Jul is doing the flowers at my sister’s wedding next weekend so we got up at 3:30 this morning to head up to the wholesale flower market in SF to place orders. The market covers several square blocks in San Francisco (about a football field) and is filled with a patchwork of farmers selling a crazy array of flowers.

It was cool to see my wife in action. In order to do large coordinated events you seem to have to keep a very clear vision in your head and adjust it against what is available at market. I’m lucky if I can remember my name at 4am so it was impressive to watch her move through all the options. Forget any flower name I thought I knew — they speak in some sort of crazy short hand florist speak (Cyns, Glads, Draingas, Avalanche, Carns…).

Shopping seems to be largely relationship driven and so the entire place is buzzing with sellers and buyers. In a world increasingly dominated by large chains like Gap and Target it was really exciting to see a person to person local small business marketplace thrive.