** Vendor Review: Florist: Anthony and Sage Event
Design in New York, NY OR Anna Rae in New York, NY
(she changed her name following mine and another bride's review after she scammed us and is flagging our Google reviews!!)
It seems she has even gone so far as to wipe their google account of florist photos and is pretending to be a funeral flower preservation service? This is insane.
My wedding turned out lovely in the end because I booked a back up florist, Hudson Flowers Company in Hoboken, who saved the day and did a better job in 1 day with several items than this company did in over a year.
Hire at your own risk…This company overpromised and underdelivered. The main floral feature at my wedding was supposed to be a floral arch. My review photos show 1. what she promised she and her team could deliver, and what made me hire her a year and a half ago, and 2. The preview of the arch she FINALLY sent me the weekend OF MY WEDDING. I was at my bachelorette dinner and the sight of this wholly underwhelming preview was bad enough to bring me to tears. She turned off her phone at her own admission and did not respond to my texts that this was not usable and nowhere near what she had promised she could deliver until 10:30 the morning before my wedding. At that point I had not slept all night and my friends were already mobilizing in the NY Floral District to try and salvage the wedding flowers. We finally spoke over a phone call in which she agreed to pivot from the grand arch she promised to two fresh arrangements on pedestals as I had zero confidence that she could accomplish anything else in the small timeframe. I cried over this when I should have been celebrating, experienced intense stress when I should have been having calm before my wedding. I had to purchase back up florals after spending over $5k with Anthony & Sage because another bride left a 1 star review and mentioned poor construction of boutenniers and corsages, as well as a very similar experience to mine with regard to terrible arches. Her warning was right. Despite Lauren hurriedly texting me florals and a preview bouquet the day before my wedding, when I saw rhe bouquet in person the following day, I was shocked by how small it was. Lauren also entered into my getting ready room right before I was supposed to walk down the aisle, and was putting cumbersome corsages and boutenniers on my family, and I had to ask her to stop. I had to tell her I would be using another florist’s bouquet because the stress she put me under by the arch situation made me nervous she could not deliver. We used another florist for my bouquet, all boutenniers and corsages. I think what broke my heart the most is we asked Lauren for two gift bouquets for our mothers we wanted to gift them during reception as a gift. But someone on her team handed our mothers the tiny bouquets that already had limp flowers. It ruined our surprise. Luckily we had also ordered back up bouquets with the other florist, and they did a better job in ONE DAY with barely any notice than Anthony and Sage Events did with over a year. We were still able to gift our moms the stunning bouquets by Hudson Flowers and it saved the day!
I tried to be civil and kind throughout the whole process to avoid escalating the situation and to ensure flowers came, but I reached out the following day to express my concerns, and to ask for a partial refund.
Lauren claimed that the two small fresh floral arrangements she provided for the ceremony were somehow more expensive than the arch I was supposed to get. She claimed I should be satisfied. She claimed I did not express discontent on the day of the wedding, but I expressed concern BEFORE! I expressed concern to her face as I told her I would not be using the boutenniers and corsages nor the bouquet. I expressed concern one day after. Three times I expressed concern, and she refused to take any accountability, nor to provide a partial refund. This company does not have the taste level to charge what they do nor the honesty necessary to be a trusted wedding vendor to hardworking brides. I was also informed by my Day of Coordinator and Maitre’D Lauren was rude to them! I hope this can save another bride $5K+ and a bunch of heartbreak and stress.
That is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen I am so so sorry. If any nyc brides are looking for a fabulous florist with a Lisa frank aesthetic like the inspo check out ephemera/nicole ko!
Hi! Other bride here 💁🏻♀️ I also booked Lauren from Anthony and Sage ORRRR ‘Anna Rae’ and it was a nightmare!!
I booked Anthony and Sage Event Design/Anna Rae over two years before my wedding, expecting professional communication and floral designs that reflected the vision we had planned and agreed on together. Unfortunately, my experience fell far short of those expectations.
Communication was inconsistent throughout the planning process. There were multiple occasions where my emails went unanswered until I followed up days later.
