What started as a fun creation—edible bouquet—for a friend’s birthday has become a successful business.
Tim Valishin and his wife, Diana, operate Wow Bouquet in Fair Lawn, turning food and flowers into art. The couple crafts delicious arrangements for holidays and special occasions.
“It just made sense to do this when we saw how much everyone loved the bouquets,” Valishin says. “Places like Edible Arrangements haven’t changed their designs in years. This is something new and unique.”
The edible bouquets, designed by Diana, are beautifully crafted with chocolates, flowers and fruit, and can be customized. “We’ve done some bouquets with bacon,” Valishin says.
The family-run business begins prepping for Valentine’s Day in early January. “We can most likely accommodate last-minute people, because we begin prep so early,” he says. “There are always last-minute people.”
How was the idea of Wow Bouquet born?
Tim Valishin: We’re coming up on our two-year anniversary. We tried to find a gift for our friend’s birthday and couldn’t find one we liked. So we made our own. Everyone loved it. We made a couple more for friends, and everyone continued to love them, so we thought, “Hey, this has potential on a daily basis.”
What goes into the bouquets?
Basically anything you can eat. The most popular, of course, are fruit and flower combinations. We also have a more masculine version with meats and cheeses. If someone has a special request, we can do it. The craziest we’ve done is dollar bills. They’re not edible, of course, but someone wanted a bouquet specifically made like that!
Do your designs change seasonally?
We have a couple of set bouquets people can choose on our website, but any bouquet is customizable. We also have monthly themes. For example, during the fall we paint chocolate-covered strawberries yellow and orange. For summer, there are many flower options. For fruits, we utilize cherries when they’re in season.
Wow Bouquet’s designs change seasonally. Photo courtesy of Tim Valishin
Did you ever think you’d start your own business?
No! My background is in finance, but now my wife and I own Wow Bouquet. She does all the inspiration and puts everything together, and I handle the logistics.
How do you start designing a bouquet?
Some take a lot of time and could be up to five hours to put together. For example, a lot of different chocolate-covered fruits take a couple of hours to make. After making treats, in addition to what’s in the bouquet, I’d say it’s probably about an hour or two per bouquet.
Where does Wow Bouquet deliver?
We go as far as Connecticut and Pennsylvania and also do New Jersey and all five boroughs of New York. On occasion, we have special requests—for example, Boston or DC—and we will do an extra delivery charge so we can make it without a problem. Everything is hand-delivered. Some items can ship, but those mainly consist of dry fruits, nuts and chocolates.
What is preparing for Valentine’s Day like for you?
It’s a very busy time. Orders started in early January. Usually, we receive a lot of last-minute orders, too. Valentine’s Day is definitely one of the busiest times of year for us. Even on the 13th, we anticipate calls from people asking to have something delivered on the 14th. Because we have been preparing a month ahead, we can most likely accommodate those.
Some people want an option with nothing edible. This year, we came up with a couple boxes that just hold roses. We also have a mix of chocolate, fruit and flowers.
What’s it like working with your wife?
It’s a lot of fun. Because we have the separation of jobs, we’re not really on top of each other and there’s never any conflict. I trust her fully with all of the creations. She comes up with some beautiful arrangements and has always been the creative type.