ONLINE MARKETING CLASS FOR FLORAL DESIGNERS

I’m excited to announce our next class specifically for Floral Designers looking to increase the online presence of their Floral Design Business.
This e-course will be held online via a private, password protected forum. Class assignments will be posted weekly with hints, tricks and feedback from myself and other class participants. The class lasts for 5 weeks, and the forum will remain active for an additional 4 weeks should you need to access any of the information while working on your newly implemented marketing plans and to connect with other class participants.

Class Starts: January 6, 2014 (break week of Jan. 20 while Alicia attends Florabundance Inspirational Design Days)
Class Ends: February 14, 2014
Investment: $299
Email Alicia to Enroll in the Class.

What we will cover in class:
*Week 1 – Critique of current website and blog with suggestions on how to improve
*Week 2 – Instruction and suggestions on how to blog efficiently for your floral design business
*Week 3 – In-depth look at using Facebook for your business
*Week 4 – Set-up of Social Media accounts with instruction and suggestions on how to use these tools effectively to market your floral design business
*Week 5 – Set-up of your floral design business on various marketing websites for increased exposure

FAQs:
*Class is limited to 10 Participants
*We will only allow one Company per City. (IE – only one company from Seattle can participate as a way to lessen concerns about competition)
*There will be no refunds or transfers once you have registered & paid for this class.
*Information from this class will not be shared with others outside of this class. Immediate cancelation of your membership will be enforced if you are caught distributing information.
*As the saying goes “what you put into it, is what you get out of it”, full participation is the best way to gain the most success possible.

Questions?? Email Me!

Testimonial from previous class:

Alicia,
I want to thank you for the terrific floral marketing class. It was a great opportunity to take a step back and look at my online presence and social media participation as a whole, and really up my game.
For me, it makes such a difference to have another floral professional evaluate my marketing. I feel like you completely understand my work, and the way that I want to present myself to the world. The feedback I got from you was on point, and practical. We were able to implement most of the changes right away, and have a long term strategy in place to continue to improve.
I am delighted to be a part of your online community, and hope to work with you again.
All the best,
Diane Mouton, Owner
Fat Cat Flowers
New Orleans, LA

What can I say – I love me some red, white and green!
Check out all the goodies currently available at Flower Wholesalers across the country!

Amaryllis – Torchio Nursery

Astilbe – Potomac Wholesale

Astrantia – G Page

Cedar – G Page

Graffiti Anthirium – G Page

Hellebores Plants – Seattle Wholesale Growers Market

Hydrangea Vuurbaak – Hilverda De Boer

Copper Red Vanda Orchid – Hilverda De Boer

White & Red Carnations – G Page

I sure have noticed a lot of posts with holiday wreaths this year, have you all noticed them? The variety of designs is just amazing and I’ve seen plenty that I’d be proud to hang on my front door!!

Designed by WILDHEART

Designed by Green Bouquet Floral Design

Designed by Miss Pickering

Designed by Wild at Heart

Designed by Miss Pickering

Available at Dutch Flower Line

Designed by Miss Pickering

Designed by The Real Flower Company

Designed by Miss Pickering

Available at Dutch Flower Line

Designed by Julep Custom Floral

Available at Torchio Nursery

Do you ever wonder who’s behind all these gorgeous floral designs and events that we see? I know I do!! I took a look today to see who the ladies are behind all this hard work!
Keep up the gorgeous work, ladies!!

Dawn of Soiree Floral

Caroline of Passiflora

Eatherley of Floressence Flowers

Jaclyn of The Skinny Vase

Jennifer of The Green Bouquet

Jennifer of Bloom

Katie of Mac’s Floral

Meredith of Au Courant Floral

Stacy of Stacy K Floral

Chandin of Studio 3 Floral

Keeping with our holiday spirit on Flirty Fleurs we are showcasing enchanting floral designs with Amaryllis.

Rae Florae

Martha Stewart

Floral Designer Unknown

Carolyne Roehm

Floral Designer Unknown – Karen Wise Photography

Martha Stewart

Oak and The Owl

Bare Root Flora

Mary McGee Interiors

Floral Designer Unknown

Bloomfields Flowers

You may have noticed that we have a few designs shown and the designer is unknown, if you recognize any of these pieces please let us know who created them. Thanks!

