Today I am signing on with QC Distance Learning's Wedding Planning and Event Planning School to be a tutor! Yes I will be reviewing Student's assignments, and providing feedback and grading them!
What a great honour, to be asked back to the school I was certified with, to mentor and tutor others in an industry I've come to really enjoy being a part of!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
How to work with a planner
We all know that the wedding day is one that is special for a woman and her husband to be. It’s also a very special day for family and friends. Brides and Grooms know that this is the one event in their life when they can be somewhat self indulgent, and they should feel at the end of the day, that they had a spectacular event, that really reflected who they are as a couple, and who they want to be as a married pair.
Planners are designers and artists at heart. Their job is to listen to your big dreams, and deliver you an event that resembles it as closely as possible with the budget you’ve allowed them to use. If you give the right planner your trust, and your high level vision, this can be achieved, and you may be seriously, and overwhelmingly surprised at the result. Part of the intrigue of working with a planner is the powerful impact that their final design has on you and your guests on your big day.
Often times though, brides are coming to their initial planning meeting with a potential planner, with photos and lists and exact descriptions of the details they expect to have – at which point, the planner’s overall value is significantly diminished, and the makings of a tense and difficult planning process can be triggered. A planner can deliver high quality results, relative to the budget they are given, by leveraging existing relationships, helpful discounts, and other creativities. By coming to the first meeting, making an assumption that you can deliver better as the bride, indicates that you intend to plan your own wedding from start to finish, and are therefore potentially wasting your time and money on having a planner. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this, and having a planner isn’t necessarily for everyone. But what you should be expecting to do with this planner should be much more pointed and direct. Be upfront – explain that you know what you want, and which vendors you want to use, and ask them if they think they can help you negotiate discounts to reach your budget. Or be clear that you know what you’re doing for everything but the videography, and the dj, and that you feel that you will need day of coordination help. Can the planner help you to secure these three details, as opposed to helping you design the whole wedding from start to finish for example?
Most planners will be happy to accommodate the pared down services and will be able to deliver against them to your complete satisfaction. And at the end of your wedding, their real value will be evident. Approaching the first meeting with a potential planner under the pretense that you want them to plan your whole wedding, only to be overly specific about your details and your vendor selection, leaves them with very little visible value to offer, and will only make you feel like you’ve paid more than you should…and at the end of the day, it’s not the planner’s fault. They followed your direction, and delivered your details, to your specifications. What you said you wanted is what you got – you left no room for the planner to impress you with their creativity, or surprise you with the glamour you thought you would be getting.
We all want you to have the event of your wildest dreams, and we know we can deliver it and then some. But we need you to let us do what we do best. Deliver and surprise with our quality, our creativity and our vision.
Still, I know it’s tempting – you’ve been dreaming about your day since you were six years old, wearing lace kitchen curtains as make shift veils during various episodes of playing dress up with your stuffed dolls, and neighborhood friends. Letting go of that control isn’t easy. We “get that” as planners. We can deliver a heavenly escape and capture those cloud filled moments of your dream wedding, but trust is key.
The best way to approach your first meeting, and every meeting thereafter with your planner, is to be clear. You have this much money to be spent…you have this overarching idea of the overall experience your wedding should deliver…your favourite flower is…your favourite colour is…you have this many guests that are critical to invite, and this many on the “nice to have” list…you have this traditional or religious requirement or something else that’s close to your hearts to be shared on your big day…your favourite type of music is this…and so on. A good planner will follow up with you in a month’s time or less with design concepts and options. They will share their vision of the details with you, which means you’re going to see the best possible options for the budget you have, and you’re not going to be limited to your first ideas of the details you had in mind. Maybe they’ll be able to share ideas with you that you never knew were possible, or show you where in the budget you can adjust things to make them possible.
They will consult you at every step of the way. They will allow you to approve, provide input to or scratch any idea they present you, and they will give you final veto on vendor selections. You should always be presented with at least 3 options for any given detail, and your planner will work with you to be sure that the final result on your big wedding day is a vision that fully represents your own, unique and special day. If you give them the freedom to design and create the vision, your day can be the one you always dreamed you would have or better. Be open to suggestions, and be prepared to be hands off (this is what planners do – they keep things stress free for you throughout the planning process – which means they do the heavy lifting, hands on stuff for you), until they bring you in for final approvals on each stage.
