James Cress Florist

Pros: - They were exceptionally prompt in their communications, which was really REALLY nice. - The flowers came out quite nice. - pretty affordable Cons: - Their communications often contained mistakes - I sent them pictures of things that I liked, but it kind of felt like they just have one look and stick with it.

I cannot speak highly enough about James Cress. They are the pinnacle of customer service, stunning floral designs, accommodating, and actually affordable. There is no better option in this industry. My guests were blown away by my centerpieces and when I saw the bridesmaids bouquet baskets I asked them to create, I started crying because they were so incredibly stunning. They are a 10/10 choice!! For the rest of my life I will use this florist.

We were so happy with our experience with James Cress Florist of Smithtown! James Cress Florist of Smithtown was absolutely amazing! We worked with Linda and George who made everything so easy to organize our flowers for our wedding. The flowers were delivered on time and were absolutely beautiful especially the wedding arch! They were exactly how I expected! Would definitely recommend James Cress Florist of Smithtown!

I was very happy using your Woodbury shop. Susan was a pleasure to work with. Everything thing was beautiful & fresh. The delivery was right on time. Thank you again for helping my son & his brides wedding day be perfect.

James Cress were amazing to work with from beginning to end. Dawn and Brandon were extremely helpful in making my vision come to life. They were accommodating throughout the entire planning process, very responsive and created the most beautiful arrangement for our wedding.

While the flowers itself at our wedding were beautiful, my husband and I are walking away from our wedding thoroughly disappointed with how James Cress set up the flowers for our church ceremony. Despite multiple phone calls and meetings where we had discussed setting up the pew bouquets and bows every third row so that they would go all the way to the back of the church, on the actual wedding day James Cress did not skip any pews and stacked them all at the front of the church. The way that it was set up made it look like those rows were reserved, so none of our guests sat in them. We’re pretty disappointed by this, since we had added more pew bouquets and bows onto our contract a couple weeks before the wedding because we wanted to make sure that they went to the back of the church. Seems like a waste of money looking back now. I reached out to Barbara about this and her response was that it was never documented that we wanted every third pew to have a bouquet/bow. In my opinion, the vendor should be responsible for documenting things discussed during meetings.

This vendor started off SUPER rocky. I had met with a manager, Jen, in July of 2020 at the port jefferson location. She was amazing. Met with me multiple times on zoom and had a mock up bouquet ready for me when i came home in September to go dress shopping. Months later, when my husband and I went to do our cake tasting, the baker suggested i call the florist to ensure they would put the flowers on our cake. At this time, i was shocked to find out that there was no record of our wedding on file. The woman i had worked with had left the company……to say this was shocking and disappointing is an understatement. (lesson to be learned here: be concerned if no deposit is requested at the time a contract is drawn up- i thought it was weird but Jen ensured me i could place the deposit once it ‘got closer to the day’). Moving forward, I worked with Brandon and Barbara to re-do the entire contract. We met via zoom, finalized flowers, etc. Brandon & Barbara were apologetic and realistic with me in telling me that the initial flowers selected were not even in season in the fall…. The whole thing was truly a mess. I feel like overall, i spent a lot of time re-doing my floral arrangements, despite sending photos and having meetings. When I went to NY in July 2022, the mockup centerpieces were nothing like what I wanted. We spent an hour re-doing them to my liking. I truly felt unsure of what would arrive the day of my wedding. At the end of the day they came out beautiful but still felt it wasn’t exactly what I wanted ( but very close)

I actually used James Cress for my bat mitzvah so knew they were great! When they delivered the personal flowers to the hotel, I cried they were so beautiful. Exactly how I asked they delivered. The table arrangements were also stunning.

My bride and I are writing this review regarding James Cress Florist. From our first intro call through to the bouquets, boutonnieres and tree deliveries on our wedding day, we found Barbara and Brandon to be personable, professional and experienced. We relied on them for their knowledge and ability to add-in personal touches where needed. Their finished product and level of service exceeded our expectations! We are extremely happy with how beautiful our wedding day flowers looked. We will recommend their services in the future.

Brandon just got us. After briefly explaining our style and sending inspiration pictures to him during a call, he immediately sketched out various options at different price points for us. He was personable and easy to work with. Most importantly, he didn’t disappoint! The flowers were truly our vision brought to life.

