Every floral designer knows they are blessed on those rare moments when we get to design purely for ourselves. Wanting to experience that joy before heading into the busy wedding season ahead, I gathered a few of my local flower friends together for a design day – with a twist. The 4 of us (myself, Lauren of Stone House Creative; Britney of Fache Floral Designs Tatiana of Oak & Lily and Kelly of Lily Stone Gardens) have formed a friendship thanks to flowers. We each own our own businesses, Britney and I each operating out of our home studios and focusing primarily on weddings, Tatiana opened a storefront a couple of years ago, and Kelly has an in-home studio as well as a seasonal flower farm.
The concept? Armed with an overall budget as well as a general colour palette, we asked our local wholesaler to order us in a surprise. The result? A day full of fun. The four of us got together, opened our blooms, and were so excited to see what showed up. We spent the day designing for ourselves, and with a combination of some standard flowers and some that we would almost never have, we were stretched creatively. Some of us wanted to try things we hadn’t done before, while some of us relished the chance to dig into a style that is what we truly love but don’t always get to work on.
Even better than our design time was the chatting. The wedding industry, and especially the floral industry, can be really hard to get into and do well. Many of us come up against more established floral shops who push back against individual designers, limiting our growth. The four of us “flower friends” are so blessed by our connection and mutual respect for each other. We refer clients to each other, support each other, buy from each other, and talk business together. Every floral designer out there needs to have a group of flower friends!
Thank you to Victoria Anne Photography for sharing these photographs of this lovely day –