Happy Planning!
Planners are designers and artists at heart. Their job is to listen to your big dreams, and deliver you an event that resembles it as closely as possible with the budget you’ve allowed them to use. If you give the right planner your trust, and your high level vision, this can be achieved, and you may be seriously, and overwhelmingly surprised at the result. Part of the intrigue of working with a planner is the powerful impact that their final design has on you and your guests on your big day.
Often times though, brides are coming to their initial planning meeting with a potential planner, with photos and lists and exact descriptions of the details they expect to have – at which point, the planner’s overall value is significantly diminished, and the makings of a tense and difficult planning process can be triggered. A planner can deliver high quality results, relative to the budget they are given, by leveraging existing relationships, helpful discounts, and other creativities. By coming to the first meeting, making an assumption that you can deliver better as the bride, indicates that you intend to plan your own wedding from start to finish, and are therefore potentially wasting your time and money on having a planner. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this, and having a planner isn’t necessarily for everyone. But what you should be expecting to do with this planner should be much more pointed and direct. Be upfront – explain that you know what you want, and which vendors you want to use, and ask them if they think they can help you negotiate discounts to reach your budget. Or be clear that you know what you’re doing for everything but the videography, and the dj, and that you feel that you will need day of coordination help. Can the planner help you to secure these three details, as opposed to helping you design the whole wedding from start to finish for example?
Most planners will be happy to accommodate the pared down services and will be able to deliver against them to your complete satisfaction. And at the end of your wedding, their real value will be evident. Approaching the first meeting with a potential planner under the pretense that you want them to plan your whole wedding, only to be overly specific about your details and your vendor selection, leaves them with very little visible value to offer, and will only make you feel like you’ve paid more than you should…and at the end of the day, it’s not the planner’s fault. They followed your direction, and delivered your details, to your specifications. What you said you wanted is what you got – you left no room for the planner to impress you with their creativity, or surprise you with the glamour you thought you would be getting.
We all want you to have the event of your wildest dreams, and we know we can deliver it and then some. But we need you to let us do what we do best. Deliver and surprise with our quality, our creativity and our vision.
Still, I know it’s tempting – you’ve been dreaming about your day since you were six years old, wearing lace kitchen curtains as make shift veils during various episodes of playing dress up with your stuffed dolls, and neighborhood friends. Letting go of that control isn’t easy. We “get that” as planners. We can deliver a heavenly escape and capture those cloud filled moments of your dream wedding, but trust is key.
The best way to approach your first meeting, and every meeting thereafter with your planner, is to be clear. You have this much money to be spent…you have this overarching idea of the overall experience your wedding should deliver…your favourite flower is…your favourite colour is…you have this many guests that are critical to invite, and this many on the “nice to have” list…you have this traditional or religious requirement or something else that’s close to your hearts to be shared on your big day…your favourite type of music is this…and so on. A good planner will follow up with you in a month’s time or less with design concepts and options. They will share their vision of the details with you, which means you’re going to see the best possible options for the budget you have, and you’re not going to be limited to your first ideas of the details you had in mind. Maybe they’ll be able to share ideas with you that you never knew were possible, or show you where in the budget you can adjust things to make them possible.
They will consult you at every step of the way. They will allow you to approve, provide input to or scratch any idea they present you, and they will give you final veto on vendor selections. You should always be presented with at least 3 options for any given detail, and your planner will work with you to be sure that the final result on your big wedding day is a vision that fully represents your own, unique and special day. If you give them the freedom to design and create the vision, your day can be the one you always dreamed you would have or better. Be open to suggestions, and be prepared to be hands off (this is what planners do – they keep things stress free for you throughout the planning process – which means they do the heavy lifting, hands on stuff for you), until they bring you in for final approvals on each stage.
Happy Planning!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Striking the Balance
As bride’s one of the most difficult challenges you can face is the one between courteous and gracious host, and well, Bridezilla.