I had my wedding on 10/15/21. Barbara, Brandon and the staff at James Cress did a phenomenal job with our flowers! I was so in love with my bouquet. I showed Brandon what I wanted during our meeting with him and he absolutely made it happen. Like spot on perfect! including my bridesmaid bouquets. The customer service is also 10000/10. Any questions or concerns, Barbara got back to me in no time, especially when I had to postpone our original date. Thanks again James Cress! You guys made this bride extremely happy!

We used James Cress for our 10/01 wedding and going with them was such a great choice! Our bouquets, boutonnières, corsage, and garland centerpieces were stunning! Many of our guests wanted to know which florist we used because they loved the flowers so much! I planned my wedding out of state and Barbara , in the events department, and Brandon, the head florist, were so helpful and accommodating. I sent them photos of what I liked and they delivered beautiful pieces that went above and beyond what I could dream up. Anyone looking for a florist for a wedding (or any event) should definitely go with James Cress!

Barbara is in charge of managing weddings with Brandon (main bridal florist) they worked with us to make our big day special. We are more than ecstatic about how beautiful the bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres were. Their care and quality of their craft is exellent. Even after the wedding they followed up and wished us well. Definitely recommend James Cress Florist, and reorder again.

We were so impressed with the flowers for our wedding. Everything was gorgeous. Brandon and Barbara were great to work with.

Amazing job & beautiful flowers! Brandon is very helpful!

James Cress blew me away with their amazing service, beautiful arrangements and vibrant, fresh flowers. Brandon is brilliant and any bride would be lucky to work with him. I had a VERY specific vision of what I wanted for my wedding, but also a tight budget. Brandon worked with me on every gritty detail, understanding my vision while being creative in how to sub specific flowers and numbers of items to stay within budget. I spent hours going back and forth with Brandon and he was patient and professional through it all. He literally turned the solarium room in our venue into a greenhouse with flowers and lanterns adorning the ceilings and walls. The venue was so blown away by his elaborate work that they requested that our pictures be used to show off the possibility of the ceremony room for future weddings and asked us to get them a card for James Cress so that they can work more officially with them in the future. James Cress is the best florist to work with on Long Island and I would recommend them 100%.

Our wedding was on 9/14/19 at Watermill and James Cress did a wonderful job with our flowers! My bouquet was stunning as were the bridesmaids bouquets and the centerpieces. James Cress was easy to work with and very accommodating. Brandon really listened to what I wanted and created stunning pieces and Barbara was super responsive so I didn’t stress at all. I recommend!!!

The flowers for my daughter’s wedding were beyond beautiful!! Brandon and Barbara were a pleasure to work with, and were always responsive and accommodating! We received so many compliments about how amazing the flowers looked, especially the tables at the reception! And their price was very competitive! I used James Cress for my own wedding over 30 years ago, they were wonderful then and just as wonderful now!

We worked with Brandon for our wedding flowers and he was really awesome!! He set up multiple appointments with us to ensure our floral arrangements would be perfect for our wedding day. My husband and I really appreciated the effort this company put in to make sure we were truly satisfied with our purchase. The day of deliveries all ran smoothly, even with our multiple drop off locations. Would definitely work with this company again!

Brandon was absolutely amazing to work with. I showed him a few pictures of what I wanted and he made my vision come to life! The pricing was completely reasonable and communication was great throughout the entire process! Everything was flawless day of and my guests are still raving about how beautiful my flowers were.

Brandon and Barabara were super easy to work with and their prices were beyond reasonable. They gave me the flower wall of my dreams with two beautiful trees that stood on each side of our altar and then by our dais. It made our wedding have such a magical feel.

I can’t say enough about James Cress florist! Brandon and Barbara were an absolute pleasure to work with and made the process so easy- they were always so accommodating in any changes that came up or if I had any questions. Our centerpieces, bouquets and boutonnières were beautiful; we received so many compliments. I’d definitely use them again.

Perfect. priced right, smelled great. I loved everything.

My flowers turned out absolutely beautiful and exactly how I had pictured them!

My Husband and I utilized James Cress as a florist for our wedding. Ultimately the flowers, arrangements, centerpieces and bouquets were beautiful. They were fresh, the correct flowers requested and were arranged perfectly. The planning process and communication within the business could use improvement. I originally met with a representative 6 months prior to our event. Our vision was discussed, great recommendations were made and all seemed to be set according to what we wanted. Two weeks prior to the event I was notified that the original representative had left the business and there were several details that had to be finalized. Based on this we met with another representative who again discussed our vision and added to our prior record. After this meeting I was contacted on several occasions to confirm details of the arrangements that were already discussed. Without knowing fully what happens behind the scenes the impression that given was a lack of communication between the different moving departments and staff in the business. While attention to detail is appreciated and the flowers were beautfil the planning process could have been easier.

