The Question:

I am curious about submitting images for on-line and print features. I have had some great press but there is no rhyme or reason to the events that get picked up…while some magazines call me personally others don’t even know I exist…are there tricks (besides bribery), to get noticed?
-Emily

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The Answers:

My shop was approached and featured a lot many years ago and then it sort of dried up- I’ve watched several new to the industry studios basically eat up all the press on blogs and magazines over the past several years.I’s been the same three studios again and again and again. For a long time it made me feel rather depressed- why were they getting all the attention? They must know someone in the biz- it’s because they are younger and cooler and hipper than me…. all those things went through my head. But then I realized last year that is actually because they are just way more press savvy than I am. They are constantly calling, emailing asking, which I haven’t been doing. So I took a fantastic course on line last year, it was a big investment in money and time but it has taught me how to pitch the press and given me way more confidence than ever. Since I started implementing I have had some success with local papers and even Elle Canada’s blog. It taught me how to see where my business can fit and how to put together a pitch and who to approach. I think the industry has totally changed over the past 5 years, with the huge surge in blogs and online resources, and the press has had to change itself too. They are not going to approach us for things unless we are the big time people you see everywhere these days, so it is up to us to approach them. It is scary and you have to steel yourself for rejection, but eventually you will get somewhere. Good luck!
Jessica, Periwinkle Flowers, Ontario, Canada

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I’ve found that collaborations are a great way to get noticed by publications that you haven’t previously worked with. Seek out photographers in your area that have been published in blogs/magazines that you’d like to be in and set up a styled photoshoot with them specifically for the purpose of submitting to a publication. We’ve gotten a huge amount of press and made some lovely industry friends through these collaborations. Nine out of ten times we’ve seen the investment returned (you can’t win ‘em all). It helps to have a strong story/concept behind your shoot and to bring a unique concept to the table. Publishers want new and fresh content. It’s a great opportunity to get really creative.
Malori, Hoot and Holler, Arizona

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A great photographer is your first thing to find! Detailed shots, dreamy photography, and of course quality. Second, details. Details, then details, then more details. This can get daunting…the last styled shoot I did felt like I was planning a wedding! Everything from the escort cards, to name cards, to paper straws, to good linens, a cake, etc….. Good luck!
Jessica, Blooms ‘n Blossoms, Kentucky

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Don’t wait to be discovered. Contact the publications you want your work in!
Kelsey, Crabapple Floral, North Dakota

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Please share your thoughts with us on this subject in the comments section!!

Do you have a question you’d like to ask for a Q&A session? Email it to me at: info@flirtyfleurs.com

Flora Organica

Your name: Jardine Hansen
Your Business name: Jardine Botanic
Your Location: split between The Blue Mountains and Sydney

How did you start your business and how many years have you been in business?
I started my business in October 2013 doing the flowers for the wedding of a friend of a friend

What is your design aesthetic and what inspires you?
I’m always drawn to nature. I live in a pretty special spot in the Mountains where hiking trails start from the back of my house so I spend quite a lot of time walking around examining trees, ferns, mosses etc. I like to watch plants unfurl in the wild or my garden and attempt to capture that in my work

What is your favorite part of being a floral designer?
The fact that it allows me to spend all my time with plants/flowers or thinking about them

What is the most challenging aspect of being a floral designer?
The way time behaves/disappears

What advice would you give to aspiring floral designers?
Try to figure out what style of arranging makes you happiest. and procure yourself some plants

What are the trends, flowers & colors that are unique to your region?
I think Sydney florists often tend to group flowers and dispense with foliage

What tool in your toolbox can’t you live without?
My secateur holster-it stops me putting my snips down and losing track of them

What’s your favorite Social Media platform and why?
Instagram-it’s easy to use and I can stay in touch with florists from all over

Contact Information:
Instagram @jardinebotanic
Facebook facebook.com/jardinebotanicfloralstyling
Website jardinebotanic.com.au

Hey Flower Friends located down in the south, our sweet friend Francoise is headed your way! She will be teaching a Two day Botanical Couture Workshop hosted by Sherry Donnelly of Gertie Mae’s Floral Studio on April 21 & 22, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia! Francoise has this workshop and many other interesting ones lined up, heck she’s teaching in Mexico, China, and England this year! check out her teaching schedule here.

