The 2013 brides will once again be following current fashion according to The Wedding Report, A market and research forum for the wedding industry. Layering their dreams of traditional choices they have dreamed of for years with the “latest and greatest” considerations is where many brides find themselves when making choices for their special day. While traditional gowns still are the most popular choice, bridesmaids and tuxedos are seeing more trendy fabrics, colors and accessories. Subdued classic choices for the ceremony are often contrasted with colorful blasts of color for the celebratory reception.
For the ’13 brides, Personal taste is where it is happening. Brides are using Pinterest now more than ever to gather ideas and formulate the looks they want to express. Bright pastels are still in vogue for this summer’s color pallet. Antique white mixed with layers of candlewhite, ivory and soft metallics make a trendy statement for this summer’s selection of color.
Sophisticated form and architectural emphasis are being shown on the runways for 2013. Elegant strapless gowns are still the rage but we are seeing more figure flattering halters and v-necklines, empire, and A-line silhouettes are making a comeback. These provide the perfect background for showcasing beautiful cascading bouquets.
For bridesmaids, the soft shades of 2012 have given way to bold and bright colors for 2013. Subtle Turquoise, soft Butter Yellow or Electric Blue and Fashion Fuchsia are making quite the impact. Pale Peach mixed with Shocking Orange is gaining too in popularity. Geranium red and coral pink are also making their presence known this year. Look for gray; both flat and metallic, as the new neutral. The ‘Little Black Dress’ is still popular for bridesmaid’s choice of gown; making black and white weddings still popular for yet another season. Some major department stores are trying to lure the brides back by moving away from the traditional bridesmaids styling in order to compete with the traditional bridal stores for the dress sales.
Burlap combined with lace is making their presence known for aisle treatments to table linen and accessories for the guests table favors. Textures play a dramatic role for accenting dresses, hair treatments, and decorations throughout the wedding; both ceremony and reception. Vintage bottles, faux jewelry and antiques are popping up to be used as reception decorations. How fun is this and still allows the use of fresh flowers to compliment the personalized choices of today’s brides.
Brooch bouquets are still in high focus especially when combined with vintage flowers such as garden roses, hydrangea, sweet pea, and clematis. While hand tied bouquets still hang on in popularity, architectural cascade bouquets are creeping forward in popularity. Get ready to start to see the return of bouquets in holders with beautiful finished handles of elegant ribbon and rhinestone accessories. The recent release of ‘Gatsby’ will have an effect on fashion and events bringing style and elegance back in vogue once again.
The one thing you can be assured about wedding and event work is that is all about making a personal statement and listening to what the bride has for her dream day!
(Cascading bridal bouquet of Phalaenopsis Orchids and Jasmine designed by Alicia Schwede & Chuck Graham of Flirty Fleurs Flower Blog while attending Florabundance Inspirational Design Days in Santa Barbara, California)
Florabundance News
Tom Bowling 2013 > WEDDING WATCH 2013
Press SB Chic > Santa Barbara Magazine
Florabundance blooms were featuring in a spring entertaining story in the latest Santa Barbara Magazine! Check out the story online here. And to see more of this table, check out the feature on Style Me Pretty Living, right here.
Photographer: Nancy Neil
Flowers: Kelly Oshiro
Food: Ayda Robana
Tom Bowling 2013 > MOTHERS DAY MAGIC
As an industry, we tend to focus on the holiday times that drive our business for the year. When you think about holidays, there are really 4 main holidays and then depending on your market area, the 5th is really a collection of the smaller ones lumped together. The top 4 are Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Prom. Collectively, Thanksgiving, Easter, and Professional Administration Day make up the rest. Christmas is the biggest as it is really almost a 45 day holiday for selling now as it happens earlier and earlier each year. Valentine’s Day is for many the biggest single day for sales while Mother’s Day is spread out over 4 – 5 days. Prom is more about a season depending on where you are in relation to your schools. So as you can tell, Mother’s Day is a very important time to make a positive impact on your customers. Think of it as the ‘Last Harrah’ that has to take you financially through the next 5 months of tighter cash flow and customer contact.
