Riehs Florist

Trading since 1885 and passed down inside one family ever since, Riehs is the oldest family-owned florist in Philadelphia. It is an old-school neighborhood counter rather than a web brand: you call or you walk in, and someone who has been doing this for decades makes the thing in front of you.

What people come here for

Weddings are the declared specialty, and the range goes past the bouquet: bridal bouquets, centerpieces, chuppahs and full wedding décor. A shop that builds chuppahs is telling you something specific about the neighborhoods it has served for well over a century, and wedding work here is run by appointment rather than off the shelf.

Funeral arrangements are the second stated specialty, alongside made-to-order pieces for whatever the occasion actually is. Everything else is the ordinary rhythm of a corner florist: birthdays, fruit baskets, the standing weekly bunch that regulars pick up on the same day each week. That last habit says more about the place than any description — people build the shop into their routine.

Delivery and urgency

There is no online cart and no published cutoff hour, so the reliable route is the phone. Delivery is offered, and so is in-store shopping and curbside pickup for people who would rather collect than wait in.

The practical advantage is availability: the Northern Liberties shop opens seven days a week, Sunday mornings included, which is exactly when a service, a christening or a Sunday visit needs flowers and most neighborhood shops are shut. The family also runs a second door farther north in the city, which widens the reach for pickup when one side of town is easier.

What stands out

• 1885, one family. The city’s oldest family-owned florist, handed down through generations.
• Chuppahs and wedding décor. Not just bouquets — the ceremony structure and the room.
• Open on Sunday morning. Rare among neighborhood florists and useful precisely when it is needed.
• Two family shops. A Northern Liberties door and a second one farther north.
• Made-to-order over catalog. The shop describes its work as specialty made items rather than a fixed lineup.
• Regulars on a weekly rhythm. A counter people build into the week, not a one-time purchase.

Where the flowers come from

The shop publishes nothing about its buying — no grower list, no supply story. Judge it the way its regulars do: by what is standing in the cooler on the day.

The space, the service and what else is sold

This is a working counter, not a styled showroom: you come in, say what the occasion is, and the arrangement gets built rather than picked from a shelf. Fruit baskets sit alongside flowers, and the specialty items are made to the request rather than stocked in advance. Wedding consultations need an appointment, since the décor side takes planning time the counter cannot give you on the spot.

When to come and how to get there

The shop sits in Northern Liberties, close to where the neighborhood runs into Fishtown — the dense old rowhouse grid north of Center City where a corner florist has always been part of the block. A crosstown trolley and a nearby subway stop make it a short trip from downtown, and street parking is the usual rowhouse lottery.

Peaks are the classic ones: Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and the December holidays, plus the late-spring-through-autumn wedding season, which is booked months out rather than weeks. For everything else the shop’s strength is that it is simply there — including on the Sunday morning when nothing else is.

Questions and answers

Can I just walk in?

Yes. This is a walk-in neighborhood shop with a counter, and the Northern Liberties door is open seven days including Sunday morning.

How do I order?

By phone or in person. There is no online store, so calling is the reliable way to place and confirm an order.

Do they deliver?

Yes, delivery is offered, and curbside pickup is available if you would rather collect. No same-day cutoff hour is published, so call and ask for your date.

Do they do weddings?

Weddings are the shop’s declared specialty — bouquets, centerpieces, chuppahs and décor — and they are handled by appointment.

How far ahead should I book a wedding?

Months, not weeks, for a spring or autumn date. The consultation comes first, and the décor side is where the lead time goes.

What about funeral flowers?

Funeral arrangements are one of the two named specialties, and a shop this old works with the local funeral homes as a matter of course.

Is there anything besides flowers?

Fruit baskets and made-to-order specialty pieces, built to the occasion rather than pulled from a catalog.

Opening hours