Choosing a Florist

When choosing a florist for an event, it is possible to pick a great vendor in several different ways.  Personally, my best advice for choosing a florist is by word of mouth recommendation from trusted friends and family members.  As Chris and I were looking for a florist for our upcoming wedding, we asked around to trusted friends and family for florist recommendations, and we also scoured the internet heavily to supplement our search.

Before even speaking with a florist, it is a wise idea to have a compilation of several photos or images of floral ideas to discuss at such a meeting.  Using websites such as Flickr and Pinterest, along with wedding blogs and wedding websites can make finding inspiration for your event flowers an easy task.  If you know that you want to have certain colors of flowers in the arrangements and bouquets at your wedding, you can begin to have sample ideas to show your prospective florist.  That way, they can begin to discern the direction in which they should take your ideas.  Keeping notes early will save you the trouble of scrambling to gather ideas right before meeting with florists.

If you have swatches of fabric from bridesmaid dresses, this is another helpful item to bring to a meeting with a florist.  The same goes for pictures of your dress, venue, and other decorations that you are hoping to include on the special day.

Having a firm grasp on your wedding budget is essential to ensuring that you are making a good choice with a florist as well.  If you are able to discuss a budget with the florist, then there will be a clearer picture of what floral services they can provide for you, depending on the flowers and quantity of pieces you need made.

Be prepared to wait at least one week after meeting with a florist to receive an estimated cost for their services.  Following up with all florists you interview is good manners and allows the florist to book another client in your stead.  Good manners and transparency matter in hiring vendors!

Some good questions to ask your florist:

• How many event/wedding clients do you serve per day?  Per month?
• Are the flowers I want in season at the time that I want them?  Is there a similar alternative to what I want if they are not in season?
• What is your contract policy?
• What is the amount due for a deposit on services?
• Is there a delivery fee for transport of florals to the event site?

And always, trust your gut when it comes to choosing any professional to work with!  If you feel that you are receiving top notch service from the vendor, and that the vendor is ready to work with you in a positive manner, then this is a good indicator of the vigor with which they will approach your event.  A good rapport is crucial to a positive working relationship.

My goal is to bring a positive and stress-free experience to any client that I am fortunate to take on.  I am ready to work hard to make your event beautiful and fun, and I cannot wait to work with you to make the beauty happen!

Love and Light,

Alyssa

Martha Stewart Destination Wedding: Ireland

After looking through the most recent issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, I was overcome with an intense emotional reaction to many of the photos that were found within the pages.  There is something that is just breathtaking about a wedding portrait of the happy couple.  I am torn between wanting to cry because portraits are so pretty, and also wanting to somehow absorb the gorgeousness that I see in the photo.  I typically settle for a combination of abrupt inhalations and teeth gnawing faces and noises, because some portraits are just too pretty to articulate.

One such highlight from this issue was the photo series detailing the nuptials of photographers Corbin Gurkin and Thatcher Cook.  Their destination wedding in County Cork, Ireland was breathtaking and evoked a sense of Victorian elegance, paired with earthy details and colors.  The bride's gown, a stunning pale pink Vera Wang was paired with a rich tan suede bolero in the wedding portrait, and made for a textured contrast.  The groom, sporting a Leica camera around his neck was just as glowing as the bride.

Take a look at their photos, especially their wedding portrait, and prepare to be awed.

This is what I want to create.  Weddings that are indescribable.  The awesome feeling that magic is happening right before your eyes, and you're surrounded by its presence.  I want to facilitate this magic.

Love and Light,

Alyssa

Workshopping in the Spring

In the quest to become more ready to break into the wedding industry, I have been researching on the internet and scouring across all corners of the web to find more educational resources.  I am a longtime follower (and scarce commenter!) to many blogs of passionate professional women in the industry, and I am so excited that an opportunity of education has sprouted up.

The lovely Rhiannon Banda of Hey Gorgeous Events has carefully planned a wonderful upcoming event in April.  From April 13 to 15, I will be an attendee to Trouvaille.  What is Trouvaille?  I think it is best quoted from the event website:

Trouvaille is for creative, entrepreneurial and driven women who operate or want to own multi-faceted wedding planning businesses.  The more services your creative business encompasses, the better!  The more you want to learn, grow and extend your design and back-end business knowledge, the better.  Trouvaille is a truly hands on and comprehensive experience designed to inspire and encourage growth across all realms of any planning and design business.

Sounds great, right?  There are SO MANY perks to attending this event, that I seriously do not know where to begin.  In Grand Rapids, Michigan, I will be attending workshops on floral design, tabletop design, branding, marketing, networking, and so many other realms of wedding business owning.  I will be amongst 25 other attendees in a small setting, which I am also so thankful for.  I might not be the most social person, but I am excited for the intimacy that this event has to offer.

At first, I must admit that I was unsure if this could be an event for me.  I have lots of ideas, but no business to really speak of just yet.  I emailed Rhiannon, and she gave me lots of sweet encouragement from the heart.  With support from her, my ever-wonderful fiancé, and my dear friends, I was able to confidently register.  Grand Rapids, here I come!

Love and Light,

Alyssa

Woodland Sophistication

Branding is tough.

I'm starting from nothing.  I understand that typically, small businesses start from...nothing.  The problem is that I don't know anyone personally who has started a small business, let alone a business that is a wedding planning and styling business.  I'm learning from the internet, and some really awesome people that I've never met.

In terms of building my brand idea, I have compiled many visuals for a Pinterest board, to show the amalgamation of colors, shapes, lines, and images I want to associate with Demure Birch Designs.  A sense of sophistication, class, calm, brightness, and optimism should come across in the branding.  A touch of magic and ethereal imagery is also a theme that I want present in my branding.  I want to be able to design and coordinate any type of wedding: bold, traditional, beachy.  But I want my branding aesthetic to be personal to show what I am personally bringing to the table.

In due time I will be sharing my branding inspiration board with you lovely blogging folks, but not just yet.  Firstly, I want to add more to it to give a more complete concept to you all.  Secondly, I am having difficulty embedding pins onto the blog right now.  Give me some time to get it working and I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Love and Light,

Alyssa

Summer Floral Immersion: Basic I and II

Florals are a design element for which I have had a long time love.  I have always thought that fresh flowers are an instant way to brighten a room and make a living space feel more welcoming.  The best grocery store flowers I've ever found have consistently been from Trader Joe's.  They always have a vast selection of seasonal blooms as well as locally grown New Jersey flowers during the summer months.  Their flowers are also extremely affordable - a large beautiful mixed bouquet costs less than $10.  Can't be beat!

The local florist in my area of Philadelphia also has a large array of flowers that customers are allowed to hand select when purchasing from the shop.  I've frequented this shop many times and am always welcomed to choose any bloom I desire.

In order to better hone my existing floral arranging skills and learn more about such methods, I will be attending a floral design class at Longwood Gardens in May of 2014.  I will be enrolling in the Summer Floral Immerson: Basic I and II class.  It is a four day class, with 10 hours of instruction in each day.  According to the course selection guide for Longwood's continuing education programs, many areas of floral design will be covered, including materials and instruments, blooms and usage, and sustainable design strategies.

The four day course will definitely be a thorough and fulfilling learning experience, one that I have long awaited.  I attempted to enroll in floral design classes over the summer this year, but Longwood's courses fill up very quickly, given the clout of their continuing education certifications and the prestige of the Gardens themselves.  Registration begins November 11, and you'd better believe that my alarm will be on to remind me to register for such a great opportunity.

Take a peek at their course selection guide, and see if anything peaks your interest!

Love and Light,

Alyssa