Designed by Paula Pryke

The December Challenge is: Winter Greenery & Berry

The rules:
Design an arrangement of foliages, berries, fruits, etc – but NO flowers!
All materials must be collected from your property or surrounding area. For this challenge we will say within 1 mile of your designing location. (time to hit up the neighbors!)

Here are the results of our Challenge!!
Thank you to everyone that participated!

Designed by Denise of
Bare Mtn Farm, Oregon

Designed by Edyta Ubych of Poland
“All plants are from my garden .
1. Brassica oleracea – cabbage
2. Centaurera cineraria – dusty miller . In my country we call “the old man “
3. Alder
4 .Magnolia – Branches
5. Mahonia aquifolium
6. Linum – twigs
7.Helichrysum petiolare “

Designed by Dana Smyl, From St. Paul Alberta Canada.
“Today was -40 with a wind chill haha, just had to add that. I loved this Challenge.
I desided that I wanted to try and use absolutely nothing but what was out in my yard. So this arrangement is held together by ice and snow alone. The container is made of ice. I am going to leave this arrangement out in the yard and hopefully the beautiful horror frost will attach itself one day and I can take pictures of that beautiful wonder of nature. Thanks again for pushing my imagination on this challenge.”

Designed by Kathleen of Erika’s Fresh Flowers, Oregon

Green Park Nurseries, Canada
“These are some pictures of what my wife just completed for our own house. We did have a little advantage because all the product used was mostly grown on the farm. This is what we do for a living. We grow all kinds of branches for the Florists to use in their Christmas Urns.”

Green Park Nurseries, Canada

Designed by Kristin of
Ideas in Bloom, New Hampshire

Designed by Merry of Maggie’s Rose, Rutherfordton, North Carolina.
Used: Owl Juniper, Holly (native species), Mountain Laurel, English Ivy, Nandina and Nandina berries.

Designed by Erica of Moda: Floral and Event Design, California

Designed by Lora of Sophisticated Floral Design, Oregon

Designed by Sylvia of Dreamweavers, Louisiana

Designed by Monica of Twigs Floral Design, California

CULTIVATING A NORTHWEST FLORAL INDUSTRY THAT VALUES AND SUPPORTS LOCAL GROWERS

As soon as I arrived in Seattle, Washington, I knew I had to visit Seattle Wholesaler Growers Market (SWGM)! SWGM is a farmers’ cooperative market located inside a historic warehouse building in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood. Here flower farmers from Washington, Oregon, California and Alaska gather to sell off their flowers, greens, potted plants and ornamentals directly to local florists, flower shops and professional buyers.
SWGM is open year round on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. It does offer hours to the Public on Fridays from 10-2.

Why SWGM is so inspiring…
“As the seasons change, so does the array of vibrant and fresh local products available at the market. We provide our customers with a wide range of unique, unusual and seasonal floral offerings allowing them to fully express their creativity.
Flower farming has long been part of America’s rich agricultural heritage and is a passion driven industry. By sharing resources and working together, we – the Pacific Northwest farmers and community members who make up this innovative market – are keeping local farmers on their land, adding jobs and helping to preserve an important part of our farming heritage for future generations.”

I’ve had the pleasure of a personal tour of SWGM given by Debra Prinzing. I quite enjoyed meeting Diane from Jello Mold Farms & Kim from Oregon Coastal Flowers, amongst others, plus, running into other floral designers who were there shopping. On December 12 SWGM hosted an open house and I was invited to attend & showcase my book, Bella Bouquets. While there I photographed the beauty of SWGM which I’d like to share with all of you…

Contact Information:
5840 Airport Way South, Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98108
(206) 838-1523
http://seattlewholesalegrowersmarket.com
https://www.facebook.com/SeattleWholesaleGrowersMarket

I adore Poinsettias, I really do. I see people cringe and say ick when they see Poinsettias and I just don’t see why. It’s a beautiful plant which now comes in a variety of colors. I’ve been searching high & low to find centerpieces which utilize Poinsettias in the design – no easy task, mind you! I did uncover a few beauties to share with all of you.

