TLDR: Need a florist with quality work at a good price? You found THE spot. Don't bother shopping…read morefor flowers anywhere else, but here from now on. Don't argue it -- just trust me. It's not grocery store cheap, but you REALLY get GREAT VALUE for the quality you are getting.
REVIEW:
Quick little background on me: Years ago, I managed three florist locations for a few years. I come from a pretty large family of green-thumbs, some of my family even owned a large rose farm. So I am very familiar and very particular when it comes to flowers.
I prefaced this review because I cannot give enough praise to La Foret Flowers in Fullerton, and I felt this review deserved as much weight as I could put behind it.
Florists have a difficult job in balancing quality and quantity with a great value -- it typically requires extra effort to go beyond what is expected for what most people consider "just" a flower arrangement.
Earlier, I said I am particular when it comes to flowers and arrangements. I have reviewed pretty much every florist in the Southern LA County/Orange County area -- looking at pictures and reviews, but mostly studying business websites and prices. Why? Cause I don't like getting ripped off for flowers. Kidding, not kidding. But, if I'm going to spend money I'm going to make sure I at least get a decent value. I have patroned a couple dozen or so florists over the years, a couple rated okay-good, but most of them underwhelming. La Foret just became my default go-to florist for the foreseeable future (no exaggeration).
The pictures on their website looks good (professional, arrangements are not over exaggerated/pretentious or haphazardly thrown together, good use of fillers while still keeping flowers at the forefront) and the pricing is very reasonable. What I also appreciate is that they layer very well, using atypical secondary flowers (not daisies, carnations, casablanca's, etc.) to complement the primary of the arrangement. Don't get me wrong, there's a time and place for daisies, carnations and casablanca's, but not in EVERY arrangement where it takes up half the bouquet while you only get a couple primary flowers and still pay a ton of $$.
But I digress -- I'm getting off track.
La Foret Flowers -- it is a small, quaint location right-off Harbor Blvd in Fullerton (decently large parking lot). I went down there first, as opposed to blind ordering online; I wanted to see the quality first before buying since I had zero experience with them. I had the pleasure of meeting the owner, who is very very kind and took care in creating my arrangement. I already had an idea/"look" in mind for the bouquet I wanted, to which she obliged. She showed me the selection of flowers she had in-stock since flower availability may be slightly different than what the pictures on the website present (that's just how things are in the flower world). Everything is VERY well kept in her refrigerators. Typically, when you walk into a florist's stockroom you'll see majority of the flowers are in good/decent condition, but you'll see some bruised flowers every now and then. La Foret's stockroom is beautiful -- I didn't see one bruised flower anywhere.
The owner's knowledge of flowers was also very educated, but I soon learned that she shops her own flower inventory! Which means she hand picks what she chooses to stock in her store, which is why it looked so impressive! Let me back up a bit -- another reason why I was impressed is, for the prices she charges and the quality she carries and the fullness of her bouquets you're getting a really great value! The quality in care of her flowers, the variety in species she carries, the quality of arrangements -- you could easily expect those 'couture' prices. But it's not. I mean, it's not grocery store cheap, but still.. she prices her flowers at a VERY REASONABLE price. So much so.. I won't be going anywhere else for flowers as long as she's in business (which I hope is for a very long time).
She also has a really great eye for balance when it comes to her arrangements -- layering and providing depth to build structure in the bouquet, versus keeping everything mono-layered and throwing filler in between (which is easy but boring).
It's very seldom now days that you come across a business, a small-business no less, where they truly love what they do and it shows. This is the type of business that deserves to not only survive, but to thrive.. and I hope it does!
Trust me on this... birthdays, anniversary, funerals, just because... go buy a flower arrangement from La Foret! It'll be worth it! I mean, April 18th is National Animal Crackers Day... go buy some flowers for the cracker in your life!
