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| How I've missed being surrounded by flowers! |
LIFE LIST: DO FLOWERS OUT OF MY HOUSE
When: September 21, 2012
Where: The Detroit Yacht Club
Why this is on my list: I ran a flower shop for a couple years and have worked at several others and it's always the same thing- over charging brides to cover the high cost of commercial rental space and cover the bills throughout the regularly slow summer months. There is money to be made through floral design but I am convinced it is not via having a store front-the over head is simply too high. I immensely enjoy being a floral designer and I miss it dearly. Exclusively doing wedding flowers is a way for me to make good money, I don't have to leave my daughter, I can do something I love in the comfort of my own home, no one breathing down my neck, no boss, and only work a few days. For instance this wedding took me 4 hours to put everything together, then I spent 4 hours the day of the ceremony/reception at the venue setting up, making the centerpieces, and distributing the personal flowers.
How it came about: Back in April, my friend Toni called me (a former co-worker) and asked if I would be interested in doing the flowers for her friend's wedding who had had a consultation with a florist that went horribly and since Toni was a bridesmaid in the wedding she would not be able to them herself. We met and she liked my ideas and I liked and trusted her so without hesitation she hired me.
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| These flowers are called Craspedia |
What would I do differently? I learned a LOT and there are several things I would do differently. First of all I would have dressed nicer! I DID NOT think I would still be there when the guests were arriving but some of the bridal party was late to arrive and I was passing out the corsages and boutineres. Everyone looked so nice and I was in stretchy pants and sneakers.
Will I do it again? I hope so! I am going to work on getting my EIN and some business cards made up and go from there, even if I just started out doing a handful a year, I think that would be great.
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| The boutineres - |
Was it life changing? Certainly, in many ways. First of all I got to try out something that I always suspected would be lucrative and enjoyable. I am lucky enough to be one of those people who LOVES what they do. There is nothing like being around beautiful, fragrant flowers all day and turning them into creative pieces of art and on top of that, I get to set up in these beautiful venues which I would generally have no reason to visit or have never heard of, I get to see unique things (a groom riding up on a white horse, a bridal party arriving in a trolley) and my work appears in thousands of pictures, photos that will last forever. It's a pretty great job, and initially becoming a floral designer fell into my lap, as did this job-opportunities only becomes success when you walk through the doors which have been opened. Every second of this was sincerely a joy. I'm a very lucky girl.
Getting this opportunity kick started my idea to do flowers out of my house, I had always wanted to but had no immediate motivation, and now I know where to begin.
Also, I got to meet a great bride and I was able to help her out too-florists LOVE to rip people off...well I hate using that term I guess I will just call them very 'opportunistic'. When they see a bride they see dollar signs. I have worked for company's and while I was making their corsages, boutineres, and bouquets I would look at the price and my mouth would drop to the floor! I know what everything cost and it is flooring what florists will charge and what people will actually pay! (I was one of those brides who was TOTALLY ripped off spending $2,000 on my flowers and I didn't even like my centerpieces, nor did my florist give me what I actually wanted.)
COMMENTS FROM THE BRIDE
I just received this email from from the bride...
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I can't even begin to describe how happy I was with your flowers. They were PERFECT. Honestly, perfect. And all night long people complimented me on them and how elegant and lovely the room looked. Seriously--so many people asked about the flowers. And we had people take home vases, so hopefully they're still alive all over the state of Michigan. :)" -Darlene
Notes:
If you would like to discuss your wedding flowers with me and get a quote email me at angeary@gmail.com
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| The Brides' bouquet |
Also feel free to email me if you have ANY questions in general concerning your wedding flowers....or anything else to do with cut flowers please do not hesitate to comment here or email me at angeary@gmail.com
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| It's so cool to see the flowers that I made in all the pictures from the photographer |
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| Pretty fountain in the Detroit Yacht Club |
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| Brides Bouquet |
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| The Bridesmaid's bouquets |
You did an awesome job as you always do!
ReplyDeleteThank you! And thank you for all your help- I totally forgot to mention that but you were very helpful and I appreciated that very much.
DeleteWow, the flowers look stunning! Congrats! I have never seen those flowers before. Great Color.
ReplyDeleteThank you CeCe- I really liked all the Brides ideas, it is always a treat to do something that's a little different, this flowed well and really reflected the bride and grooms style.
DeleteGOOD JOB GIRL! You're the best!
ReplyDeleteShucks Toni...thank you :)
DeleteWhat a great job you did, the flowers are lovely!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I am so happy I did it!
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