As a planner, it’s my job to help you keep that balance. If you’re one of those bride’s who aren’t working with a planner, that job often falls to your fiancé, your mother, your best friend, and really any of the people who you’re letting loose on in your inevitable bridezilla moments. You can imagine it’s not the easiest message to deliver when you’re being ripped a new one by the one person you’ve committed to support – come hell or high water – It really stinks when hell and high water are delivered at the same time, by the same person.
So how do you know when you’re hitting one of the guard rails, and do you care? Of course you care. She who doesn’t care, is the same she who’ll be divorced within a year of the wedding IF they even make it down the aisle in the first place. I think the way you know you’re hitting the guard rail is when you appear to be tense more than once a day. I think we all have tenuous schedules at the best of times these days, and planning something as emotionally charged as a wedding, sends that tenuous schedule into something that would frighten even Lucifer himself. So, I think it’s reasonable to feel tense once a day. By tense I mean nothing more than tight in the shoulders for a period of about 10 minutes – something that relaxes as soon as you’re on a path to resolution. If you’re feeling more than that, I think you need to realize that you may be hitting a guard rail – and it may be time to take a breather – take stock, and figure out who you’re going to have to apologize to…and quick.
A wedding is the one time when you should feel entitled to indulge in a bit of selfish pleasure. It’s your (defined as you and your fiancé both) wedding, and particularly if you’re paying the whole shot, you should have a day that will reflect your own happiness. Whatever that may cost and whatever you’re willing to absorb as a budget for this event, it should in every way, reflect what makes the two of you happy together. But above all of the emotional self indulgence of the day, you are first and foremost hosts. Remember that all of the wording for your save the dates, invitations, thank you cards, favour tags – every last one of them says “Thank you for sharing in our day!” Or “Thank you for celebrating with us!” Or even “We’re so glad you could join us”. If the day wasn’t meant to be the first large occasion/event you are both hosting together for all of your friends and family, then all of that stationary would read “We got hitched”, “I got to wear a gown”, or heaven forbid “Please bring cash only”. Remember that if you’re thinking it, people will know it – it will be woven throughout all your wedding communications, your verbal and nonverbal cues and it’s the first thing EVERYONE will notice about your behaviour and your overall day. The result will be that your guests will feel obligated to attend, they will leave early, and in no way shape or form will they feel like they have “shared in your day”, rather than watched your self indulgence. Not really how most people want their guests to feel at the best of times, and least of all how you want your guests to feel at your wedding.
Which brings me to when Bridezilla really comes out to play – typically for many brides who were able to avoid such tendencies throughout the planning process, Bridezilla will arrive the day after the wedding, the first day of the honeymoon, or possibly even the day you have returned from the honeymoon. I think there are two reasons for this. First and above all else, she rears her ugly head because you finally have time and brain power to process everything that has happened, come and gone…And secondly, she comes out, because you’re no longer the bride, you’re officially the wife – and while it’s a wonderful role to have, the bride had a project. The wife’s project is a whole different ball game – one that we’ve spent the prep time we had available to us, devoted elsewhere. Remember that often times, our grandparents planned our mother’s first weddings (if you’re twenty or older) – planning our own has taken a lot of work and effort that we haven’t traditionally spent. This means we need to take special care to remember that we are hosts, and not simply the guests of honour, as our mothers might have been.
So the key is I think, if you are planning your own wedding – or even if you’re using a planner, you are a host first (presumably a very gracious one at that) and a guest of honour second. You can always be the bride, but adding that “zilla” will cost you dearly.
As a planner, it’s my job to help you keep that balance. If you’re one of those bride’s who aren’t working with a planner, that job often falls to your fiancé, your mother, your best friend, and really any of the people who you’re letting loose on in your inevitable bridezilla moments. You can imagine it’s not the easiest message to deliver when you’re being ripped a new one by the one person you’ve committed to support – come hell or high water – It really stinks when hell and high water are delivered at the same time, by the same person.