Our wedding was on November 4 and James Cress did an incredible job with the flowers. We met with a few people, but Terri and Barbara really made me feel comfortable and happy. They were so personable and warm. I loved that they made the bridesmaids bouquets mini versions of my bouquet. I would highly recommend James Cress to brides!

Words cannot express how happy I am with the service I received from James Cress florist for my wedding on Oct 7th 2016. Cezar and his whole team were incredible! I had a very detailed vision of what I wanted my wedding to look like and they far exceeded my expectations! I met with Cezar several times to review various details for the wedding reception, ceremony and bouquets. Cezar and his assistant sat down with me and took time to make sure I felt very comfortable and secure with all the floral pieces that were created. What impressed me the most was the amazingly gorgeous floral wall that was specially built for me and my wedding. Seriously!!!! Who does builds a floral wall from scratch? James Cress! Cezar created a design that was so beautiful and so life like I actually asked him to create a smaller version for my new home. Also, my husband and guests actually thought the flowers were real! All the centerpieces and the decor on my deis table, cake table and gift table were extraordinary! They did not skimp on anything. Every piece was quality and better and more beautiful than the next! They even used various sizes in votives and candles which I never expected that added a special touch. I remember walking into my reception room and being absolutely blown away with the decor. I couldn't believe that was my wedding, I felt like a celebrity. Thank you so much to Cezar and James Cress for your dedication and extraordinary service. You are one of a kind!

If I could give this florist zero stars I would! I was referred to this florist through a wedding showcase at my venue. I made the appointment to get some prices and the person that helped us wouldn't give us the time of day. They obviously fit me in so I was the last appointment and was completely rushed. The entire appointment lasted about twenty minutes. The best part was that he wouldn't give us prices and told us he would get back to us in a week!! Well a week came and went and I didn't get a quote for three weeks! I booked someone else by the time we got the prices back.actually received the quote.

I cannot say how impressed I was with Rich Baker. Our inital paperwork was jumbled and unclear until I met with Rich and he sat down and took the time with me. I came in to discuss table arrangements and left with peace of mind about all my flower/centerpiece endeavors. Not only did Rich take the time with me, but he asked me for pictures, what I wanted, and allowed me to hand pick what I wanted to see in and on the bouquets. My vendor experience before working with Rich was unexciting and I felt rushed with everything. I can truly say after leaving my appointment I felt excited and happy. It finally became fun. I would recommend working with him to anyone.

WORST VENDOR EXPERIENECE EVER!! I don't even know where to begin! I first met with Gary regarding my wedding and we spent A LOT of time going over my specific vision (my Pinterest photos and their books etc) He seemed to understand exactly what I wanted and James cress has a great reputation on Long Island so we decided to go with them. Everything went downhill from there... Between unanswered phone calls/emails and passing me off from one person to another every time I contacted them I finally found out right before my wedding that Gary hasn't worked for them in a while! NOBODY TOLD ME! the only person there who knew exactly what I wanted and nobody thought to call me and let me know he was gone or try and set up an apointment with me so that THEY would know what I wanted. What's worse is that when I finally did get an apointment with the person they tried to have fill in for him, SHE never showed up for that apointment and yet again we were passed on to someone else again. Fast forward it is now less than a month before my wedding and Im going over what they had written in my contract and it was ALL WRONG! The bouquet and bouteneer counts were off... BY 5 PEOPLE... And the drop off time and location was wrong. The even charged me different prices for the same exact bouteneers (some 10$ some 15$) for no reason. THANK GOD I double checked everything. So I make an apointment and go in and INSIST that they do another mock up of how it was supposed to look. Of course we get there and it's ALL WRONG AGAIN. I wanted things to be simple and small as to not overcrowd the tables and there were flowers everywhere! We had to cut them in half! Also we had all white hydrangeas and spray roses but the roses were all sticking out of the centerpieces and not flush (looked awful) so I told them it all had to be changed. Sure enough the day of my wedding roses sticking out all over the place from the centerpieces to the bouquets. By the time the ceremony started half of the girls bouquets had fallen apart and roses were all over the ground. Not to mention they all looked old and dirty! NOW THE WORST PART... James cress supplied us with the runner for our ceremony and dos the entire setup... We did a quick rehersal before the wedding started and the runner looked like it wasn't laying right so multiple people told them it needed to be fixed or someone was going to trip. Sure enough we are walking out of the ceremony and my mother in law trips on the rug that kept bunching up, falls flat on her face and sprains her ankle. She spent the rest of the night in a wheelchair and missed our entire wedding :( DO NOT USE JAMES CRESS!!!

