You’ve
probably mumbled these words, yourself — late on a cold Feb. 13, buried
under mounds of red roses and facing hours more work — “I hate
Valentine’s Day.”


This Friday, “I Hate Valentine’s Day” the movie opens, starring Nia Vardalos of “My Big, Fat Greek Wedding” as a florist named Genevieve.

But Genevieve’s reasons for hating V-Day seem to have little to do
with a mountain of work — and everything to do with mounting looooove
drama with a customer played by John Corbett, who also played her “big,
fat” love interest in “Greek Wedding.” 

Most florists are too busy expressing customers’ feelings with flowers
to spend much time expressing their own feelings about other people’s
relationships, but Genevieve preaches her personal philosophy that
people should just have fun, and then move on before things get too
serious — after five dates, to be precise.


(We guess that means Genevieve sells plenty of single “first date”
roses and shuns wedding and anniversary work — fictional florists don’t
need to eat.)


In September, another florist flick opens. “Love Happens”
stars Jennifer Aniston as Eloise, the owner of Eloise’s Garden, who
seems a bit more true-to-life than Genevieve. The preview even shows
her making her own floral deliveries — twice!


“I finally got up the guts a couple of years ago to open my own
shop,” Eloise tells the self-help guru she is falling for, played by
Aaron Eckhart. “My life is an experiment in really bad decisions,” she
says in another scene.


We think it’s a good decision to think of these floral flicks as a
bit of escapist fun —and they might even help the public to think of
flowers a bit more often.

Try this

• Offer a special deal to anyone who comes in with a movie stub from one of the films.
  
  


• If your town still has a locally-owned movie theater, partner with
  them to hand out coupons for a free rose, with the purchase of a
  ticket. Better yet, see if the theater will let you sell flowers after
  the films.
  
  


• Pitch a story to a local features reporter, highlighting the
  differences between the glamorous life of a fictional florist and the
  hard work you do behind the scenes.