So how do you know when you’re hitting one of the guard rails, and do you care? Of course you care. She who doesn’t care, is the same she who’ll be divorced within a year of the wedding IF they even make it down the aisle in the first place. I think the way you know you’re hitting the guard rail is when you appear to be tense more than once a day. I think we all have tenuous schedules at the best of times these days, and planning something as emotionally charged as a wedding, sends that tenuous schedule into something that would frighten even Lucifer himself. So, I think it’s reasonable to feel tense once a day. By tense I mean nothing more than tight in the shoulders for a period of about 10 minutes – something that relaxes as soon as you’re on a path to resolution. If you’re feeling more than that, I think you need to realize that you may be hitting a guard rail – and it may be time to take a breather – take stock, and figure out who you’re going to have to apologize to…and quick.
A wedding is the one time when you should feel entitled to indulge in a bit of selfish pleasure. It’s your (defined as you and your fiancé both) wedding, and particularly if you’re paying the whole shot, you should have a day that will reflect your own happiness. Whatever that may cost and whatever you’re willing to absorb as a budget for this event, it should in every way, reflect what makes the two of you happy together. But above all of the emotional self indulgence of the day, you are first and foremost hosts. Remember that all of the wording for your save the dates, invitations, thank you cards, favour tags – every last one of them says “Thank you for sharing in our day!” Or “Thank you for celebrating with us!” Or even “We’re so glad you could join us”. If the day wasn’t meant to be the first large occasion/event you are both hosting together for all of your friends and family, then all of that stationary would read “We got hitched”, “I got to wear a gown”, or heaven forbid “Please bring cash only”. Remember that if you’re thinking it, people will know it – it will be woven throughout all your wedding communications, your verbal and nonverbal cues and it’s the first thing EVERYONE will notice about your behaviour and your overall day. The result will be that your guests will feel obligated to attend, they will leave early, and in no way shape or form will they feel like they have “shared in your day”, rather than watched your self indulgence. Not really how most people want their guests to feel at the best of times, and least of all how you want your guests to feel at your wedding.
Which brings me to when Bridezilla really comes out to play – typically for many brides who were able to avoid such tendencies throughout the planning process, Bridezilla will arrive the day after the wedding, the first day of the honeymoon, or possibly even the day you have returned from the honeymoon. I think there are two reasons for this. First and above all else, she rears her ugly head because you finally have time and brain power to process everything that has happened, come and gone…And secondly, she comes out, because you’re no longer the bride, you’re officially the wife – and while it’s a wonderful role to have, the bride had a project. The wife’s project is a whole different ball game – one that we’ve spent the prep time we had available to us, devoted elsewhere. Remember that often times, our grandparents planned our mother’s first weddings (if you’re twenty or older) – planning our own has taken a lot of work and effort that we haven’t traditionally spent. This means we need to take special care to remember that we are hosts, and not simply the guests of honour, as our mothers might have been.
So the key is I think, if you are planning your own wedding – or even if you’re using a planner, you are a host first (presumably a very gracious one at that) and a guest of honour second. You can always be the bride, but adding that “zilla” will cost you dearly.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Quote of the Day!
“I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance,A church filled with family and friends.I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for,He said one that would make me his wife.”
Unknown
Unknown
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
One Vendor to rule them all!
I've had a number of inquiries lately for multiple services bundled together, and thought I should share some thoughts from a planner's perspective on the pros and cons of this. Not only have these inquiries been for multiple services packaged into one deal, but they've been with short notice, and they've been on seriously strict budgets.
All three of these factors are a real recipe for disaster. From a Bride's perspective, I totally get it. The fewer people you have to deal with when planning a wedding, the sooner it's all booked and put behind you, and the fewer people you have to keep track of. BUT, when you start combining more than 2 services, you put yourself at greater risk of having a REALLY botched day should anything go wrong. Here's what I mean:
On the pro side, combining services with one vendor, can result in them throwing you a steeper discount, because the vendor's margin is suddenly spread across more work. This means they get a larger ticket of revenue, you get more services, and presumably, at a much better price. You have 1 vendor to touch base with in the month preceding your big day, instead of 4 or 5. And you can leverage the seriously broad creative talent that this industry has to offer you. You can ensure that by having decor, wedding day coordination and say florals all done by the same vendor, that they will carry a similar look and feel, because they've been designed, assembled, delivered and set up by the same person. A consistent look and feel gives that extra look of panache that your guests will sit back and enjoy while they partake in the fabulous meal you've organized for them. Who could ask for anything more, right?
