Saturday, August 20, 2011

And the Reader's Choice Winner is.......


US!!!! Yes, that's right. We were told yesterday that for the second year in a row, we were voted the Best Florist in Clark County.

We don't take that lightly. We're thrilled we were voted the Best and are appreciative of the acknowledgement. We know there are at least six florists in the county. So, we're glad our hard work, client service and most of all design work, has been a favorite in our community.

What are we doing differently? Well we like to think our awesome sources for the freshest flowers is at the top of the list. We make it a priority to purchase locally grown seasonal flowers whenever possible. We also import some of the freshest and most unique available.

We also know continuing education and involvement within the floral industry is and absolute MUST. As the owner and principal designer, I am an AIFD certified floral designer and a floral educator. I also have over twenty-five years of design experience.

Our lead designer, Jessica recently spent her 'vacation' assisting nationally known floral designer, Mandi Majerik at the Tennessee State Floral Convention at the beginning of the month. She then traveled to Alabama to assist Mandi with two weddings and a photo shoot for a wedding publication. It is always a great opportunity to work with other excellent designers in various regions of the country. It brings greater awareness to national trends and regional traditions.

Our design apprentice Grace will be finishing up on a degree in business/marketing this fall. She has a very creative eye and is a natural with flowers. She also spent a semester studying art in Florence, Italy. After receiving her degree, Grace plans to begin her formal floral design education. Her eventual goal along with Jessica is to reach the AIFD accreditation.

The person responsible for getting all of the great flowers to the lucky recipients is Kym. She carefully gets the arrangements packed and magically finds the addresses for all of the beautiful flowers. Kym also keeps us organized in the workroom as well as in the front of the shop.

The only one I haven't mentioned is our new shop cat, Katy Milady McGee. We absolutely love her. She keeps us happy with her mere presence and makes every day working with flowers even better, and our clients love her too.

We hope you've gotten to know a bit more about us. We love our 'job' and by the results of the Reader's Choice Survey, now we know it shows.

Monday, August 01, 2011

Not this dress and other wedding things


No this isn't "The Dress".

I know I've posted previously, my daughter got engaged. She has set her date for next summer and in the mean time, we have lots to do- just like every other bride and her mom.

It's as exciting for me- just like for any other mother of the bride. The one differences is obvious, I'm in the business of flowers and weddings. In some ways it's like an advantage- obviously, I know the best vendors to suggest to my daughter-from the perspective of matching personalities. I do suggest these same vendors to my clients, for the same reason- personality and product/service. I have the advantage of knowing many people and their services and I know I am lucky to be in this position on such a special day. But, in many ways, I am just like every other mother of the bride.

My biggest concern, the weather. Just like every other other mom, whose daughter is planning an outside wedding. Now it's not even just rain. I'm hoping we don't have this horrible heat too. I know we've made the right choices for location and all of the other details involved. But, it's all of the other 'little things'. You don't want her wedding to be too similar to any other recent friend or relative's wedding. My niece Alexis just married, and she had an absolutely beautiful wedding. And although we went through about five color palettes- seriously- Jen settled on the same shades as Alexis ! It wasn't intended, just worked out that way. So now, we have to put Jen's twist on it. Oh, and I have to find something to wear too. And that should be fun.

I also want to be sure I am not only physically present for Jen's wedding but mentally. I will not be scheduling any other weddings for her weekend. She deserves my undivided attention. Typically, we have plenty of staff divided up between all of the weddings we schedule. We make sure we do not over book so all of our brides get the same attention. It's just, our staff will also be guests and they deserve the opportunity to have a great night celebrating too.

It's been interesting looking at her ceremony and reception location with a fresh pair of eyes. We've worked events here many times over the years- but this time walking in, to really look at the space, seems very different. I can definitely say I will have more things to share with future brides because of my own personal experience. I am truly looking forward to this year unfolding as it will. We'll have many things to celebrate as the time checks off the calendar.

Stay tuned.