Realistic Character Descriptions: My Experience as a Floral Designer/Florist

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To win readers over we need to write characters so authentic they feel like real people. How do we do this? By brainstorming a character’s backstory, personality, needs, desires, and their day-to-day world. Lucky for us, one aspect of their daily life is a goldmine of characterization: the type of work they do.  

Think about it: a job can reveal personality, skills, beliefs, fears, desires, and more, which is why Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi created The Occupation Thesaurus, a writing guide that profiles 124 possible careers and the story-worthy information that goes with each. To help with this project, I’m sharing my experience as a floral designer/florist below, in case this career is a perfect fit for your character!

You can find the full list of Contributed Occupation Profiles and check out The Occupation Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Jobs, Vocations, and Careers at Writers Helping Writers.  

Occupation Thesaurus

Occupation: Floral Designer/Florist

OVERVIEW

As a florist, I was responsible for organizing the flower shop, watering the plants, keeping fresh flowers stocked, ordering flowers and supplies for arrangements and fresh displays, creating floral arrangements (including corsages and boutonnieres), taking orders, phoning orders to other locales, taking and processing payment including credit cards and cash. I usually worked alone except for high volume occasions such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas, grad, weddings, and funerals. Most flower shops have a delivery person separate from the designer. I worked as a flower delivery person when I was in high school and also helped out with deliveries as a designer when it was busy or there was a last-minute order and the delivery person was done for the day.

NECESSARY TRAINING

Floral designers can learn on the job and be hired without formal education (depending on the shop and location), however, it is becoming more popular for them to have some sort of background experience. I took a 150-hour certificate course offered by my local college that required a grade 10 education for application. The course covered basic plant care, principles of floral design and arrangement, funeral and wedding arrangements, and floral marketing for anyone who aspired to own a flower shop.

USEFUL SKILLS, TALENTS, OR ABILITIES

CREATIVITY, DETAIL-ORIENTED, DEXTERITY, EQUANIMITY, HOSPITALITY, MULTITASKING, ORGANIZATION, OUT-OF-THE-BOX THINKING.

SOURCES OF FRICTION

  • Flowers sent out of the shop in less than desirable conditions (wilted or not secured in the arrangement)

  • Customers wanting fresh flowers that aren’t in season

  • Arrangements delivered late because of roads or the recipient (unreachable or not home until a later date)

  • Having to work overtime during Christmas or to prepare for a wedding or funeral

  • Not making much more than minimum wage in some areas

  • Unable to get certain types of flowers delivered in some regions due to their delicateness and travel time

  • The stamen of lilies will stain clothing and counter tops, etc. and must be removed before use (if possible)

  • Dealing with angry dogs when making a delivery

  • Dealing with icy driveways (or getting stuck in a driveway) when making a delivery


WRITERS SHOULD KNOW…

During the time I worked as a florist, my hands were always sore from handling flowers. Whether it was the thorns on the roses (they must be removed by hand before being sold or used in arrangements) or the super sharp florist knives, I was always cutting myself or stabbing myself with the wire used to make some types of arrangements and corsages and boutonnieres. We always made sure there was a good supply of Band-Aids on hand. My hands were always cold too from handling the cold flowers and pulling them out of their water buckets.

Flowers are often shipped dry in boxes which is why it is difficult to get certain types in some areas. To keep flowers their freshest, their stems should be recut every time their water is changed. A florist will never cut flowers with scissors because they crush the stems as they cut, preventing the flower from drinking efficiently and shortening its life.

Flowers should not be kept in the same fridge or cooler as fruit. Fruit emits ethylene gas that causes fresh flowers to wilt and die. A florist would never store their lunch in the same fridge as the flowers. Putting a copper penny in the water with tulips or daffodils helps them last longer. The jury is still out on whether or not Floralife prolongs the life of fresh-cut flowers.

Have any questions about this job? I’d be happy to answer. Just leave a comment below!