On the con side, when you give more than one service to a single vendor, your risk increases (if that business is a small one), should anything go horribly awry and they can't deliver on your big day. Secondly, depending on what services you have contracted with them, depending on their business size, you could see a degradation of quality in what is delivered. Finally, if you know that 1 plus 1 plus 1 equals 3, don't expect that by asking a vendor to provide three services, that it won't be costing you for 3 services. Every thing you ask a vendor to do is going to cost your vendor money, labour and time. By being in business, they expect to make a profit (even if they expect a small profit), but they definitely don't open a business to lose their own money. And finally, if you're asking one vendor to perform most of the services for your big day, where are the checks and balances if something goes wrong or is done incorrectly? Hopefully you have bigger and more important things on your mind on your wedding day, than policing your single vendor. You need to understand how much risk you're willing to accept on your wedding day.
If you're asking your vendor to give you everything at wholesale cost, what's ultimately in it for them? Everyone loves word of mouth advertising - testimonials are the best marketing tool one can get, but not every job can be at a loss for the hopes of a great testimonial - nor should they be. Consider what it would be like if you went in to the office every day, and all your employer did was pay you for a portion of the gas you used to commute in to the office and back home again. It wouldn't be worth your time right? And would you do a good job for that employer? Probably not. Where would be your motivation?
As a rule of thumb, when I'm asked to do more than one service, as a vendor, I'm super excited about it. It means I can show more of my creativity, and more than anything else, it gives me more to do (I'm a bit crazy this way - if I'm not stretched to my limits, I don't seem to be content). But I also make it a rule, not to book more than 2 services that require me to execute on the wedding day. I'm more than happy to combine preparatory services, or things that can be done and delivered in advance of the wedding, but I know how big a labour pool I have to draw from, and I want everything I deliver to be of the utmost quality.
As a small independent business owner, I hate saying "no" to any job. And while it would have to be a major catastrophe for me not to execute on a job, a major catastrophe is always a risk. If I have committed to doing day of coordination, floral centrepieces, pew bows, and table decor and anything were to happen to me, how much of my client's day would be potentially ruined? It's something I consider, even if my potential client's have said they're okay with it. I have people I can call for day of coordination or odd jobs here and there, but the disruption that this would all cause, would be incredible, and hugely disappointing for any bride and groom. And my risk would be that if the couple weren't already aware of my predicament, the first assumption would be that I outsourced the work, and that I didn't deliver to my commitments in the way that they trusted I would. This is not the impression any small business owner would want to leave a client with.
If a company has said yes to booking multiple critical services quickly, this should give you enough pause to ask at least one follow up question: Is the company big enough, and does it have enough people employed within it, to execute all of those services on the day of your wedding, regardless if the person committing to it is there to oversee it or not? And if the vendor is willing to do a job at a loss, ask yourself and ask them why? Maybe it's a good answer, and maybe you've won the lucky draw of being that special couple who's getting the freebie for the hopes of a great review...and if you are - do the vendor a big favour in return, and give them the review. No deal is a good deal if it's not a win win for everyone! But maybe they're saying yes, just to get the next job too. As a customer, I want to work with vendors who are just as careful with my money as I am, and who care just as much about my day as any of my guests would.
Which brings me to my final point (and it's made only with the intent to save future brides from taking on or seeking out awful risks). If you want steep discounts, and you want the convenience and simplicity of a single point of ownership, work with a planner. Working with a planner will help you to divide the work load in a way that's comfortable for you, and it will give you the single point of contact you're looking for, for whatever combination of services are suitable to you. By hiring the planner, they take on responsibility for managing the vendor relationship, and the vendor's execution on your big day. And yes, they can help you make that 1 plus 1 plus 1 scenario, to become a total of 2.5 instead of 3.