I wish I didn't even have to give a star!! I met with Caroline on my initial consult and absolutely loved her. I was very clear in my vision and sent a follow up email later that day with my inspiration pictures. I set the mock up on her next available weekend appointment so that I could specifically meet with her again but she did not show. The flowers they presented were not only wilted and crushed, they were nothing like what I wanted. Even Steven, the new designer that we were working with, agreed they were completely different. They begged me to make another appointment in two weeks as a do over and said that would give sufficient time to order the flowers. Low and behold, neither Caroline or Steven showed for this appointment either. I asked to at least see the flowers he ordered for us and that wasn't done either. Maybe they had their hay day but it is definitely not now. I would never go back!!!!

I set up an appointment with James Cress. The woman who set up the appointment with me first told me that they couldn't do an appointment that fit our time requests because it was the holidays, and they were working with the town of Smithtown on holiday decorations and were limited on time. Ok great, so we set up an appointment for a weekend evening which was fine. I didn't hear from them in the time between our meeting and our appointment date. I know many places do confirm, but I don't think anything is wrong if someone doesn't confirm, you just assume they took care of it when you set it up, which was in person. When we arrived for our appointment on Saturday night, we walked in and were greeted by a lady. She paged Gary on their call system, and then went to find him. We waited for a few minutes and then she returned with a bouquet and let us know there was a mix up and they had no record of the appointment. The bouquet was for the inconvenience. They told us they would call us on Monday to reschedule. The store attendants didn't take any opportunity to speak to us about our wedding to make the trip even the least bit worthwhile. They had no care. The Smithtown fire department was coming by for the holiday light show and they ran outside to see the trucks and wave, instead of catering to potential customers. Now I am very understanding, and I do understand how a mistake could happen. What upset us the most is that seemingly Gary was there to take our appointment and just didn't because he wasn't prepared and/or was in the middle of something. I'm sorry, but if you mess up, you have to inconvenience yourself to make up for it. If you're in the middle of something, you interrupt it. However, reluctantly, I gave them my number to call me and reschedule. Monday came and went. No call. At this point it was clear to me that this institution was very unorganized, lacked personal accountability, and didn't value their customers. I wasn't about to enlist their service with our money to take on our wedding. They called two days later. I didn't answer. Opportunity missed on their part. Blessing in disguise I'm sure

Flowers for your wedding are important, and you have high expectations when Gary Cress himself not only did the flowers for your parents wedding 30 years ago but also your brothers bar mitzvah 10 years ago, his name has been thrown around for years, and I was always told he would be our go to for flowers on my wedding day, whenever that day was. Let's fast forward to 2015, my wedding year, I will tell you James Cress florist is amazing, but GARY CRESS, blows me away, every time. From mock up meeting - to phone calls to emails and mock up meetings again, Gary never met me without a smile and a huge hug, he made this stressful process FUN - and I looked forward to going to meet with him. His ideas are refreshing and he is so educated on events, weddings, and the island.... When it came to the day of the wedding, the flowers - WERE BREATHTAKING.. there is no other way to put it. His ideas, his visions, his execution, is simply fantastic. If you want an easy floral experience for your wedding day, go see Gary, you will NOT be dissapointed, my parents werent 30 years ago, they werent 10 years ago, and they werent in 2015.

Gary at James Cress did a great job! He totally saw my Vision. I loved all my flowers. Could not have been happier.

We absolutely loved our flowers from James Cress Florists. From the very first meeting with Gary and his assistant we had a wonderful experience. They helped us pick our dream flowers and the flowers were even better then we could have imagined. Brides and bridesmaids flowers were stunning. So many compliments on our centerpieces! If you want beautiful flowers go with James Cress Florists..you will not be disappointed.