Designed by Ariella Chezar for Better Homes & Gardens Magazine

Designed for Better Homes and Gardens Magazine

Designed by Espe Floral

Designed by Fox Fodder Farm

Designed by Hidden Garden

Designed by Local Color Flowers

Designed by Martha Stewart

Design by Neill Strain

Designed by Tulipina

As for conditioning the stems of the Poinsettias for the arrangements, which is necessary since they do secrete that milky sap..
1) They can be placed in individual water tubes, keeps the sap away from other flowers and provides them a water source (useful if arranging in floral foam)
2) Sear the cut stem, easiest over a pillar candle – quick sear and then place in a vase of water. Let it sit in the water and condition before using in your arrangements.

So now what do you think of Poinsettias? Going to give them a try in future arrangements?

Designed by Debra Prinzing – Featuring American-grown old garden roses, smoke bush foliage and pink Queen Anne’s lace.

What are Slow Flowers?
*They are locally grown flowers
*Sustainably grown flowers, no harsh chemicals used in growing practices
*They are grown in America – #AmericanGrown #CAGrown are common hashtags
-The UK has a program as well – #BritishFlowers

Debra sits on the Board of Directors for Seattle Wholesaler Growers Market (profiled earlier this week on Flirty Fleurs).
She also produces Podcast interviews with a variety of people working in the floral industry – flower farmers, eco-couture floral designers, innovative Do-It-Yourself designers and pioneering farmer-florists. The podcast introduces listeners to the leading voices in the SLOW FLOWERS movement, from the field to the vase. Debra, the leading advocate for American Grown flowers, hosts the conversation and encourages you to join the creative community.
Recently Debra invited me to do a Podcast, very fun project! You can see more of my interview and Podcast HERE – episode #118
Plus, I’d recommending listening to her other interviews – they are all so interesting!!

An example of Slow Flowers by Bella Fiori – Dahlias are locally grown in Sonoma County, all other flowers and foliages are from my garden

Hello Dearest Flower Friends,

Just a note to let you know that we will be taking the next two weeks off from blogging here on Flirty Fleurs! We’ll be back on January 6, 2014 with lots of flowery content!!

Meanwhile, if you are here visiting us while we are on Christmas Vacation we hope you take some time to peruse the previous posts – 3 1/2 years of blogs to read through! Surely you’ll find something you haven’t seen before?! we hope so!

Designed by Jay Archer Floral Design

Also, a few important notes:

If you haven’t done so already – be sure to sign up for one of the Chapel Designer Conferences!

Santa Barbara – January 20, 21, & 22, 2014
Speakers this year include: Holly Chapple, Nancy Liu Chin, Joe Massie & Francoise Weeks
Many of you will remember what a fantastic time we had with Joost and crew last year! If you haven’t signed up yet, I recommend you sign up today!

New York City – March 10, 11, & 12, 2014
Hard to believe this is the 4th year already!? This is a great event and I highly recommend attending! The list of Speakers has not been released just yet, however, I know Holly and I know it’ll be an impressive lineup!

I will be teaching Bouquet classes – The Bridal Bouquet & Pricing Workshop!!
In this hands-on workshop you will learn how to design luscious hand-tied and cascading bridal bouquets. After we all design a beautiful bridal bouquet we will have a discussion and learning session about pricing our designs.
Seattle – February 1, 2014
Maui – February 23, 2014

The next Online Marketing Class is scheduled to start on January 6, 2014 – sign up now and join in!!
My first online Social Media Marketing Class was a ton of fun! So much fun that I’m already planning a second online class. The next Class will start on January 6 and run through February 9th. The forum will remain online for an additional month for students viewing pleasure.
Due to my attendance at Florabundance Inspirational Design Days & The Chapel Designers event mentioned above, class will not be held online the week of January 20th.
Click Here

Plus, the Marketing Workbook is available for download – perfect for working on your 2014 Business Goals!
Click Here

We recently launched The Pricing Worksheet Toolbox – perfect for beginners in the business who are trying to learn the basics of pricing.
Click Here

WOW – that was a lot of information!!
Hopefully you’ll find what you are looking for and be inspired by all the floral designers and designs in the previous blog posts.
We wish you and your loved ones very Happy Holidays!!
Sincerely,
Alicia

Green Bouquet Floral Design

Merry Christmas Dear Friends!!

