Offering ideas and proofreading a proposal

Speaker 1: Hi.

Speaker 2: Hi. I'm Gemma.

Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Mairead. Let me introduce you to Phil. Phil is our wedding manager.

Speaker 2: Hi, Phil, nice to meet you.

Speaker 3: Hi, Gemma.

Speaker 1: He'll look after you now.

Speaker 2: Thank you. I need looking after.

Speaker 3: Good. Take a seat. How can I help you?

Speaker 2: Well, I'm getting married in ten days.

Speaker 3: Ten days. OK.

Speaker 2: And we thought we could do the flowers ourselves.

Speaker 3: Was that not a good idea?

Speaker 2: It was just so stressful!

So I just really need your help.

Speaker 3: Fantastic. OK, first of all, what kind of items are you after?

Speaker 2: I need a bouquet.

Speaker 3: Yeah.

Speaker 2: And six buttonholes.

Speaker 3: OK. Perfect.

Speaker 2: And that's it.

Speaker 3: So, you've obviously had ideas of what kind of flowers you'd like, cos you were going to do your own.

Speaker 2: Yes.

Speaker 3: So what kind of thing were you thinking?

Speaker 2: Just something bright.

Speaker 3: Bright?

Speaker 2: Yeah. My dress is quite simple, quite plain, so I want something bright.

Speaker 3: So you want a nice contrast?

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 3: OK, brilliant. Right, let's have a look.

Speaker 2: Thank you.

Speaker 3: So, what do you think about that… combination?

Speaker 2: I think something brighter. And less…

Speaker 3: Brighter?

Speaker 2: Yes. Less foliage, less of this green.

Speaker 3: OK.

Speaker 2: Something like that but…

Oh, yes, that's more what I want.

Speaker 3: That more like it?

Speaker 2: But maybe not this… these bright pink roses there. I had a look at something orange… Dahlias?

Speaker 3: A dahlia, yeah.

Speaker 2: Pom-pom dahlias.

Speaker 3: Was it that one?

Speaker 2: Yes. Exactly. And then I need six buttonholes.

Speaker 3: OK. Six buttonholes. What are you thinking for the groom's?

Speaker 2: Well, I was thinking that dahlia maybe.

Speaker 3: Yeah, perfect.

Speaker 2: Yeah?

Speaker 3: It would match your bouquet perfectly.

Speaker 2: Great.

Speaker 3: OK. And we've got five more.

Generally, as a rule, it'd be lots of different types, using different flowers from your bouquet.

Speaker 2: I think do them all different-

Speaker 3: Different rather than the same?

Speaker 2: Yes. And let them fight it out on the day.

Speaker 3: That's perfect, Gemma. So I'm going to type up the proposal and hopefully get it over to you tomorrow. Happy?

Speaker 2: Yes, I feel really happy. Thank you.

Speaker 1: Mairead, I've just printed the proposal.

Speaker 2: OK. Let's have a look at it.

Speaker 1: Is there plenty of mistakes?

Speaker 2: Um, I don't think so.

Um… The 'bouquet' is… You've got a capital letter for 'bouquet' and it doesn't need…

Speaker 1: I don't know why I've done that.

Speaker 2: And also, actually, you've got two sentences here when that only needs to be one sentence.

Cos you've got… 'Your bouquet will be lively and fun' - comma - 'using highly scented roses such as…'

Speaker 1: OK.

Speaker 2: Because that makes more sense.

And then you've got… Ah, you've got 'Juliet'.

You've got a capital for 'Juliet' but Juliet is the name of a rose, so the 'wild spirit' should also be capitals because that is the name of a Wild Spirit rose.

And then what's missing?

Speaker 1: Oh, is it an apostrophe?

Speaker 2: Yes. Because it's belonging to…

Speaker 1: The groom. Yes.

Speaker 2: OK. That looks absolutely perfect, yeah.

(TO AUDIENCE) Communication skills are absolutely vital, because you have to get from your customer what they really want, you have to make sure that they understand what you're going to give them, and then you have to try and do something better than they actually want.

And if you do that, then that makes you fantastic as opposed to just good.