All three of these factors are a real recipe for disaster. From a Bride's perspective, I totally get it. The fewer people you have to deal with when planning a wedding, the sooner it's all booked and put behind you, and the fewer people you have to keep track of. BUT, when you start combining more than 2 services, you put yourself at greater risk of having a REALLY botched day should anything go wrong. Here's what I mean:
On the pro side, combining services with one vendor, can result in them throwing you a steeper discount, because the vendor's margin is suddenly spread across more work. This means they get a larger ticket of revenue, you get more services, and presumably, at a much better price. You have 1 vendor to touch base with in the month preceding your big day, instead of 4 or 5. And you can leverage the seriously broad creative talent that this industry has to offer you. You can ensure that by having decor, wedding day coordination and say florals all done by the same vendor, that they will carry a similar look and feel, because they've been designed, assembled, delivered and set up by the same person. A consistent look and feel gives that extra look of panache that your guests will sit back and enjoy while they partake in the fabulous meal you've organized for them. Who could ask for anything more, right?
On the con side, when you give more than one service to a single vendor, your risk increases (if that business is a small one), should anything go horribly awry and they can't deliver on your big day. Secondly, depending on what services you have contracted with them, depending on their business size, you could see a degradation of quality in what is delivered. Finally, if you know that 1 plus 1 plus 1 equals 3, don't expect that by asking a vendor to provide three services, that it won't be costing you for 3 services. Every thing you ask a vendor to do is going to cost your vendor money, labour and time. By being in business, they expect to make a profit (even if they expect a small profit), but they definitely don't open a business to lose their own money. And finally, if you're asking one vendor to perform most of the services for your big day, where are the checks and balances if something goes wrong or is done incorrectly? Hopefully you have bigger and more important things on your mind on your wedding day, than policing your single vendor. You need to understand how much risk you're willing to accept on your wedding day.
If you're asking your vendor to give you everything at wholesale cost, what's ultimately in it for them? Everyone loves word of mouth advertising - testimonials are the best marketing tool one can get, but not every job can be at a loss for the hopes of a great testimonial - nor should they be. Consider what it would be like if you went in to the office every day, and all your employer did was pay you for a portion of the gas you used to commute in to the office and back home again. It wouldn't be worth your time right? And would you do a good job for that employer? Probably not. Where would be your motivation?
As a rule of thumb, when I'm asked to do more than one service, as a vendor, I'm super excited about it. It means I can show more of my creativity, and more than anything else, it gives me more to do (I'm a bit crazy this way - if I'm not stretched to my limits, I don't seem to be content). But I also make it a rule, not to book more than 2 services that require me to execute on the wedding day. I'm more than happy to combine preparatory services, or things that can be done and delivered in advance of the wedding, but I know how big a labour pool I have to draw from, and I want everything I deliver to be of the utmost quality.
As a small independent business owner, I hate saying "no" to any job. And while it would have to be a major catastrophe for me not to execute on a job, a major catastrophe is always a risk. If I have committed to doing day of coordination, floral centrepieces, pew bows, and table decor and anything were to happen to me, how much of my client's day would be potentially ruined? It's something I consider, even if my potential client's have said they're okay with it. I have people I can call for day of coordination or odd jobs here and there, but the disruption that this would all cause, would be incredible, and hugely disappointing for any bride and groom. And my risk would be that if the couple weren't already aware of my predicament, the first assumption would be that I outsourced the work, and that I didn't deliver to my commitments in the way that they trusted I would. This is not the impression any small business owner would want to leave a client with.
If a company has said yes to booking multiple critical services quickly, this should give you enough pause to ask at least one follow up question: Is the company big enough, and does it have enough people employed within it, to execute all of those services on the day of your wedding, regardless if the person committing to it is there to oversee it or not? And if the vendor is willing to do a job at a loss, ask yourself and ask them why? Maybe it's a good answer, and maybe you've won the lucky draw of being that special couple who's getting the freebie for the hopes of a great review...and if you are - do the vendor a big favour in return, and give them the review. No deal is a good deal if it's not a win win for everyone! But maybe they're saying yes, just to get the next job too. As a customer, I want to work with vendors who are just as careful with my money as I am, and who care just as much about my day as any of my guests would.
