MANAYUNK

    A 5th generation florist, Chrissy Botak, the owner of Chrissy's Flowers has been surrounded by flowers her whole life. Growing up she worked in her grandfather’s flower shop where her love for flowers bloomed into starting her own business. "We built the business around the talent in the shop, we have really awesome floral designers that just really love their jobs. This is not only their job but their passion and we try to bring that to our customers,” says Chrissy. Opening their doors on November 11th 2012, Chrissy and her three team members Bern, Kelly, and Morgan have over a combined 50 years of experience. In addition to her team, Chrissy’s family will help out often and she says, "during the holidays my mom and aunt will come in and help out, we really have a tight knit crew here, we consider our whole team as family."

     If you're trying to impress a certain someone this Valentine's Day, Chrissy advises customers to: "think more than just roses, why not mix in some orchids, some exotics or some Gerbera daisies. Valentine’s Day doesn't have to be all about roses.” During Valentine's Day, and all year round, Chrissy makes it a point to keep all kinds of flowers in fresh inventory and she and her designers love to use these eccentric blooms and fillers to give their bouquets that unexpected pop! It's these kinds of details that really make Chrissy's different and makes her team exceed expectations. For Valentine's Day alone the shop orders around 200 boxes of flowers! Not sure what to get? Chrissy’s has an array of pre-made bouquets, snack and candy baskets or you can customize your own bouquet --- because for Chrissy's a dozen roses isn't just a simple order. "We want to know about the person we're making them for," she says "if she's more of a wildflower we're going to do one thing but if they're more modern we'll do another thing. It's still going to be twelve roses but they're going to get a lot more than just that."

     Besides Valentine's Day the shop is always ready to work with a new couple for their big wedding day. When you come to Chrissy's you get personalized care: "That's something as a shop I'm really proud of... We really give our customers big time custom attention. We really get an idea of what the couples want." Averaging between 25-30 weddings a year, one wedding Chrissy is incredibly proud of is one last New Year's Eve. "We really customized that wedding, we did leopard wraps under the bouquets which was pretty unprecedented." During the initial consultation, the bride wanted something super customized and different but wasn't exactly sure how she wanted to express herself. After some brainstorming Chrissy came up with a way to create beautiful centerpieces and incorporate little aspects of leopard, the bride's favorite pattern, in the bouquet and the sweetheart table. "I'm super proud of that one because we gave her something that no one else in the market was thinking of creating for her," says Chrissy. No matter how much a bride wants to spend Chrissy says they'll make it work, to insure every couple walks away, and down the aisle happy, on their special day. 

     Although Chrissy is there for the happy moments her and her team are also there when families are going through a difficult time. When asked to make flowers for funerals the team tries to honor the person's passing to make the grieving process a bit easier. A particular flower arrangement that hits close to home is the one Chrissy designed for her Grandfather's funeral last February. Her grandfather was the one who originally had a flower shop and he is where she got her original passion for flowers. Although it was a sad event Chrissy believed this was an opportunity to honor him. Her grandfather was a big hunter so they created a display incorporating antlers that they covered in moss, a bed of roses, a fishing rod with a fish made completely out of leaves. Chrissy says: "The tradition of flowers adorning caskets came about because the beauty of the flowers were thought to soften the darkness of death." As the saying goes- may you have memories to comfort you, friends to support you and flowers to ease your sadness."

     Besides working with individual customers, the shop believes giving back to the community is imperative. Chrissy says: "We do a lot of fundraisers where we donate to local facilities like North Light or The Green Tree School, we feel like that's our responsibility to the community." For The Hamels Foundation, Chrissy's Flowers made displays for the "Diamonds and Denim" Event to benefit the School District of Philadelphia. They incorporated diamonds and denim and created a stuffed pair of jeans with a floral display coming out of the waistband with diamonds on the pants. Chrissy loves crazy, out of the box ideas and giving back to the community so although some might run at the thought of having to incorporate denim, diamonds and flowers into a cohesive idea, Chrissy takes it in stride creating a beautiful piece!   

     Whether it's working with families, individuals, or organizations Chrissy and her team become a part of customer's lives. One story in particular that sticks out in Chrissy's mind is the time a customer came into the shop to pick out some flowers. He told Chrissy that he had been set up on a date and needed to bring something. Well he ended up coming back for flowers for his second date and a few more times after that. "Every time he came in he would gush about this girl and how he really liked her and how she loved the flowers the last time so he wanted to make sure each new bouquet was different and unexpected," Chrissy explained. Eventually he came for engagement flowers and the soon to be married couple was in the shop for their wedding consultation recently. Being a part of someone's big life moments is what keeps the team energized and on top of their game.

     But how did Chrissy decide to come to Manayunk to plant her small business that has flourished into a thriving well known shop? Growing up in the area, Chrissy knew Manayunk was the place for her. After growing up in her Grandfather's shop, Chrissy knew she wanted to be somewhere she could feel the comradery. She says: "We knew we wanted to be in a family oriented place with good energy. Manayunk is such a creative place and even since we opened in 2012, it has evolved." Chrissy notes: "It's really a place where people are just living out their dreams." Chrissy and her team are happy to call Manayunk home and hopes their customers realize the amount of gratitude they have for time after time letting Chrissy's Flowers be a part of their lives.