If we look back at Valentine’s Day, there was an air of positive spending so we can look forward to a holiday of positive spending. Most shops beat 2012 sales for Valentine’s Day in 2013, so we are riding the wave of positive spending. Paul Goodman, floral consultant, CPA and Editor of Teleflora’s Floral Finance is optimistic about 2013 Mother’s Day sales. Paul predicts at least a 5% increase in sales for this holiday season based on stock market trends which have been positive for the past six to nine months. SAF predicts that 72% of consumers will purchase some type of floral product and will collectively spend nearly 2 BILLION dollars! Now you need to ask yourself how much of this can I capture.
It is important to remember that not all of these 2 billion dollars is spent on cut flowers alone. 37% is spent on bedding and garden plants, 38% is spent on flowering house plants, and 23% is spent on green plants. While this is a sizeable market, there is still plenty of revenue for cut flowers in vases, and wrapped bouquets. Having floral stylings ready for those customers who want to shop and go is extremely important. The second biggest objection from consumers about flower shops is not having the ability to choose a floral styling and personally deliver it. The first biggest objection is having florists take their phones off the hook to prevent further orders from coming in.
Mother’s Day is just a few short weeks away. It is time to start planning now to be ready for one of the greatest opportunities to help touch the lives of so many customers and help them honor of the greatest institutions! Plan now to be ready in advance for all your customers’ needs and yes, even those last minute delivery requests. Call your Florabundance Account Manager to place your order for the holiday. Visit the website for a great selection of floral and assorted foliage’s to make this holiday a magic one for you and your customers!
Tom Bowling 2013 > IT’S TIME TO LIGHTEN UP!
All winter long we have been embraced by winter’s influences…heavy clothes; short days of sun if any, dark heavy bare branches at rest, and a time when all of nature seems to be asleep. But now, that is all in our past and it is time to lighten up!
We are celebrating more plentiful and longer days filled with sunshine that warms the air, our hearts and heads. Everyone seems to be in a much better psychological mood and glad to be out and about. Spring repair projects are being executed and decorating ideas both inside and out and being formulated and put into place. What a great time to step up and help with these DIY projects in your store. Think about hosting a spring fling open hose to showcase what a great addition fresh floral stylings, green house plants, and permanent botanical designs can add to the ambience of any home décor.
Team up with other ambassadors in your community that also could benefit from this idea. Local paint and hardware stores can demonstrate painting techniques and feature the latest ideas for interior wall décor. What a great place to showcase your line of home décor wall accents of wreaths, swags, and perhaps accessories that your store carries for the wall. Furniture stores could demonstrate the impact of lighting or show how to choose fabrics for a desired effect again giving you the perfect opportunity to present your design talents by featuring some trendy floral stylings that are ready for spring or everyday enjoyment.
This time of year is a great time to host a make-it take-it workshop that might include a series of classes. Wreaths, simple centerpieces or topiary trees might be a great way to create good traffic flow within your store in between the regular spring holidays. While April may traditionally be a slower month, use this’ down time’ to spark some interest in upcoming events such as Mother’s Day, Proms, and spring formal dances. You can offer some promotions for bounce back customers such as offer deep discounts only to those customers who attend the open house or workshops. Be sure to put a time limit on those offers so customers will return often in a short amount of time…getting the idea that your shop needs to be visited often! With that said it will be important to keep your shop looking fresh, new and clean. Galvanized buckets of fresh flowers and flowering branches out for impulse self-serve walk in traffic. Nothing is more appealing than to see that European Market display in a flower shop.
Keep in mind that the color pallet for spring also undergoes a radical change. Gone are winters color saturated heavy tones of color. They are being replaced by spring’s light and airy colors. Pastels this season are bright and saturated. If you’re not sure about what colors are trending in your area, go to any major department store and look around at ladies clothes or trendy stores such as Target or Anthropology for some help and ideas. By shopping where your customers shop, it makes you aware of what they are seeing and buying and you can ride along on their marketing dollars for free!
