrivegirl]

Yes andrea congrats!!! I am very happy for you both and great shout out for the local businesses! I am planning my own wedding right now and trying to do what I can to incorporate local businesses. :)

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[JanS]

andrea…I’m so glad it went well…best wishes, for sure…and the sun came out !!!…now…pictures…we want lots and lots of pictures :)

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[Anonymous]

Andrea, what a great story. I love when people go out of their way like that. Congratulations on your wedding. Wish you much happiness.

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[JanS]

BDG…let us know when we can take you out for a drink or two before the big day :) (at least once or twice….right? – lol)

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[wspeeps]

Wow, that’s great! I’ll keep them in mind for when I get married!

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[andrea]

Megan, Jan, & Jesse thank you so much for the well wishes! It was a wonderful day and much of that was due in part to the wonderful flowers Anka put together for me. It was such a fun experience and being able to work with great local people made even that much more so.

And congrats to you BDG! We will defiintely have to take Jan up when she’s more mobile and get that celebratory drink.

I hope you’re doing much much better as well Jan. You’re in my thoughts! ONce I get the pictures back from the photographer, I’ll try and post a bunch on the google group site if I can…

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[Anonymous]

andrea – Congratulations!!!!!

So glad to hear that is was everything you wanted!

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[Jackie]

Congratulations, Andrea! What a wonderful happy time.

I would like to add how much we love Anka and Bobo Botanicals. As you’ve seen, Anka goes above and beyond for her customers. I LOVE that when you send someone flowers, she will send you a picture of the arrangement. It’s so nice to see what was sent. Her service is top notch and she is truly an asset to our West Seattle community.

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[celeste17]

I will absolutely be looking for her business. I love fresh flowers arranged or not for my house. I will often come home with a bunch of flowers for my dinning room table and now have some place else in WS to part with my hard earned money. Best Wishes on your marriage.

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[andrea]

Thanks all for the very much appreciated well wishes! It’s still a bit new and different to call my ‘boyfriend’ my ‘husband’, but everything else is just wonderful. And please, do check out Bobo Botanical if any of you need flowers for any occassion. They are wonderful there!!

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