Designed by Jes Gordon

Hi Flower Friends,

Well, here we are – 2014! I hope you all had a nice holiday break with your family and loved ones. I could tell from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that many of you stayed very busy with weddings and holiday orders – loved all the images of beautiful designs that I saw posted.
We had a nice break and took some time to explore more parts of Washington State. It snowed one day and my Mom, who was visiting from California, just loved it!

I do feel refreshed and ready to tackle 2014; I’ve been blogging away and have some GREAT posts in the queue — if you want to hear about pricing of flowers you are about to be thrilled, I have a bunch of posts about Aisle Decor ready to roll out. Plus, the responses from the last Content Call will be shared this month, I think my favorite one is everyone’s take on dealing with Online Reviews.

Now before we start in with the New Year, I would like to take some time and reflect on the passings of two industry greats in the past few weeks.

Our beloved Cathy Walsh of Sprout Flowers in Worcester, MA succumbed to cancer on December 26th.
There are not enough words to describe how I feel about Cathy. She and I met on Twitter, and were fortunate enough to meet in person two times. (my brother lives just 30 minutes away from her shop). The times I spent with her and talked with her were filled with inspiring thoughts and a deep passion for flowers and this industry. I will cherish those memories forever and only wish we had more time together. I am going to miss her so much.
Worcester Magazine wrote a lovely piece about her – read here

Cathy Walsh

Guenther Vogt, partner to BJ Dyer and owner of Bouquets in Denver, Colorado passed away on December 23rd.
I was deeply saddened to hear of his sudden passing. I had the pleasure of meeting Guenther when I moved to Denver in 2003, a kind and friendly man. What I remember of Guenther is that whenever he’d see me at an event he’d come over and say Hi. Heck, when I attended an AIFD symposium many moons ago I remember him coming right over to chat – I felt so cool that he’d say Hi to me, everyone knew him and I was just a shy youngster back then. Guenther, Thank You!
Joanne Davidson wrote up a nice piece about Guenther in the Denver Post – read here

Oh my gosh, as I write this the Luke Bryan song just came on and it is about the good ones passing on way too early…. I have goosebumps

Hi Flower Friends!
I sent out a Content Call recently where I asked all of you — As the 2013 event season comes to an end and as the 2014 brides start to come in for their consultations, I am quite curious to hear what trends you are seeing for next year. I’ve heard that gold, crystals, opulent, elegant are in, have you seen the same? What color palette looks to be the most desired?

…..

Gold, gold, gold, did I say GOLD? seeing it used everywhere, as an accent, as a focal.
Margaret Burnette, Texas

…..

The romantic garden look is still very popular for weddings in Texas. Floral design tends to follow fashion and interior design trends and grey is the new neutral showing up in all the high end design magazines. In wedding design that can translate to a palette of white flowers and gray berzillia berries, dusty miller and blush garden roses as in my design below that won best floral design at the recent Houston Design Center “Deck the Tables” design competition this month.

I think we are finally starting to see some loosening up of the tight domed European bouquet look in Texas. High end designers here are starting to echo the naturalistic Constance Spry or Dutch Masters style from top New York designers like Ariela Chezar and Lewis Miller. With the new Pantone color of the year being Radiant Orchid, I imagine there will be more soft lavenders and blue tending pink showing up in the bridal palette.
Madeleine of Fleur de Vie, Texas

Designed by Fleur De Vie

…..

Looking into 2014 I see a lot of gold as an accent. Lush elegant designs -1920′s era.
A big lean away from mason jars to wine themed weddings (not necessarily at a wine venue) but elements of wine barrels, custom wine as a signature drink, rustic elements (vines, foliage, looser garden style designs, etc).
As far as color palette; I have been getting a lot of requests for all white weddings, followed by pastels (peach/coral, blush pink, butter yellow, etc.) and purple /lavender color palettes.
Lora of Sophisticated Floral Designs, Oregon

Designed by Sophisticated Floral Designs

…..

