diff --git a/app/controllers/friendships_controller.rb b/app/controllers/friendships_controller.rb
index 71371b3..b3bc739 100644
--- a/app/controllers/friendships_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/friendships_controller.rb
@@ -9,10 +9,10 @@ class FriendshipsController < ApplicationController
     @friendship = current_user.friendships.build(friendship_params)
 
     if @friendship.save
-      flash[:notice] = 'Added friend.'
+      flash[:success] = "#{@friendship.friend.name} added as friend"
       redirect_to friendships_path
     else
-      flash[:notice] = 'Unable to add friend.'
+      flash[:error] = "Unable to add friend: #{@friendship.error_messages}"
       redirect_to users_path
     end
   end
diff --git a/app/models/friendship.rb b/app/models/friendship.rb
index 0abf718..68cadc0 100644
--- a/app/models/friendship.rb
+++ b/app/models/friendship.rb
@@ -10,4 +10,8 @@ class Friendship < ActiveRecord::Base
       errors.add(:friend_id, 'cannot refer back to self')
     end
   end
+
+  def error_messages
+    errors.full_messages.join(', ')
+  end
 end