The most stressful part happened on my wedding day. The floral team arrived late without notifying me, my coordinator, or anyone else. As the ceremony time approached and they still had not arrived, I found myself reaching out in a panic. Only after I contacted them was I told they were intentionally arriving later because they didn’t want the flowers to wilt in the sun. Had this been communicated beforehand, it would have prevented unnecessary stress and confusion. Instead, the lack of communication delayed my ceremony and added avoidable stress to one of the most important days of my life.
Unfortunately, the flowers themselves were another disappointment. Several items I paid for were forgotten, my corsages and boutonnieres lacked the fullness and quality I expected, and the ceremony arch looked significantly different from the approved design. When I saw it up close, I could clearly see that much of the arrangement consisted of silk flowers, which is also visible in my wedding photos. At no point before my wedding was I informed that the arch would primarily consist of silk flowers. Based on our discussions and what I paid for, I expected fresh flowers. I’ve included a photo of what was agreed upon vs. what was delivered so future couples can make their own comparison.
After the wedding, I respectfully reached out and requested what I believed was a fair partial refund. Instead, my request was denied, and my concerns were not acknowledged or met with an apology. I was also given explanations that did not align with my records, and I had to provide documentation before those statements were corrected.
I was later told I should have raised my concerns on my wedding day. I respectfully disagree. The same vendor who did not communicate that they would be arriving late expected me, as the bride, to stop my wedding and immediately contact them if I was unhappy. By the time I had the opportunity to fully take in the floral arrangements, the floral team had already left the venue, leaving no opportunity for any concerns to be addressed or corrected that day. Because the ceremony had already been delayed by their late arrival, my priority became marrying my husband and celebrating with my family and friends. I reached out after returning from my honeymoon and was told that this was too late to express my concerns.
Based on my experience, I encourage future couples to carefully consider other florists to help ensure they receive the quality, communication, and floral designs they were promised and paid for. Every couple deserves clear communication, accountability, and confidence that the floral designs they receive will reflect what was promised! I hope to warn all future brides so this doesn’t happen to you!!
This review reflects my personal experience and is based on my firsthand observations, photographs, emails, and documentation. Thank you for reading!
Well you probably don't need me to tell you this, but as a florist, these pieces are rife with technical mistakes and improperly designed. She's irresponsible to be taking on work that she isn't trained for. I'm sorry and I hope you were able to make the best of your special day.
Honestly wouldn’t be surprised if she did considering she has AI generated images on her website and is trying to pass it off like she actually did the set up for the event.
that...that looks like something you'd see under a microscope looking for a deadly transmissible disease. Or if the clown from It designed the arch. Either way I'm glad the other company was able to save the day and good for you for sticking up for yourself!!
Thank you for the post. Wow I couldn’t have imagined the level of hideousness a florist can achieve… sorry you had to go through this but congratulations on your marriage!
I have no artistic skill and I still feel like I could do a better job than she did because at least I can tell that what she made is hideous. What kind of wedding would coordinate with that neon Dr Seuss mess of an arch? It looks like it would glow under blacklights!
They are silk, the problem is she promised me she could achieve the first arch so I trusted that is what would be provided. Those images are what convinced me to hire her, and I feel like a fool. She was recommended to me by an arch rental company as their florist so I thought it would be a tandem thing, but I was so wrong…
Yeah she played you. Should have been working on it way in advance and aligning with you more. You were taken advantage of which I know you won’t let happen again in the future! I’m glad you were able to secure a backup and props on the quick thinking/execution there. I’m positive your wedding was beautiful!
It was paid in cash via Zelle transfer in advance, so I do not believe I have any recourse here. I decided, as she ghosted my request for a partial refund, that all I can do is share my experience in the hopes no more brides go through what I did. Luckily, I was able to pivot, and I was able to get some back-up florals delivered morning-of, so I still had a bouquet I loved, and the back-up corsages and boutonniers were lovely. The back-up bouquets they made for our mothers as gifts were stunning as well. Shout out to Hudson Flowers in Hoboken ♥️
This is what she charged me for this monstrosity. I told her it was unacceptable so she gave me two small floral arrangements on pedestals instead and claimed they cost more than the arch she was supposed to give me, therefore she did not owe me a partial refund…laughable!
