Anyone who reads the paper or online news or watches the Today Show likely heard about the bride who’s suing a florist for more than $400,000 over the choice and selection of her centerpiece flowers for her New York wedding, held in August.

The bride, Elana Glatt (who happens to be an attorney), is claiming breach of contract on the part of Posy Floral Design Studio in New York. According to a Reuters article, Glatt had specified “deep and dark colors of fuchsia, rust and green” in her centerpieces but instead the arrangements were “predominantly pastel pink, almost white.” And, the bride alleges in a CNN.com article, “the hydrangeas were wilted and brown, and arranged in dusty vases without enough water.”

The owner of Posy Floral Design Studio, Stamos Arakas, says he worked to match the colors in the photo Glatt gave him but had also told her that it might not be an exact match. Arakas says “he intends to counter sue for damages to his business reputation.”

What can florists learn from this? First, this nightmarish situation isn’t unheard of, says Ian Prosser, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, NDSF, of Botanica International Florist in Tampa, Fla., who does about 120 custom weddings a year, both national and international, geared toward very high-end clientele.

Prosser had a mother of the bride — who happened to be an attorney as well — threatening to sue him over a similar circumstance. The “peonies were two shades too dark,” was this client’s reasoning, according to Prosser. “That’s one of the problems of the business,” he says, because photography used in the magazines brides show to florists often alters the actual color and look of the flowers.

Thankfully, Prosser says, the two parties were able to come to terms and avoid a lawsuit. The terms included Prosser not charging her for the extra rental plants the client had ordered last minute for the wedding. However, the matter was a little difficult to handle, Prosser recalls, because the client did try to perform a stop payment on the wedding flowers she did pay for with her American Express card. The stop payment did not go through because the credit company sided with Prosser saying the flowers weren’t the wrong type of flower and the color difference wasn’t as bad as it was made out to be. He says American Express explained "‘it just wasn’t the one [exact color] she wanted'.”

Prosser says florists can avoid similar situations by putting a disclaimer in the wedding contract stating that flowers “are a product of nature and we have no control over the color of the family.” Also, the contract should state that the florist has the right to use a comparable substitute whether it’s a different flower or color to meet as close to the client’s needs as possible. After the client reads the contract and understands the terms he or she must sign it, and then you have your business protected, he says.

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