Remember how wonderful it felt when you were a child to open up that magic box of Crayola Crayons and see all the endless possibilities of color combinations? THAT is the way you should think about the possibilities of flower combinations! It’s time to make the magic happen!
Tom Bowling 2013 > BULBS BRIGHTEN YOUR SPRING
While the calendar doesn’t officially say it is time for spring for yet another few weeks, once Daylight Savings Time is here, most feel it is ready to celebrate the change of seasons. We have been seeing a majority of red and white for the past 3+ months and it is a welcome change to see other color pallets with vibrant colors as well as softer pastels. Whether displayed in a mono-botanical styling or integrated and fused with other non-seasonal components, traditional spring time flowers are a welcomed sight!
Due to the wonderful resource of growers and shippers, what once was considered a ‘spring time only’ flower; most are available throughout the entire year. If we polled the average consumer, most would probably be surprised to find that Tulips are now available pretty much a twelve month flower and Iris are not just for May! They are still harbingers of spring along with Daffodils, Pussy Willow, and multiple choices of blooming branches.
Making a floral display in your store sets the tone and provides ambiance for your customers to enjoy interacting with the different selection that are available for purchase. Tall vases or French Galvanized containers with a liner inside make for a great display of blooming branches and other tall offerings. Curly Willow, Forsythia, Apple and Cherry branches are best displayed this way. You may need to add a little base weight to some of the more light weight containers to keep them from spilling or getting turned over as self-serve customers interact with them while making their selections. Remember to change the water as needed and add a good floral preservative to keep the branches blooming.
Assorted sizes of clear vases filled with Tulips, Daffodils, Hyacinths, Muscari, all bundled ready to grab and go gives your shop a real European feel. Also by having individual stems priced for mix and match looks keep everyone coming back for mire. It is important to use one of the preservatives made for bulbs as their needs are different than the traditional cut flowers. Vases of Hydrangeas, Ranunculus, and Snowball Virburnum also add interest and round out the selection nicely. Keeping a different selection of spring flowers each week keeps your customers coming back time after time to find out what is the new flower of the week. Keeping a mix of color also adds interest. Some like pastels of pinks, peaches and soft yellows while other customers will be drawn to bright and bold intense colors such as orange, shocking yellows and saturated hot pinks.
Consider hosting a DIY class focusing on spring flowers. What a great way to share all the tips and tricks that dispel all the wild and crazy homemade post harvest care misnomers that customers think are helpful such as slitting the stem keeps a tulip closed. While it may do so, it is because you have just injured the tulip and it will not have a chance to fully mature because of its shortened shelf life. Another incorrect assumption is that it is ok to mix Tulips and Daffodils in the same vase. While they may look pretty for a photograph, the Daffodil actually emits a sap that prevents the Tulips from hydrating properly because their stems clog and they die prematurely.
Brighten up your design work with bulb flowers this spring. Welcome the change of season visually even if it is not quite time on the calendar or the weather outside still has a bit of winter’s bite. Everyone will welcome the brightness in the home or office!
Alicia Schwede General > Spring has Sprung
My favorite time of year is upon us! SPRING! Here come all the lovelies for us to design with:
Helleborus
When you receive your Hellebore flowers, trim a bit off the stems and immediately plunge the stem ends (1/2”) into hot water containing a floral preservative for about 15 seconds. They last for about a week or longer!
Muscari – Grape Hyacinth
We suggest you get a few extra stems because they are delicate. Great for wedding bouquets!
Daffodils & Narcissus
Gorgeous “Erlicheer”, also known as Early Cheer are pleasantly fragrant and long-lasting. Yellow daffodils add a great pop of yellow to arrangements and a lovely way to announce spring has arrived!
Forsythia
Add some height to your flower arrangements with yellow blooming Forsythia branches.
Fritillaria-Meleagris
Meleagris also known by the common name of checkered lily. Colors in the bunch can vary depending on the time of the season, burgundy with bronze tints and some yellow and cream, they do have short stems. They are imported from Holland, please order in advance for following week arrival.
