Florist Fun in the Movies

I recently saw the new Jennifer Anniston movie, Love Happens. She plays Eloise, a lovelorn florist who's bad experience with men forms the basis of the story with her co-star Aaron Eckhart.

Don't worry- there are no spoiler alerts here! But I thought it might be fun to find out how the movie was made. I was pleased that the film made note of the artistry involved in being a florist. So many people imagine that owning a flower shop is all fun and roses, (so to speak), that we're all just playing with flowers daily. They don't consider the hours of backbreaking work involved: lifting heavy water buckets, the thousands of thorns your hands are subjected to, the worry that your nice fresh product won't sell. Burke (Aaron Eckhart) says to Eloise: “This is so much more than arranging flowers – it’s art.” He should have added that it's also just plain hard work! We never see Eloise actually doing much hard work.

Some fun facts: Anniston's shop did have fully operational floral coolers built for it, but because of the noise they emit, they weren't turned on during filming. And glass was removed from one cooler because it reflected back into the camera.

Teleflora's Marie Ackerman, AIFD, served as the on-set consultant. Though set in Seattle, much of the movie was shot in Vancouver. Marie notes that it was a challenge keeping flower arrangements looking good, as well as consistent, through 9 days of shooting. A few of the larger arrangements had to look good from all sides, such as this beauty, which was seen in a hotel lobby shot.


Anniston's flowershop van was right in step with her quirky personality, and Seattle's hippie-vibe. In one shot, product placement was evident in the obvious Teleflora sticker on the van's back door.

This gorgeous arrangement, which Eloise was shown casually throwing together, would retail for over $500! It is quite large and filled with premium blooms such as orchids, lilies and Hydrangea, massed in a carved wood container.

I did spot a few errors and wondered why Teleflora's on-set consultant didn't pick up on it. The most blatant? Eloise chides her shop assistant for not 'cauterizing' the roses. Eeks! The dictionary definition of cauterize: "to burn or sear"- this is not something you would want to do to roses!

In another scene, Eloise pours corn syrup into a vase, then stabs a few stems of flowers into the goo. This was wrong on so many fronts!

The flower arrangements we did get to see were lovely, as was the visual tour of Seattle. For that reason, I'd recommend it.