Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

Bouquet Florist—Delivering Smiles and Beaucoup de Bouquets for 30 Years

Story by Sam Calhoun

For 30 years, a local company has made Mother’s Day just a little more special by delivering smiles in the form of flowers. But it’s not just Mother’s Day memories that Bouquet Florist, 240 Shadowline Drive, Suite 12AA, helps create—the all-purpose florist brings flowers from all over the world to Boone year-round, designing arrangements for weddings, parties, memorials, anniversaries, births and special events.

“We can help with any occasion that you can imagine,” said Jack Raby, co-owner of Bouquet Florist. “Even if you just want to say ‘I love you.’”

Raby and his wife Dee bought Bouquet Florist 15 years ago from the original owners who began the high-end floral and gift store in 1977. The store was located on Boone Heights Drive from 1977 to 2002 in the current location of Joe’s Italian Kitchen before moving to Shadowline. The Rabys now have seven employees helping to run their business, a cornerstone of the Boone floral industry and a member of the Society of American Florists.

Raby, 66, has been in the floral industry since he was 18. He always knew he wanted to be an artist and toyed with the idea of being an architect. But knowing that he wanted a profession in which he used his hands, he enrolled in floral school in Houston, Texas, and never looked back. He has been designing bouquets, picking flowers and delivering smiles now for 48 years.

“Most of the time, it’s very soothing to design bouquets,” said Raby. “I get a feeling of satisfaction when I correctly interpret a customer’s request with a bouquet.”

Raby prides himself and his employees on being able to listen to what a customer wants and then being able to customize a bouquet for that purpose using the freshest flowers available.

Bouquet Florist staff put forth the greatest effort, Raby said, to protect flowers from the time they enter the store to the time they leave.

“Our customers say that it’s not unusual for flowers to last 2 to 3 weeks after they are delivered,” said Raby, who includes a card with care instructions as well as flower food with each purchase.

Raby orders quality flowers from around the world. Flowers from Holland, South America, Central America, California, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Columbia, Hawaii and Florida, are regularly in stock. “With jet travel, I can often get flowers the day after they’re cut,” said Raby.

Raby’s specialties are his roses—heralded as some of the best around—and his mixed seasonal bouquets and mixed garden bouquets, but that’s just the tip of the colorful iceberg.

Bouquet Florist also creates custom silk flower bouquets for interior decorating, offers plant rentals for special occasions, has a large inventory of growing plants and sells a multitude of gift items, such as antique vases, decorative lamps and bowls. The store also has a wide selection of chocolates, as well as fruit and candy baskets custom made by one of Raby’s employees.

For special occasions, Bouquet Florist can make corsages and match balloons to any floral arrangement. The store also offers wedding consulting, going as far as setting up flowers on location and working with pastry artists to match wedding bouquets to the wedding cake.

Bouquet Florist will deliver almost anywhere in Boone and offers free delivery to Watauga Medical Center and area funeral homes. The store is also part of the Teleflora wire service, a network that allows customers to send flowers anywhere in the world.

Bouquet Florist can usually have orders completed and ready for pickup within one to two hours, but Raby recommends giving as much notice as possible, especially with orders involving hard-to-find flowers.

For the upcoming Mother’s Day holiday—historically the biggest for florists around the nation—Raby explained that customers will get a better selection of flowers if they order now and don’t wait until the last minute. However, orders placed before May 10 should be ready in time.

Bouquet Florist is located in the Shops at Shadowline at 240 Shadowline Drive, Suite 12AA, in Boone. The shop is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 828-264-3313 or click to www.bouquetfloristandgiftshop.com.