Hyacinth
Hyacinths are available in purple, light blue, pink, hot pink and white and they add the perfect spring touch to flower arrangements
Pieris Japonica
A unique texture to add interest to your flower arrangements is flowering Pieris Japonica, also known as Andromeda. This long lasting flower is mainly available in white, however some pink is also available during the season.
Tulips
Last but definitely not least in our spring-time round up is the Tulip! Tulips come in just about any color imaginable and a variety of shapes, the classic tulip shape, double petals, parrots and fringed edges! Ask your floral consultant for advice in picking out just the right ones!
This is just the tip of the iceberg of what’s available for spring, please ask your floral consultant what else might be in this week!
Post by Alicia Schwede of Flirty Fleurs
Florabundance News Tom Bowling 2013 > You Made It!!!
During the week of Valentine’s Day, one often wonders if you are going to make it through to the end with all the demands and stress that are heaped on this week. Let’s face it, there are no other floral holidays where we are asked to quadruple or more the output in the same amount of time. With customer demands ever on the increase and their ability to replace customer loyalty with convenience, it makes it ever increasingly difficult to maintain the super-human level of required customer service.
So, the good thing is you survived and made it through the maelstrom, but Valentine’s Day is not really over. What, you ask? How can it not be over days post Valentine’s Day? Let’s first start with some critical analysis of the entire holiday. The most common question most ask is what went wrong? It is easy to beat yourself and others up for what went sideways. So fire up the coffee pot, bring out a plate of fruit and Danish and sit down for a time to slice dice and mince the holiday while it is still fresh on everyone’s mind. Start with making a list with the entire staff of what went right. Physically list all the acts that went well when analyzing the whole holiday experience. Review broad topics such as: weather and how it impacted customer ordering and delivery systems in place, how you did measured to the original goals that were in place prior to the holiday, flower availability, production successes, delivery successes, and any other area that needs to be examined as a group. Review from everyone’s viewpoint. Ask the sales staff’s point of view, the designer’s point of view, the delivery staff’s point of view and even get your Florabundance Account Manager’s point of view. What you will find is that success is measured in different ways. One person might see success from a different perspective so remember, “It’s all good!”
Once you have celebrated all the successes – and the list can never be too long, now go in and start looking for ways to take those successes and make them better for next year. For example, the sales team identifies that they successfully sold out of your premium feathered bouquet. Great! Now, ask, if there had been more of those to sell, how could that have impacted your total sales in a more positive way? The delivery team reports that less drivers got lost less times than last year….all good, except, that with Smart Phone technology and navigation devices so common, perhaps it might be a requirement in the future that all delivery vehicles be equipped with technology. Your floral processors are proud to share that they processed the fresh product in record time…Kudos to them!! So you ask how they could best interface into other departments to contribute to the overall success of the operation. These are all again positive ways to analyze the good of the whole holiday success.
It would be naïve to think there were no glitches and areas for improvement. The goal is to deal with them in a positive and productive way. For instance, your sales staff remarks that pink roses were gone by 2:00 o’clock. Good in some ways but perhaps next year you might consider bumping up the number ordered from this year. Delivery stated that all the deliveries were completed by 3:00 o’clock. Excellent, however, next year consider taking deliveries for a longer period of time or increase the total number of deliveries accepted. You want to constantly look for ways to better serve your customers without causing an in store melt-down. If too much pressure is put on any of the departments, that can easily cause a system failure that impacts the total operation and have a negative effect in the end.
One of the most important pieces of information you need is a post-holiday inventory record. This way you can compare the amount of product ordered to the amount sold to the amount not sold to get a feel of where you ended up for the holiday. If there were excessive amounts of something left, take a look at what and find out why. Did the customers not buy the items? Did the design team not incorporate the item in production? Did the sales staff not stress those items enough? Were they properly featured on your web site? There could be lots of reasons, but the idea is to zero in and learn not to repeat the same mistake next year.
