Avant-Garde

I had a horrible experience with this florist. I had used them once before with reasonably good results, and came back to them mainly because I needed a striking and sophisticated contemporary arrangement for the investors in my business. Their look is contemporary. My staff had all pitched in to hire them, and it was an expensive arrangement, and the results were very, very important to me. Their website is impressive, and I had seen an arrangement on it that I referenced to them as a take-​off point for the look I was requesting. I asked them to text me a pic when it was finished. They did this a day later than promised, and already had it in the truck for delivery. When I saw it, I stopped the delivery, as it was NOTHING like the arrangement I’d referenced our even close to the look I’d described as wanting. They did another arrangement which was basically just as ordinary, not in the colors requested, and nothing like the arrangement I’d referenced on their site. Jill, the only contact person that day, told me that no one had looked at the arrangement on the website. So, I had to go over there and guide them to come up with something acceptable. The whole time (from the initial truck contact until the very end) she kept repeating that they had a wedding later that day and was pressed for time. She was beyond clueless on how to gracefully handle something they had messed up on so badly, not to mention having very limited skills in floral design.
There was no offer to discount the purchase or do any compensation for the sub-​standard work and service. I will never use them again, and would advise others not to. Don’t let the impressive website fool you. They are inconsistent and terrible at customer service.

Every arrangement this team has put together for me has been inspiring. Everything is done with a simple elegance and sprezzatura that keeps me coming back any time I have a extra-​special occasion.
It is important to note that they mainly do large events, but are happy to do single arrangements. A B B.‘s post helped me out a lot when trying to navigate their process. I called in advance and explained what I was looking for. Jill answered and told me they’d be happy to and she invited me to come in and take a look around their work space. So, being as curious as I am, I took her up on the offer and showed up at lunch, as we had coordinated. I got to tour their floor and their refrigerator and felt great about placing an order. A few days later I came to pick it up and was amazed by how large and full the flowers were.
Their non-​traditional service model allows me to tell them what I want and to always know I’m getting a unique design. Although I do not know what I’ll be getting when I order, it has made it all the more fun and rewarding to visit them whenever I need flowers. Thank you all at Avant-​Garde for making my life a little more beautiful.

Advant-​Garde prepared all the fresh florals for our wedding on 11÷12÷14 and they were perfect — they were more fragrant, colorful, and abundant than I had imagined they would be. I re-​used the flowers for another event 2 days later, and they were just as fresh as Day 1!
When I contacted Advant-​Garde, I had a very little limited budget and knew very little about event florals. Jill Murphy, the Advant-​Garde event designer, provided exceptional advice, creative solutions, and stayed within my budget to boot. In addition to florals, she also helped me select stylish table linens, table candles, room lighting, and altar décor.
Since I had never planned a wedding like this, Jill guided me and helped me feel confident in my decisions. In the end, I was totally amazed at how it all came together to create the look I was after: a sophisticated, elegant, yet simple and classic. ALL my guests loved the entire evening and remarked on the elegant décor!
I highly, highly, highly recommend calling Advant Garde for your floral needs and ask for Jill Murphy. Go to her design studio in Phoenix and after spending a little time with her, I doubt you will want or need to go anywhere else…

My daughter’s bridal shower flowers were lovely. They were a work of art!

I brought my good friend here to find out about flowers for her upcoming wedding. I live in the area and am a big fan of supporting local businesses. We walked in the door and there were boxes everywhere! I thought we had accidentally went into a warehouse. No employees in sight! Just as we were ready to walk back out the door a woman approached us. The «show room» was so much like a warehouse that I asked if we were in the right place for wedding flowers. She gave me a short yes. Mind you there is not one flower in sight. I asked her to educate us on buying flowers for an upcoming wedding. With a Chloe purse full of Scottsdale attitude right here in my beloved non-​snobish neighborhood, she responded with «Well am I going to sell you flowers or are you here to copy what we do and make it yourself?»
Whoa… WTF are you kidding me?! Listen lady have you ever heard of this thing called the internet? If we wanted to do flowers our-​self we can read all about that from the comfort of our houses in our PJ’s and not waste time talking with you and your tude!
After defending our intentions she sat down with us to talk flowers. She showed us pictures and gave some nice suggestions upgrading this review from a one star to a two. I could see from her note pad on the table that they do some huge money events and from the pictures I saw it looks like they do a nice job.
Bottom line it’s not my call where the bride buys her flowers, but if it were up to me I would move on to somewhere with a high standard for service in addition to high standards for flowers. I personally would not return or recommend them, unless you like to be treated like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman on her first trip to Rodeo Drive… «Big mistake. Big. Huge.»

We walked in on a Sunday when they are closed (ooops! The door was unlocked!) and they were really sweet to us! They turned on the TV so we could view «what they do» and they have a STUNNING show room!
DH and I stopped in because we saw them from the street and thought it «looked cool.» Had no idea it was a floral design place!
Owners were very nice and gracious even though they were busy and had only left the door opened on accident. When we plan our second wedding we definitely plan to call them — and take a peek at their neat stuff in their show room sometime!