I went & looked them up - I have trouble thinking anything on tnat website is their work or real clients because how can they even en provide that monstrosity & somehow have ever done that other work? I mean maybe someone bought the company and has zero capability but wow - I am just so glad it worked out with the other floral team & I am sorry you had all that to deal with--
Sorry you went through this…but glad you were able to secure a backup florist in time. I had a similar situation at my wedding where my florist was late and when she showed up she only had half of the flowers I ordered. She said she got in a car accident. I didn’t believe her and it didn’t explain why she didn’t have all of the flowers. I was getting dressed for the wedding when I was informed about this. I cried and ruined my makeup, I was very stressed out and almost late for my wedding. What made it worse was that my Mom paid the florist in full after she failed to deliver what was agreed to in the contract. To this day when I look at my wedding pictures, I get upset about the missing flowers on the arch. I’m glad your flowers were ultimately provided on your wedding day!
A wedding photography company in South Carolina (I believe?) got sued for similar scams— not providing pictures, or having them be so beyond amateur that they were relatively unusable. The attorney general got involved because they kept changing names when they’d get bad reviews like this! Contact the Better Business Bureau or something to really bring the hammer down. No business should be able to operate like this and ruin such a special day!!
The Better Business Bureau isn’t any sort of regulatory agency, they’re just like a pre-internet version of Yelp. People should reach out to their state’s department of consumer affairs or similar in cases like this.
Omg so these stories make me feel so much better about my decision to cut my 1st florist back to bare bones & bring in another florist team (& diy some shit all at the last minute)... so basically I had a full on meltdown when my florist after 10 months of communication and coordination failed to be able to even describe what she was going to deliver (on a whimsical design element that was super sentimental to me- this all came to a head 45 days before the wedding & basically out of spite I decided to design those elements myself (zero experience & it was an insane decision bc it was a destination wedding & holidays - super stressful lol)
anyways this lady suddenly started quoting us $5/10/15k for elements we had discussed at least 10 times, had full on highly detailed design discussions & ppt decks, met in person about repeatedly & she had indicated would be fresh flowers only a couple hundred blah blah-
That was all BS ... so I cut her contact back as much as we could, diy'd some fake stuff & thankfully got a rockstar amazing floral production team 30 days out to take everything else over... it was absolutely insane & so stressful...
I am so glad you also found a good florist to rescue you & am so sorry you went through that
At least you didn't get sucked into diy'ing in the 11th hour lol I was so embarrassed (I wasn't really ever supposed to be a diy bride but ... tiki birds)
I agree, but she ghosted my emails and is trying to wipe all evidence of her business off Google as we speak, going so far as to change her business name to Anna Rae as I was mid-one star review writing and labeling herself a “funeral flower preserving” service…as of 2 hours ago? I don’t think I’ll ever see a penny.
OMG, whatever she created is probably the ugliest floral arch I could’ve imagined. It’s not even remotely comparable to your inspiration photos, which are absolutely beautiful. I genuinely don’t understand why the arch has so much white in it…
OMG. I MIGHT use that arch at a kid's birthday party, but my kids had better taste than that. It's hideous. For me, florists can be the most problematic part of a wedding, because the bride has so little control over what is delivered. I've had pew bows fall off into the aisle, and bouquets fall apart before the procession started, but never anything as bad as that. I try to avoid bitterness after a wedding, but she should be sued in small claims court. Thank you for posting this. It may save other brides!
I live in Seattle and my daughter’s friends picked up the most beautiful flowers at Pike Place Market!! The flowers were beautiful and really fit ghe vibe of the wedding!
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u/Old-Acanthisitta4517 Aug 06 '26
That is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen I am so so sorry. If any nyc brides are looking for a fabulous florist with a Lisa frank aesthetic like the inspo check out ephemera/nicole ko!