It’s almost here! The World Floral Expo by IFTF is next week in Los Angeles, California! The show takes place at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Wednesday, March 11, Thursday, March 12, and Friday, March 13. You can register for the event here.

Martin Groen, former Dutch Floral Design Champion and Title Nominee at the Fleurop Interflora World Cup 2015 in Berlin Germany in June (www.worldcup-berlin2015.com), will join World Floral Expo in Los Angeles. Together with his 7 persons strong Dutch floral design team, Martin will show the latest trends in European floral designing.

The demonstrations will take place inside the exhibit hall and have an ongoing presenter during the 3 day long event. Professional floral designers and event planners are qualified to enter the trade show and demonstrations free of charge. A unique opportunity to experience the latest trends in European all occasions floral designing. One can sign up through www.worldfloralexpo.com or onsite at the registration counters.

Are you familiar with the company, Bloompop? Bloompop is an online marketplace (think “Etsy for flowers”) that makes it easy to buy gorgeous, artisan flowers from a curated selection of the best local florists. I’ve been chatting with the founder, Shavanna, for the better part of the past year and watching the growth of Bloompop online. As a Bloompop Florist Partner, florists showcase and sell their own floral designs and access new customers while maintaining control of their own brand and artistic creativity.

Bloompop only partners with a curated selection of the best local florists across the country. Following a high standard of review, florists are invited to be a part of the exclusive Bloompop Floral Community featuring varied design aesthetics from across the country. As Partners, florists receive a FREE professional photo shoot of their shop and designs. Designs are rustic, modern, and everything in between — as unique as the florists who make them. Bloompop’s Florist Community Manager and Sales Team provided dedicated support, working to book business and showcase individual design aesthetic for our Florist Partners.
If you are thinking about adding the option of floral deliveries to your business or looking for a new option for a e-commerce partner/wire service type business then I’d recommend checking out Bloompop.

Contact Information:
https://www.bloompop.com
(470)22-BLOOM

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Your names: Jennifer Zukovsky & Sarah Hackforth
Your Business name: Fionna Floral
Your Location: Capitola, California. Serving the entire Monterey Bay Area including Carmel and Carmel Valley.

How did you start your business and how many years have you been in business?
We actually purchased an existing business which we had worked for as lead designers for about 10 years prior. Before that, both of us had worked separately with other florists throughout California for over (slightly embarrassed to say) 20- 30 years. We have been the current owners of Fionna Floral since 2012.

Scott Campbell Photography

What is your design aesthetic and what inspires you?
Our design aesthetic is classically elegant floral with a nod towards organically composed flowers, adding a touch of whimsy here and there to keep current with the trends. We are certainly inspired by the great Dutch Masters, and of course…Martha who truly never goes out of style.

What is your favorite part of being a floral designer?
We love and appreciate the ability to look at a seemingly random bunch of flowers and transform them into something very unique and wonderful. Also, the people that tend to get into this business are a lot of fun and quite interesting characters…we have many stories to tell throughout the years, but our lips are sealed.

What is the most challenging aspect of being a floral designer?
Probably the hard labor and the toll it takes physically on the body. We work very long and odd hours, early mornings and late nights and sometimes all the way through on large setups. Our work is really never done, it just changes throughout the year. But when you have a happy client and some beautiful memories, it just makes you want to do it all over again!

What advice would you give to aspiring floral designers?
Follow your dreams and inspirations. It is hard work (see answer above) and isn’t as glamorous as it may appear in all the social media that we see day in and day out but it is very gratifying. Be prepared to work from the bottom up and learn from more experienced designers. Try to work in a variety of florists either as a freelancer, or a beginner and retain that information to build a repertoire for yourself in order to build out your career. The best thing about being a floral designer is that you can take it anywhere, there will always be a job for you somewhere and the more experience you have the better.

Scott Campbell Photography

Scott Campbell Photography

Scott Campbell Photography

What are the trends, flowers & colors that are unique to your region?
We are lucky to have gorgeous flowers at the ready from the wonderful San Francisco Flower Mart as well as from local growers here on the Central Coast that are always on the lookout for the latest trends in floral. At the moment, we are heavily into the soft tones of ivory, blush, peach and green with accents in a gold palette. Flowers often requested are Cafe au Lait Dahlias, David Austin Roses (especially Juliet), white or blush anemones with black centers and peonies with greenery such as bay, eucalyptus or Dusty Miller. Brides are more open to more unusual accent flowers which is wonderful. Texture is big which makes us incredibly happy.