At this point all of my weddings for next year are diverse as the brides. I start the year with a bright pink and yellow Peruvian wedding in January…think lots of alestromeria and anemones. The next wedding is a napa/wine theme using white and purple hydrangea and succulents as the main flowers. I have a wedding in a recently renovated historical building that will use mostly white flowers that have a romantic feel, but will be more modern because the bride has long tables, instead of rounds and we will be using a lot of square and rectangle shaped vases. I have a wedding in the summer that will be using protea…kings, queens, and pin-cushions. And another that has a coral and teal look with peonies, garden roses, and succulents. AND I have a more traditional red rose wedding too! Seems like the only thing that is consistent is that the centerpieces are multi-layered….clusters of vases and lots of candles…and the bouquets are all hand-held….no cascading!
Andrea Layne Floral Design, Florida

Designed by Andrea Layne Floral Design

…..

I am finally seeing blush! A lot of my fellow designers started seeing this trend last year but now it’s finally hit for us. Blush and lush with fluffy romantic flowers such as peonies and garden roses with gold vessels.I’m also seeing succulents and airplants continuing very strongly.
I’m still seeing a more elegant rustic trend, vintage touches with vintage bottles, lace etc. Mason jars have been slowly fading and we didn’t do a single Mason jar wedding in 2013! Yay
Susan of Three Sisters Custom Flowers & Events, California

Three Sisters Custom Flowers & Events

…..

I’ve booked several weddings for 2014. Many of which include pink & gold. However, the country/rustic trend is still hot in my area…with the majority of what I’ve booked thus far in 2014 following that trend. I think this is the case because of the area I live in too. I also believe that a softer, laid back, country/rustic wedding is somewhat an escape from a fast paced world of smart phones, electronics,and plastic/metal manufactured surroundings.
Jessica of Blooms ‘n Blossoms, Kentucky

Blooms ‘N Blossoms

…..

I sure hope mason jars our going out, but seeing a lot of peach and mint with outdoor and barn weddings still big.. Also, purples are big for me. I feel Michigan is about 2 years behind the trends. I have a bridal show in Jan. and I am going to show lots of gold and mercury, tall candle sticks and black with flowers in magentas, purples, and fucshias, a good friend of mine (Holly Chapple) once said if your going to do it go big and show what you want to sell. I still will show my vintage but want to go the other way for 2014. and 2015
Tracy of Park Place Design, Michigan

Park Place Design

…..

My clients are requesting pastel palettes. Blush pink, cream, and gold is definately the most popular. Many are requesting soft colors with a pop of a single color such as dark apricot or plum. Desired style for my clients range from vintage glamour to rustic elegance. Since, we are near the Jersey Shore, I have seen a trend toward vintage seashore themes.
Sally of Pink Dahlia Vintage, New Jersey

Pink Dahlia Vintage
Tami Melissa Photography

…..

Neutrals with metallic shine of all kinds, but especially gold. Still a strong “wildflower” look, and we always have a good amount of nautically influenced weddings being on the coast. Elegant is definitely the most popular adjective for 2014.
Polly of Robin Hollow Farm, Rhode Island

Robin Hollow Farm

…..

I’m seeing a little bit of the same with the blush, but I’m seeing a lot of requests for black/whites, lots of woodland designs and corals.
Alex of Exquisite Designs, Illinois

Exquisite Designs

…..

Trends for 2014 are purples…or should I say more purple.
Kris of KRISanthemums, Oregon

KRISanthemums

…..

The trends for weddings in my area are way behind the trends in other places in the country, so we are just now hitting the burlap-and-mason-jars scene pretty hard. I’m trying to push it ahead by doing a lot of styled shoots that are farther ahead in the recent trends.
Kelsey of Crabapple Floral, North Dakota

Crabapple Floral

…..

I’m seeing more purple tones for this year’s brides and still lots of texture. Burlap and lace continue to be favorites as it mixes the perfect marriage of rustic with romantic. Last year seemed to be the year for gold/silver/crystals but I hope it continues.
Dana of Della Blooms, Maryland

Della Blooms

…..

We’re continuing to see consistently strong interest in vintage-inspired weddings with pale color palettes and assortments of vintage vessels as reception centerpieces– barnwood boxes are big, as are vintage white pottery and vignettes of apothecary bottles with small bouquets or single stems. No “matchy matchy” centerpieces (These are all, of course, very Pinterest-fueled ideas.) We are also seeing a trend towards simplifying the ceremony site decorations and dedicating more towards reception site decor.
We are located in the Ohio, so big trends often start on one of the coasts and take a few years to make their way to the Midwest. We look forward to reading what others are seeing for 2014!
Kay & Susan of Buckeye Blooms, Ohio

Buckeye Blooms

Buckeye Blooms

…..