Which brings me to my final point (and it's made only with the intent to save future brides from taking on or seeking out awful risks). If you want steep discounts, and you want the convenience and simplicity of a single point of ownership, work with a planner. Working with a planner will help you to divide the work load in a way that's comfortable for you, and it will give you the single point of contact you're looking for, for whatever combination of services are suitable to you. By hiring the planner, they take on responsibility for managing the vendor relationship, and the vendor's execution on your big day. And yes, they can help you make that 1 plus 1 plus 1 scenario, to become a total of 2.5 instead of 3.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Flower Stamina!
So, last week I blogged about centrepieces I donated to the Canadian Mental Health Association of Peel's Annual General Meeting!
They were a big hit, and people seemed really pleased to have them play a part in their annual celebration. Personally, I admire the work that the CMHA does on a daily basis to promote mental wellness, and to aid the mentally ill in their recovery process.
They were kind enough to let me keep a few of the arrangements as a matter of a personal little experiment I wanted to conduct. One that I had hoped (and am pleased to report), would help my current and potential clients when they are considering who to contract with for their wedding floral needs.
The experiment was in an effort to answer the question: how long will these last when the client takes them home? The purpose of this experiment was two fold: 1) find out what my threshold is with these pretty hearty flowers in terms of how early I can start to get them put together before the client's big day; and 2) to find out how long I can make them last for my client after their big day. I firmly believe that with the cost of flowers, as well as many other details of a woman's wedding, that there should be a little life left in things after the event has come and gone. In particular with flowers, I know from personal experience, how disappointing it can be when your bouquets don't even stand up til you get to walk down the aisle. And even more so when you give the centrepieces away to your guests, who report back to you after you get back from the honeymoon that they all withered away and died by the next morning.
Every single cost of a wedding detail is an investment, or at least it should be. This is one of the reasons I'm in business, and it's THE reason I chose the business name I did. You can have any budget in the world, but if you don't get mileage out of the things you purchase within that budget, you've completely wasted your time and your money.
With that, I wanted to share the results with you. I hope that when you choose your florist, you'll consider these results, and you will ask how far in advance your flowers will be assembled! It's critical!!!
The smaller centrepieces (containing green mums, white carnations and baby's breath, were secured using floral foam that was water absorbant. These centrepieces lasted a full week before they began looking a little worse for wear. With additional watering, this may have been extended another 3 days to a week.
The taller vases are 8 days in and still going strong. I suspect they have another 3 days before they start turning, but check out the life that is still in these arrangements!
Seriously speaking, if your florist isn't willing to commit to a pre-assembly time frame, or you hear that they will begin assembling a week or more in advance, you should expect to get a very short life out of your arrangements. Consider a smaller florist who takes on one or two jobs per weekend...or pick a very large florist who has enough staff to make a shorter turn around commitment. Ideally, for your floral investment to pay off, you should aim for at least 4-5 days of life after your big day (accounting for the frenzy and high degree of stress they'll be under during your big day). At least that much should be feasible!
Happy Floral Hunting!
Pew Bows for Zen
A while back, I signed up with a client to do Day of Coordination for her wedding on July 11th. As her wedding approached, the situation had changed slightly, and my client asked me if I wouldn't mind using her deposit for something other than what we originally had planned to do.
Of course, in this economy, it wasn't surprising to hear that a change may be required...in fact, it's something that a lot of bride's are coming up against. The best thing to do in every situation is roll with the punches, letting the hit glance off your shoulder, and find another way! And you need vendors who will be able to help you roll with those punches as much as possible. So of course I said that would be just fine. What would my client like to have instead?
"Pew Bows".
Awesome! So here we are after a few days of twisting, tying, and twisting, fitting, and tying again! I love the result, and I think she will too! The bride's colours are soft pink and chocolate brown, and her star flowers are roses and gerbera daisies of course! So here we have a handmade, custom pew bow, completely coordinated to her wedding themes, up to and including a high end fresh touch silk gerbera daisy!! Enjoy.
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