What tool in your toolbox can’t you live without?
Our business partnership relationship. We are so lucky to have a great and easy rapport with each other after having worked alongside each other for so many years that it feels like we are sisters, I know it sounds contrite, but it is true. Having someone whose opinion you trust to bounce an idea off of is priceless. Plus we are able to cover for each other on vacations and fill in when something comes up. Oh, and ZIP TIES!!! Can’t live without those.

Scott Campbell Photography

What’s your favorite Social Media platform and why?
Instagram. It’s ease of use and simplicity in design gets the word out without having to say too much. It’s short, but sweet and really addictive. It’s been great fun for us.

Anything else you’d like to share with Flirty Fleurs followers?
We are huge fans of the Flirty Fleurs blog because it helps bring floral designers together as a unit, it is a platform for a symbiotic relationship among talented people which provides information as well as inspiration in a really beautiful way. We love what is going on in the field with social media because the floral design field felt so isolated before…the only place you would run into another florist would be at the flower market (which is still great fun) or at work. Now we can see that thousands of us exist out there and we are doing some pretty fabulous stuff and want to share and discuss it with the world too.

Contact Information:
Fionna Floral
www.fionnafloral.com
831.423.7636
Instagram: fionnafloral
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fionna-Floral/205299432831268
www.pinterest.com/fionnafloral/
www.twitter.com/fionnafloral

Scott Campbell Photography

Scott Campbell Photography

For more information and to register for this event Click Here.

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Hands-On Elevated Centerpiece Workshop
Saturday, March 28, 2015 | 10am to Noon
Elevated floral designs can be daunting at first, how many flowers will you need? How will you create a base that can hold so many flowers? How will you transport these pieces from your studio to the reception?
In this workshop you will learn how to create elevated floral designs!
We will discuss the mechanics behind these big arrangements and after I give a demonstration on how to create a piece each student will then create their own arrangement. We will discuss pricing as well as transporting these arrangements. Students will be able to take how their arrangement, sans candelabra/vase!
Class is limited to 6 students.

Location: Floressence Design Studio, 5628 Airport Way South #240, Seattle, WA 98108
Investment: $250.00
Register HERE

Tulip-palooza Floral Design Class
Thursday, April 9 | 6:30-8:30pm
April is Tulip time here in the Pacific Northwest! Come celebrate tulip season and create a floral design with the epitome of spring flowers!! In this class we’ll discuss the care & handling of tulips. Each student will design an arrangement with tulips and accent flowers such as lilacs & viburnum and embellish vases with ribbons and brooches.
Class is limited to 8 students.

Location: Floressence Design Studio, 5628 Airport Way South #240, Seattle, WA 98108
Investment: $95.00
Register HERE

Designing with David Austin Garden Roses
Sunday, May 17, 2015 | 1-3pm
David Austin Roses are the epitome of the English Garden Rose and are highly sought after for their beauty. Twelve varieties are available in the North American market, in shades of red, hot pink, pink, peach, yellow, and white. These beauties are known by: Beatrice, Carey, Charity, Constance, Darcey, Edith, Juliet, Kate, Keira, Miranda, Patience, and Tess.
In this design workshop David Austin Roses will take center stage, and we will complement them with accent flowers & foliages in a compote style floral design.
Join us for this specialty focused workshop and create a breathtaking floral design!

Location: Floressence Design Studio, 5628 Airport Way South #240, Seattle, WA 98108
Investment: $225.00
Register HERE

Hands-On Floral Arch & Chuppah Workshop
Saturday, May 30, 2015 | 10am until done, this is an all day class!
Arches brimming with flowers is my absolute favorite piece to design — gotta love a happy bride standing underneath her flower arch! In this hands-on Floral Arch & Chuppah Workshop we will work together to create an arch & chuppah as part of the demonstration. Then students will work in groups of two to design an arch from start to finish. We’ll have a lot of flowers on hand, and will work on different techniques for building chuppahs and floral arches. This class will take place outside where we’ll have plenty of room to spread out our floral projects! (Please come prepared to work outside)
Lunch & refreshments included.
Class is limited to 12 students.