We’re still seeing lots of blush and ivory palettes. Hydrangeas, garden roses and peonies are still very popular. We’re also still seeing a lot of burlap, lace and baby’s breath.
Althea of Rose of Sharon Floral Designs, Arkansas

Rose of Sharon

1/6 – I’m back home in California! Headed out for a walk thru the vineyards with my new Laura Ashley boots on. I love winter in Northern California, the grass is green and the rain is refreshing.

1/6 – My Cocker Spaniel, Matisse, is a huge fan of running at full speed thru the vineyards. The light is magical the way it filters through a light fog.

1/12 – Attended The Lab Event hosted by Yasmin of Floral Theory. Here I met Polly of Valley Flora and this is her table!

1/22 – Santa Barbara, California!

1/22 – Chuck takes in the scenery at Florabundance Inspirational Design Days

1/22 – Laurie of Fleurie at Florabundance Inspirational Design Days

1/22 – Chuck & Alicia at Florabundance Inspirational Design Days – Santa Barbara, California

1/28 – Francoise Weeks’ Floral Design studio in Portland, Oregon — I’m here to take a 3 day woodland design workshop with Janet from Floral Verde!

1/28 – Portland with Janet of Floral Verde, this is one of her killer designs from our Francoise Weeks’ workshop

1/28 – Janet of Floral Verde at The Woodlands Workshop – Portland, Oregon

1/31 – Visited Peterkort Nursery while in Oregon and fell in love with this greenhouse filled with orchids and maiden hair ferns.

2/2 – A Camellia Show in Napa, California

2/26 – A little something for fun, wanted to play with California’s bounty of flowers

3/4 – Spring is in full bloom! Healdsburg, California

3/10 – On a Daffodil hunt. Ukiah, California

3/10 – The Quince! unbelievable!!
Ukiah, California

3/16 – Bridal bouquet for a wedding in Palo Alto, California

3/19 – Joost of Florabundance & Francoise Weeks, New York City

3/19 – My bouquet in front of David Beahm’s Studio in New York City

3/20 – Karen Tran & I, New York City

3/21 – Back to San Francisco and straight away to Bouquets to Art! This piece was designed by Natalie Bowen

3/22 – Lupe & Forsythia Branches at San Francisco Flower Mart

3/22 – back from NYC & SF, arm loads of flowers, I feel the need to create for the fun of it!

3/23 – My dad claims this is the best one! Guess he likes the opulent colors.

3/24 – Wall of Succulents at San Francisco Flower & Garden Show

3/30 – Assist the lovely Nancy of The Oak & The Owl on a photoshoot, so much fun with this sweet lady! Palo Alto, California

4/15 – To Washington we go! Visited the Tulip Festival in Skagit County. Crazy to think that at this point I had NO idea I’d be moving to Washington just a few months later.

4/28 – Excellent Flower Adventures with my BFF Laurie Garza! We visited Filoli, Flora Grubb, Berkeley Rose Garden, Oakland Rose Garden, Ron Morgan’s Shop! – Woodside, San Francisco & Berkeley, California

5/5 – Russian River Rose Company, lovely rose gardens in Healdsburg, California

5/5 – I need a bouquet of garden roses and mint…

5/9 – San Francisco Flower Mart – here to pick up arm loads of flowers for a Ladies Luncheon

5/10 – Designing away for a Ladies Luncheon, the spring flowers were just amazing

5/11 – While at the church designing the Ladies Luncheon’s flowers in walks a lady with buckets of flowers out of her garden. She is getting married at the church the next day. I ask if I can make her bridal bouquet. #FlowerAddict

6/1 – I had the pleasure of freelancing for Valley Flora in Napa a few times while in California. Polly & Brooke are so talented! This is one of their weddings.

6/4 – Half Moon Bay to visit Alena at her flower shop!

