A Dozen Red Roses

I work part time at a flower shop. Let me just start out by saying I do not call myself an expert, I am novice at best. Here is my little flower shop soapbox.....

Most of our customers are men. More often than not I end up getting these poor guys a dozen red roses, as if that was the only thing we sold, because he has the belief that when he buys a woman flowers they must be red roses because that's what says 'I love you'. I always ask what color they'd like and one time I honestly had a guy say, "they come in colors besides red?" and he still ended up getting red anyway.

Red roses are pretty, don't get me wrong, my dislike for them comes because that's what most men get, like they can't think of anything more creative.
But wait, red roses mean 'love' right? Right, but if you send a woman flowers regardless of the color or style 9 times out of 10 she is going to feel some degree of affection. So to all you men out there, may I make a few suggestions in the flower department?!

1) If you must get a dozen red roses add a single flower to them to spice it up, like a gerber daisy or lily or something to make it not so bland, dull and cliche.

2) Get a mixed color of roses. Some of my most favorites are those with multiple colors of roses put together.

3) Avoid babysbreath. I loathe this little white fluffy stuff. Instead ask the florist what other filler they have, like waxflower, misty or solid aster. It's similar to babysbreath but a million times prettier.

4) You don't have to get roses. Other flowers say 'I love you' too. Try something different.

My favorite customers are those that ask for something different because those end up being the prettier and more unique arrangements, plus I take more care with those - red roses just get slapped together. And I get to see a twinkle in the guys eye as he's thinking about giving his gal flowers, it's sweet actually.

So there you have it, my red rose soapbox, in its most condensed form.