Location: Flirty Fleurs World Headquarters, also known as my home & property in Arlington, Washington
Investment: $500.00
Register HERE

All about Dahlias – Bouquets & Compote Style Floral Arrangements!
Tuesday, September 29, 2015 | 10am-5pm
It’s all about Dahlias in this hands-on design class taking place at the Flower School of Chicago.
Class will begin with a Bouquet Demonstration. Think airy, assymterical, Instagram-esqe style bridal bouquet; this is the bouquet we’ll be designing with a lovely assortment of my personal favorite flower, the Dahlia! We’ll embellish this beauty with elegant ribbons.

Then we’ll move on to the afternoon design session where we’ll create the Footed Compote styled floral centerpiece. Picture stunning dahlias, flowing foliages, and accent flowers, which will compliment the dahlias.

We will be using in season, locally grown Dahlias, foliages, and accent flowers in this workshop!

Location: Exquisite Designs, 2010 W Fulton St, Suite F248, Chicago, IL 60612
Register: HERE

As a business owner with a creative heart I find the “off season” to be a true test of faith. Even after 14 successful seasons I ask myself, “will I actually book this season?” “Will it be as good as last year?” (Both in terms of sales and creativity?)

Inevitably there is at least one point in time where I’m certain my wedding season will fall short. So far I’ve met or exceeded sales goals every year. But the doubt still creeps in…because…well, the off season is real. There’s a time where I go from fully booked, creative & productive to zero weddings. I start over every year.

If you ever have moments where you question your worth or consider compromising your value or quality in order to book a gig then this post is for you.

Here’s my tip to help combat doubt and move through the off season and all it’s unnerving uncertainty.

With love from me to you,
Alison

P.S. Please take a moment to leave a comment…you’ll hear why in my video! It could be the first step to realizing why there’s no need to sell yourself short.

Alison Ellis
Floral Artistry
Vermont

Created By:
BOOM BLOOMS LTD
WWW.BOOMBLOOMS.CO.UK

Hands-On Elevated Centerpiece Workshop
Saturday, March 28, 2015 | 10am to Noon

Elevated floral designs can be daunting at first, how many flowers will you need? How will you create a base that can hold so many flowers? How will you transport these pieces from your studio to the reception? In this workshop you will learn how to create elevated floral designs!

And to make it all even more interesting — we’ll be using FLORAL SOIL as our base mechanic! Have you heard of Floral Soil? It’s an eco-friendly alternative to the environmentally unfriendly floral foam. I am so excited that Floral Soil creator, Mickey Blake, is providing bricks for our class & plans to be there to answer any questions about using the product!!

We will discuss the mechanics behind these big arrangements and after I give a demonstration on how to create a piece each student will then create their own arrangement. We will discuss pricing as well as transporting these arrangements. Students will be able to take how their arrangement, sans candelabra/vase!
Class is limited to 6 students.

Location: Floressence Design Studio, 5628 Airport Way South #240, Seattle, WA 98108
Investment: $250.00
Register HERE

Every year when I hear the announcement of the Pantone Color of the Year my mind races with thoughts of what flowers will work. This year when I heard Marsala will be the color of the year I was quite pleased, so many flowers are available in this color! Below are a selection of flowers and foliages in the Marsala Range, hope this helps as you all are working on designing Marsala hued events. Thank you to Florabundance Wholesale for this lovely selection of flowers –

All the flowers & foliages seen here are available from Florabundance Wholesale. Call 800-201-3597 or visit their website: http://florabundance.com/ to order.