6/4 – Visited Louie Figone’s flower farm with Nancy Liu Chin, fabulous day! Half Moon Bay, California

6/9 – Blush Roses arrive from Harvest Roses for a Rose Study – Ukiah, California

6/21 – Purple and lavender roses arrive from Harvest Roses for a Rose Study – Seattle, Washington

6/24 – Stop by for a visit to Portland’s International Rose Gardens, Portland, Oregon

7/1 – Visited the Hydrangeas at Green Valley Growers, Sebastopol, California

7/6 – Lavender Bridal Bouquet for a wedding in Sebastopol, California

7/6 – Bridal Bouquets for a wedding in Healdsburg, California

7/11 – The Zinnias, Sunflowers and amaranths are starting to bloom in my flower garden!

7/18 – Spent the day with Max Gill – Berkeley, California

7/22 – Off to Virginia to Holly’s House for our workshop!

7/23 – All the ladies and I at the Workshop we had at Holly’s House in Virginia!

7/23 – The one and only arrangement I made while at Holly’s house, I raided her Persimmon tree! Virginia

7/26 – Out for a walk in the woods with my niece & nephew – Massachusetts

8/5 – Hanging out with my girls! Love & miss these three so much; Robyn, Crystal & Amy. Denver, Colorado

8/7 – visited The Gardens at Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.

8/12 – Field of Sunflowers – Hopland, California

8/13 – The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens to see the Dahlia Festival! Ft Bragg, California

8/16 – My garden is in full bloom!

9/2 – Chad & I move to Washington State! It’s gorgeous here.

9/17 – Headed back to California as I have 3 fall weddings to design. Stopped in Arcata, California to visit Faye at Flora Organica – look at all her dahlias!

9/21 – Centerpieces of hydrangeas and Patience garden roses for a wedding in Healdsburg, California

10/4 – Gathering fresh cut white Dahlias for a wedding – Petaluma, California

10/8 – Visit Chalk Hill Clematis Farm in Healdsburg, California

10/12 – The three weddings are completed and it’s time for me to return to Washington. I make one last arrangement for my mom prior to hitting the road.

10/24 – Off to Portland, Oregon to spend time with these lovely ladies!
Creating for the sake of Creating.

10/26 – Listening to Debra Prinzing at a lecture at Intentional Table on Bainbridge Island, Washington

11/9 – Orchid Show at Swansons Nursery – Washington

11/15 – Hanging out with Riz Reyes and designing for fun! Seattle, Washington

12/12 – Seattle Wholesale Growers Market for their Holiday Open House!

What a year! I don’t think I realized how much ground I covered until I look back at these photographs. Looking at these photographs makes me happy, I see the faces of so many wonderful people!
To be honest with all of you, 2013 was one of the most tumultuous and hardest years of my life. Plans didn’t work out as planned. Most importantly, five people who meant the world to me, to my family and to my friends passed away this year. There were moments of grief that were so deep and painful, that brought me to my knees and I didn’t think I’d ever be able to stand up again.
I had one lesson this year that really sunk in; sometimes joy has to be found in moments – because at times there will only be moments of happiness to see through the difficult times. I am extremely thankful for this blog and the people I have met because of it, I love flowers and I love the floral industry – flowers and friends pulled me through the darkness this year.

Hey flower friends!
Thought I’d share some of the pretty designs Chuck produced in the past year. You may have noticed he hasn’t been online with us much lately — he’s been extremely busy with operations at BLOOM by Anuschka as they are expanding into two more retail locations. I did get a handful of his latest designs to share with you today!

SIGN UP HERE

At the end of 2013 I sent out a Content Call to our mailing list asking for input on five different questions. Thank you to everyone who sent in their replies. I have a feeling this question is on a lot of designer’s minds ~ the worry that comes with online reviews…

Question #1
How do you get over the fear of getting a bad rating on Wedding Wire or Yelp, etc for something even minor. It makes me feel like I need to be absolutely perfect and that puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on me.

It’s essential to do your best work always and if your best isn’t good enough for someone and that results in a bad review unfortunately that is just part of our modern day business strife. It should not stop you from doing your work or hang over your head. Most consumers who write and read online reviews know how it goes…the more strongly negative the review the greater the chance that the person writing it is the one with the issue. I think mediocre reviews are almost worse than scathing reviews. If we put forth our best work and fall short (which can happen to anyone) all we can do is handle it with great care and respect. I bet some of your favorite companies, restaurants, retailers, etc. have received negative reviews along the way. It won’t change your opinion if your love the company/product.

