Team Flower member Amy Balsters shares floral design basics from attending floral conferences, design shows, reading trade magazines. She loves to share what she has learned all these years so in this article, she covers some best practices that have been around for awhile but may help you save some time and money in your business.
We are always looking for new ways to grow our business, and we all want to do it in an organic, authentic manner. If you're a beginner to Pinterest, it can be overwhelming to see how the site can help generate traffic to your business. Pinterest is often passed over as a tool that can generate business, but by making small changes in the presentation of your Pinterest page, you can yield excellent results. In this article, Kristen shows you how.
For thousands of years and in many different cultures, flowers have had meanings attributed to them. Today, it is almost forgotten that flowers were ever a means of communication. So how can we modernize a concept from the past to use today?
In this video, Kelly shares how she thinks about creating bouquets for retail vs. bridal work using American Grown flowers.
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Transcript:
- - We're back in the studio to put together a quick little farmer's market bouquet. I like to work one ingredient at a time, so I'm going to use five apple mint leaves, and just like when I'm creating a bridal bouquet, the apple mint leaves are giving me the shape and the structure that I'm going to use, but since the bouquets are going to be displayed in buckets, and people are walking up to them and looking down on them, the perspective that you arrange from is a little bit different than if you're doing a bridal bouquet that's going to be held here. So, I'm focusing on working, I'm just going to spiral the whole way around, and continue that with each of the ingredients that I have, celosia, and I'm working in layers because I do still want to have a little bit of ends and outs in my bouquet, and a variety of shapes and sizes. I'm going to add a little bit of cosmos in here, next. It gives me a completely different texture, really interesting. Now rather than using five, I'm just going to use three. And then I have a couple of pieces of basil we're working here, again three. Farmer's market bouquets, a lot of times you're doing, doing 'em all and doing 'em real quick, and you have a whole bunch to make, so if you can get yourself lined up, and you've got your pattern that you're working in, it's really easy to move quickly through the placement of the flowers. Last, but not least, I have zinnias, and these are our big, these are our big focal moment, and they're great because they're flat on top, and they have that nice face that's going to look up at all the passersby. Going to put the three smaller ones in, and then my three larger ones. That little bit of basil adds nice fragrance. Something, too, about farmer's market bouquets that are a little different than bridals, I think sometimes is that they're looking for something that's very bright and cheery, so color is very important in those types of settings, something that's very eye-catching and that people can see from far away, something that draws them in and over to your table. Made a lot of bouquets on the sidewalk last week. I'm just with some leftover flowers that I had from the workshop and the number one request was I want all colors, so it's different selling on the street than it is for bridals, so perhaps you're a wedding florist and not a farmer, but you want to do a pop-up shop or something like that, it's something to consider. It's so funny, some of the first bouquets I made whenever I started work for my friend that was a flower farmer, Mary Ellen, and she said, "No, really Kelly, like the first person "who comes up and buys flowers for his wife, "like he will want a really bright bouquet," and I was like, "Really?" 'Cause I'm the lady who wants the all-white bouquet, or something that's monochromatic, and sure enough, there I was at the market, and a man comes up, and he wanted the one with all the colors , and so I'd be curious to know what your experiences are, what your experiences are in that regard, since wow. I'm just going to give this a little clip here, tough to do, tough to do that with one hand There we go. So this is just a simple butcher's paper, and you can get it that it's wax side, a little bit water resistant, which is a little bit of water resistance, which is nice, and then also having this stand that you can tear from, I think, is really helpful as well. All kinds of ways that you can wrap, you're going to find the one that works the best for you and for your business, coordinates with the look of what you're going for. I have this cute little stand with some twine that I'll take with me when I do the little popups, but if you're doing farmer's market, you might want to get some clear sleeves, or you might want to have little baggies with water that you can have them sent home in, or something like that but that is up to you, but whenever I'm doing little sidewalk bouquets, that's what I like to do . There you go! Thanks for watching, and for taking a little tour through my seed patch.
The organic, natural look is a current trend in the floral industry, and according to the press release, it sounds like Megan’s floral décor will take on loose, organic qualities, and a seasonally inspired color palette. My prediction is that her bouquet will include Peonies and Myrtle in an asymmetrical shape. What do you predict?
In this article, we share with you a few things about growing the beautiful dahlia: the great queen of the summer. The dahlia never ceases to dazzle us! Team Flower member Jessica Weatherford, after growing 250 dahlia plants, is in the process of tripling her crop this year and shares how to grow them with success.