Your name: Jaclyne Breault
Your Business name: Heavenly Blooms
Your Location: Southern California

How did you start your business and how many years have you been in business?
My story is the quintessential road less traveled tale. I started my business about a year after I graduated high school. I never planned on being a florist when I “grew up”. I had always thought I would go to college and get a degree in business, then work in a corporate environment. I started working at a flower shop when I was 15 because I thought it looked like fun. While going to high school half day, I would work my office job then in the evenings and weekends, I worked at the flower shop. When I graduated high school, my plan had been to take a little time off and travel before attending my first semester of college. I used money I received for graduation to enroll in floral classes in both London and Amsterdam. My ticket to Europe was booked for September 12, 2001. In an instant, my life changed as the World Trade Towers crumbled on September 11th. I was devastated on so many levels for so many reasons. I was left without a job and I had missed the enrollment time for college. I had been working at a flower shop for almost three years by then, so I had plenty floral experience. I started doing small events for friends out of my garage. One day I got a call from a friend who wanted me to design the flowers for her sister’s wedding. It was my first wedding and a $12,000 wedding floral budget and I just winged it. I learned a lot from that experience; I also walked away with very little profit. My whole business was built on word of mouth from that wedding. I booked more weddings after that one. A few months later, the first flower shop I had worked at was up for lease. I ended up buying the business from the owner – that was 12 years ago. I have been a florist since I was 15 and I have owned my business for the last 13 years.

What is your design aesthetic and what inspires you?
I sometimes struggle to find inspiration after having been a florist for so long (half my life!). When I feel burnt out and tired of seeing the same designs, I seek inspiration in traveling. Seeing new parts of the world or even revisiting favorite spots helps fuel my creative energy. I also find that walking around the flower market downtown and looking at all the choices inspires me. Nature is another place I find inspiration; I love wandering around gardens, forests, and parks. My design aesthetic actually varies from very clean to soft with a more romantic, garden-inspired style. Sometimes I like to design where everything is lush and full, packed with flowers. Other times, I love more movement such as softer foliage, cascading flowers and greens in a light, airy style.

What is your favorite part of being a floral designer?
Working with a beautiful medium that comes in the most amazing colors and forms, is by far, my favorite part of being a floral designer. I like that it brings people joy whether it’s during a happy or sad time in their lives.
My favorite part of designing wedding flowers is actually the whole process from the initial inquiry, to the collaboration of ideas and style, to the design of details and floral pieces, and especially the end result of witnessing the bride see her bouquet on her wedding day. When I leave a wedding, at the end of the day, I feel satisfied and content with a day well-spent. I love flowers. I love being a florist; it is a lot of work and very stressful but I genuinely love it.

What is the most challenging aspect of being a floral designer?
Designing for other people is so challenging. As much as I wish I could design according to my own style every time, it’s not realistic. Not everyone has the same taste and sometimes I just have to create their vision for them because that is how I make a living. I do sometimes become restless and tired of the same style centerpiece with the same flowers. Another challenging aspect – the hard labor. No one warned me about this when I first started. At my first job at the florist, all I did was wrap bouquets and floral arrangements. When I walked into the shop, everything was already in buckets just waiting for me; it was easy and effortless. When I started working for myself, I was shocked at how laborious it was to transport, clean, and produce large amounts of flowers and arrangements without a full staff at my disposal. Event work is also on a different level than shop work.

What advice would you give to aspiring floral designers?
My advice to aspiring floral designers would be to start interning and working with a florist to learn the basics and how to create, install and work on events. Get a feel of the kind of work it is. Many people feel that working a wedding as a florist is glamorous and easy. It has it’s appeal but is far from glamorous.

What are the trends, flowers, and colors that are unique to your region?
We are so blessed in California to have much of our product grown locally. And I believe it plays a huge role in what florists are using in terms of trends in flowers and colors. Peach and coral has been a hot color combination for the last two years, however I had more blush pink weddings and colorful weddings in 2014.

What tool in your toolbox can’t you live without?
My red knife. They do not make them like they used to and I have used this type of red knife since I started designing at 15. Don’t get me wrong, cutters are my second can’t-live-without – but when I am in the zone and working on 20 wedding centerpieces, my knife helps me to be more efficient with every cut of the stem.

What’s your favorite Social Media platform and why?
I used to be obsessed with Twitter, however the constant catch up of reading through everyone’s 140 character tweets was stressful and I gave up constantly trying to catch up. I adore Instagram because it’s more appealing, visually, and my feed is filled with beautiful pictures (a lot of flowers) and I am able to share small snippets of my world through words and most importantly, pictures.

Contact Information:
http://www.heavenlybloomsdesigns.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/heavenly_blooms/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Heavenly_Blooms
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heavenlyblooms