My flowers were perfect , the whole process was pleasant they were kind and worked within my budget, the only thing that was concerning was that the person who delivered my flowers was 45 mins late and this pushed back my photographer slightly . But over all they were amazing it was a Friday and it was traffic time. I would defiently use them again !

Initially Gary sold me, he is personable and willing to help you out. Explained we would get free boutonnieres and that we didn’t have to put a down payment down until much later. He was all about you and making sure you get what you wanted. I met with him 4 other times throughout the 1.5 years of planning, each time I got less confident in him. The initial sample for the center pieces was great we had a few changes but it was what I wanted, the 2nd time I came in, it was completely different, because he got mixed up. The day of the wedding the centerpieces were exactly as I wanted and so were the bridesmaid bouquets. They did mess up my bouquet, which we went over numerous times. It was supposed to be a cascading orchid bouquet with some small blush roses put in. The day of the wedding I got a cascading rose bouquet with all pinks, oranges, and blush. I was upset because I paid extra for the orchids and there wasn’t any. Someone came and tried to fix it, but it was already made, she added some orchids to it and tried to make me happy. Throughout the day the pieces she fit in fell out. We also had an arch put in where we were getting married, It was supposed to be drapery and then the top all flowers… they did do the drapery but there was just flowers on the two top corners. So there was a lot of miscommunication, which is frustrating because I am from out of town and came down for 4 meetings with them but it was still messed up. For the high price they charge, they should take better notes because thy are pricey and you are paying so much for things to go right. They did drop off the centerpieces that were left at the reception to my house, which was very nice. All and all they do good work, but there is a very big disconnect and I would use them for smaller events but not a wedding.

We worked with Gary and told him of our vision for our wedding. He gave us feedback and gave us great ideas. At that point, we told him to go with what he thought would work best. So glad we did. He created the most beautiful floral arrangements. The mix was just what I had envisioned for my wedding - warm fall colors and fall flowers. They really gave me a new appreciation for flowers. Everyone was commenting on how gorgeous they were and they complemented our dresses and the venue perfectly. Thanks Gary and James Cress for your expertise and beautiful work. Highly recommended.

We found James Cress after attending a bridal showcase at the Watermill. I had waited until about 6 months before our wedding to book a florist, so I was nervous that I would have trouble finding a florist that was available for our wedding. We met with Gary who assured us that we had plenty of time to make our decisions for flowers. After discussing my vision for the wedding we set up an appointment to see a mock-up of our centerpieces. About a week before the appointment I decided to change the colors for our wedding. For some florists, this may be a problem but not for James Cress. On the fly, Gary was able to create a new centerpiece that included the new colors. We set up one final appointment to go over everything and see a mock up of our final centerpieces. On our last appointment Gary put together a centerpiece and we were able to tweak it to create the perfect centerpiece. On the day of the wedding the flowers were delivered ahead of schedule. The flowers were set up at the church before the bridal party arrived and they looked fantastic. Our throw bouquet was missing, but a quick phone call to James Cress, and the bouquet was waiting for us after we finished pictures at the Watermill. Our centerpieces looked phenomenal. The stands were a little different from the ones we had originally picked, but they still looked great (I honestly didn't even notice until they were cleaning up the reception room). I would definitely recommend James Cress to any bride. They were so easy to work with, and will work to accommodate whatever it is that you want for your wedding day.

Gary and his team were amazing. They new exactly what we wanted and our centerpieces looked beautiful. Our bouquets were so beautiful as well. Gary really sits down and works with you until he fully understands what you are looking for! Very personable and friendly!

Gary was wonderful, the flowers were perfect. He had really worked on the price for us and I got everything I could have wanted and then some.

The flowers at my wedding were beautiful! The ceremony flowers they made up for us were gorgeous and I loved all of the bouquets!! We had candleabras as our centerpieces so I didn't have floral centerpieces but they scattered rose pedal on all the tables to compliment the décor and they did a great job!

The flowers for my wedding turned out more beautiful that I could have ever anticipated! The arrangements were gorgeous, our bouquets were stunning - the staff is friendly & reliable. My wedding day was perfect! Thank you James Cress!

Our wedding flower came our beautifully. James Cress was responsive and understood what I was looking for.

Gary and his staff are amazing at helping you envision your venue and bouquets. I am not super knowledgeable about flowers, so it was relief to be in such good hands. Needless to say i was obsessed with how soft and romantic my bouquets were and how classy our ballroom looked. worth every penny.