You might combat your fear of negativity by asking happy customers to review you either for your own website or on another site. Happy customers are usually more than happy to say so in a testimonial.
Alison of Floral Artistry, Vermont

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I totally agree. The fear of bad ratings on Wedding Wire and elsewhere is one of the largest stressors in my life I would say. I know I have a tendency to focus on the negative and I make it a point to try not to do this. We gets tons of fabulous feedback and then the 1 out of the blue negative email sends me over the edge. I hold myself to a high standard and anything less than perfect or exceeding my client’s expectations can be quite upsetting. A good thing to keep in mind is that Wedding Wire will sort your reviews from 5 stars down to 1 so even if you get a bad for a more recent wedding, it will go under the 5 star reviews. I doubt that brides realize this right away. I think that when brides come upon our reviews and scroll down, they are already feeling really good about all the 5 star reviews we have that by the time they get to lesser reviews, they have already emailed me! I use Yelp a lot and know that there will always be someone out there with something negative to say, I hope that brides give me the same benefit of the doubt.
Amy of Crimson and Clover, Maryland

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As a business owner you do have to be cognizant about every single client that walks in your door and make sure that you put your best foot forward each and every single time you respond to their questions, provide competitive pricing and provide the best product that you can. Not everything will be perfect as we all know but sometimes you just have to let go of the fear and manage your business to the best of your ability. One bad review is not great and people will be able to see thru it.. lots of bad reviews well then that is really bad for business.
Alex of Exquisite Designs, Illinois

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This used to keep me up at night! The reality is that you can’t please everyone no matter how hard you try. I’ve had a five star rating consistently and I recently got a two star review on Yelp. It killed me!
The client’s comments are actually untrue but I decided not to address it because no matter how valid my comments would be I’d come across being defensive. People who really use Yelp can read through the odd bad review.
So that review is still there, I still have my 5 star average and guess what? It hasn’t affected my business one little bit.
Susan of Three Sisters – Custom Flower & Events, California

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I know I used to worry a lot about a bad review and I work very hard to please my clients BUT no matter what there are some who can’t just leave a nice comment there always has to be something negative. For example, I had a couple of brides who could not say enough about my amazing flowers, my great attitude and job well done BUT I have very poor spelling when I write emails (this I know it is not my forte) why does that even have to come into the picture? oh well I guess I just work harder. Its out there no matter what we do its bound to happen. Just take your time and think about how you want to respond to the claim , Don’t do it hot headed. your good future clients can see though some of those reviews.
Tracy of Park Place Design, Michigan

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There have been times where I have waited to request reviews from folks until I got a thank you note, for sure, but the Wedding Wire folks think the best way to overcome a less than stellar review is to get lots more good ones. Responding to at least some of your good reviews is a good way to make sure you are not just “correcting” the bad ones also.
Polly of Robin Hollow Farm, Rhode Island

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I have leveled with the fact that at some point, despite my best efforts, I will get a bad review. If a customer is upset and doesn’t let me know, there is next to nothing I can do about it. I try and educate my customers about the importance of letting me know if they have any problems with their flowers- that it’s not complaining, I want to know so I can remedy the situation or be aware of problems that might also be affecting other customers.
Kelsey of Crabapple Floral, North Dakota

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I always call two weeks after the wedding and ask if everything was just as they expected. This way I can head off any miscommunications if there were any issues, refer back to our contract and notes. Then if there are questions and I’ve answered them I let them know ahead I’ll be sending them a link for a review and ask if they’d please take the time to write one for me. I assure them I loved working with them and would love to work with other brides just like them.
Dana of Della Blooms, Maryland

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There are always so many details that never get into a rating ( if it is not the one you wanted). In your heart you know how you did . Learn from it. You have to rise above it and keep telling yourself that.
Kris of The KRISanthemums, Oregon

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Always stressing the details and years of telling myself telling myself that ‘good enough’ really is good enough.
Althea of Rose of Sharon Floral Designs, Arkansas

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Thank you to all of you who sent in this answers – really great thoughts and advice!

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