Rona Wheeldon is the mastermind behind Flowerona. The Flowerona brand includes a widely known blog, full of inspiration and resources for anyone who loves flowers. In addition to creating content for the Flowerona blog, Rona also spends time as a freelance flower writer and writes for New Covent Garden Flower Market in England. Rona's journey with flowers is beautiful, and in this Team Flower Podcast episode, she is telling us all about it!
If you feel there is a disconnect between your message and the client you are trying to attract, do not despair! You do not necessarily need to rebrand completely. Sometimes adjusting the messaging on your website or your social media strategy is all it takes to start reaching those ideal clients.
The first thing you should do if you feel you are not reaching the right people with your brand is to ask who those people are. What are their personalities like? What do they do for fun? Where do they hang out on weekends? What is their job? What music do they listen to? Where do they live? Dig deep and create a mental picture of your ideal client, their aesthetic, and their values.
In this episode, we are chatting with Sophie Felts of Blossom and Vine Floral Design. Sophie is sharing her go-to flowers for events and her staple cut garden blooms. We are talking about how to easily start a cut flower garden and which blooms are our favorites!
Whether you are a flower farmer, floral shop owner, or event florist you should be growing cosmos. This past year was my first time growing and designing with cosmos and by the end of the season, they were my absolute favorite flower! Here are a few reasons why I love to grow them and why you should grow them too.
In this episode of the Team Flower Podcast, we are chatting with Amy Balsters of Amy Nicole Floral. Amy attended the 2018 Team Flower Conference, and was chosen as the 2018 Designer of the Year! She's sharing about her experience at the conference in the Designer of the Year competition and what it has meant to her to have been chosen as the winner.
Do you rock at the “small stuff” but need help with things like setting yearly or quarterly goals — important tasks that feel less urgent? Hannah shares four strategies that have helped her tackle the Big Stuff first while saving her favorite—all the nitty-gritty loose ends—for second.
Florida-based Lillian Dompe has an eye for beauty and design and has found she is most at home when living a life surrounded by blooms. She currently works at an arts college coordinating events, managing volunteer boards, and working with development full time. After attending the 2017 Team Flower Workshop, she launched her floral design business, Hallwood Floral. Her journey is one that is both inspiring and relatable!
In this podcast we talk with Heather Page, who is a floral designer with Academy Florists in Winnipeg. Academy Florists is a retail flower shop that has been flowering Winnipeg for over 36 years. For 10 of those years, Heather has had the opportunity to work and grow alongside various designers who quickly became her flower family. Her Instagram feed @heather_page is filled with beautiful images that reflect her personality so much — rich, soft, full of welcome and grace.
When you are planning a cutting garden and choosing flower varieties, there are several decisions to consider. Perhaps one of the most important is whether to grow annuals, perennials, or a mixture of both.
Giti Gerami owns Botanica Wedding Flowers Studio in Rhode Island. She has over 15 years of experience in floral design. Her love for flowers began as a child as she worked dried and silk arrangements into her family's interior design business. Giti worked at a flower shop after she moved to the United States 20 years ago. She eventually purchased the flower shop and turned it into a thriving wedding flower studio. In the midst of the transition, Giti joined us at the 2016 Team Flower Workshop, which helped her navigate the waters of the wedding floral industry. She took some time to share her experience with us.
We had the pleasure of meeting Jackie at the 2015 Team Flower Workshop. She and her husband started Moonset Farm in 2007 in Porter, Maine with three rescued Katahdin Hair Sheep, two horses, two dogs, three cats, and a few chickens. As their livestock business grew with each passing year, cut flowers stealthily worked their way into the production of the farm. Now, Moonset Farm not only yields fresh meats but is also a fully functioning flower farm & design studio. We recently spoke with Jackie about her story.
It may seem intimidating to begin drawing your bouquets, especially if you have no prior experience with drawing, but it is a really great way to create unique bouquets for your brides – even if you just used the same color palette last weekend!
Ohio based floral designer Patricia Campos began her creative career as a graphic designer. It wasn’t long until the floral world worked its way into her heart, and now she runs a floral design studio in Cincinnati, Una Floral. With a love of muted colors and delicate greenery, her work is textural, thoughtful and artistic. Patricia’s floral journey began shortly before we met her at the 2015 Team Flower Workshop in Asheville, NC. Two years later, she has established her style and is currently working towards merging her two creative loves: graphic design + flowers.
