Diana Whitcomb

Contributor at Vase Shelf

About

I'm a 41-year-old freelance HR consultant in Pittsburgh. In March 2023, after a flower delivery service substituted lilies for the sunflower-and-daisy mix I ordered for my mother's seventieth birthday, and my allergic mother spent the morning sneezing instead of enjoying it, I started a spreadsheet. That spreadsheet turned into documentation of somewhere between forty and seventy orders, with a photo of every delivery placed next to the listing photo on the same screen.

The occasions are real: my mother's birthday two years running, sympathy bouquets for two cousins' funerals (one funeral home said the arrangement looked too informal, which I noted), baby showers for college friends now in Portland and Atlanta, and a recurring series of apology arrangements to my sister-in-law in Ohio. I track which services swap species without notice, which downgrade the vase and call it "equal or greater value," and which ones actually make it right when something goes wrong.

No floral training, no AIFD designation, no flower shop background. Just a buyer who documented every delivery and kept every receipt.

Articles by Diana Whitcomb

Disclosure

Most flower delivery links here are affiliate links. If you order through one, I earn a commission, and your price stays the same. Every service reviewed was paid for out of pocket on real occasions.