Different Valentine's Day Paths for Hopatcong Florists

Patricia Webster has high hopes for Valentine's Day.

So does Samantha Prestifilippo. Hers, however, are a little different.

Both are Hopatcong florists. But Webster, owner of , wishes for a busier Valentine's Day than last year while Prestifillippo, owner of , won't mind if things slow down a bit, as long as some Hopatcong High School seniors raise enough money to eventually have a blast.

Webster said Get Potted didn't quite see the returns it desired on Valentine's Day in 2011 due to a sluggish economy and the holiday falling on a Monday, which, she said, gave many couples reason to celebrate during the weekend prior.

But with Valentine's Day on a Tuesday this year, Webster said Get Potted has seen an increase in orders. In fact, requests started flying in early last week, she said.

"Business is getting better for the moment," she said.

But Webster said she expects it to get even better Tuesday.

"It's going to be just chaos," she said, laughing. "But a good chaos."

Get Potted will have extra staff on hand Tuesday, including more designers, delivery drivers and employees at the registers.

"We want everybody to have a good experience coming in," said Webster, who said Get Potted has partnered with Enchanted Chocolates of Hackettstown to provide fresh chocolate treats for the holiday.

Aside from Valentine's Day landing on a better day for business, Webster said nothing much else has changed regarding Valentine's Day requests this year. She said

Get Potted has mostly received requests for roses—one man even continued his longtime tradition of sending his wife several dozens of roses—and then its share orders for lilies, mums, carnations and daises, to name a few.

Despite the rush Webster expects, she said all the flowers will be fresh Tuesday.

"Valentine's Day is one of our biggest days," she said. "So we expect it to be pretty chaotic. A lot of deliveries and, hopefully, walk-ins."

Prestifillippo, though, will look at it a little differently.

The Presto Personal Gardens, Flowers and Gifts owner said she used to target Valentine's Day, but the economy has forced her to slow down.

"We used to do it really big," said Prestifillippo, who operates her business out of her home but hopes to soon have a storefront location. "We used to supply the people with the flowers to sell. But since the economy [slowed], everybody cut back a lot. It was really hard."

So Prestifillippo took a different route this year. She's supplying seniors with carnations to sell to fund its 2012 Project Grad trip.

"For Valentine's Day, we're doing more charitable things," she said. "Anything to support a good cause."

Will you do any of your Valentine's Day shopping in Hopatcong? Tell us in the comments.