One of the most important factors in the success of any holiday is the mindset of the staff. Keeping a positive attitude should be foremost in importance. It is contagious to the other staff persons and also transfers to your customers. Keeping a positive spin on what is happening increases production and keeps the work environment light and pleasant. Look for ways to make this happen and remember it is for the good of the whole to make and keep things moving in a positive and productive way. Neither the staff nor the customers should ever see what challenges that are happening backstage.
Take time to celebrate the success and start the planning now for next year’s success!
Florabundance welcomed 38 guests to the beautiful Dos Pueblos Ranch in Santa Barbara, California and treated everyone to two days of flower filled fabulousness! Wow, was it ever absolutely fantastic!!
Day one greeted participants with a tour of Florabundance’s Carpinteria based location. After a tour of their location the participants boarded a trolley and headed out to Dos Pueblos Ranch.
This is what greeted them upon arrival:
Amazing interior of the Dos Pueblos Ranch barn, filled with rows and rows of gorgeous floral product by Florabundance.
Once the participants were settled into place the presentations begun; Holly Chapple and Ian Prosser treated everyone to inspirational and information packed talks about their business models and the floral design industry.
Holly led a class on how to create beautiful bouquets, the students were able to pick from the overflowing buckets of flowers.
After presentations, design session and a yummy catered lunch it was time for Chuck and I to present about Social Media! Chuck & I are co-bloggers on Flirty Fleurs Blog. Kelly Oshiro from SB Chic Blog also had some hints & tips about blogging. Really fun helping floral designers learn more about the social media options.
Chuck Graham of Flirty Fleurs Blog prior to the Social Media presentation. That chandelier in the barn was gorgeous!!
The day ended with cocktails on the beach, what a treat to be in beautiful Santa Barbara in January! Joost and Katie Noonan welcoming the students with a glass of wine from the Tolosa Vineyard .. and that’s the bridal bouquet that I created with garden roses and clematis!
The fun continued the next day with more presentations from Ian & Holly, they are so awesome for being open and sharing what they’ve learned and experienced as business owners.
The day was filled with two design sessions.
Ian broke the students into groups with the goal of creating two ceremony sites. Very impressive how the ladies were given directions and how they jumped right in to create two completely beautiful, yet very different vignettes!
The Elegant Ceremony Team showing off their creation – WOW, ladies!!
The Rustic Chuppah Team – gorgeous use of color, ladies!!
Holly lead the ladies in a session on how to create a tablescape for a farm style long table. All of us got to enjoy the creation later that night when we all gathered at the table for a fantastic dinner.
Joost thanking everyone for participating in the first Florabundance Inspirational Design Days.
Florabundance would like to thank all of our participants in helping to make this event a huge success!:
Special Thanks To:
Tricia Fountaine & Dos Pueblos Ranch
Zohe Felici & Event Production
Presenters:
Holly Heider Chapple, Holly Heider Chapple Flowers LTD
Ian Prosser AIFD, PFCI, Botanica Events
Alicia Schwede & Chuck Graham, Flirty Fleurs
Kelly Oshiro, SB Chic
Graphic Design by Christine Cowles
Our Sponsors:
Katie Noonan / Tolosa Vineyard
Absolutely Fabulous…Glamour on the Go!
Makeup – Adrienne Esposito
Partial sponsors:
Anthony Ybarra, Guitar Music (Tuesday evening beach reception)
Music by The Aurora Ensemble (Wednesday evening)
Post and photos by Alicia Schwede of Flirty Fleurs
General SB Chic > Flower Spotlight: Beautiful & Versatile Clematis
I love the verstaile and pretty clematis flower. Clematis is flower vine, and is avaliable from February through fall and comes in a plethora of colors from soft white, yellow, to light and dark pink, to lavender and deep purple, bright red and dark burgundy.
It also comes in stripped varieties like this dark and light pink flower above.
How pretty is clematis when its used in a floral head dress?
Dark pink and light clematis paired with mint makes a simple (and fragant) garden bouquet perfect for a spring or summer wedding.
Moody burgundy clematis works great when its paired with geranium, blue muscari, and soft purple hellebore.
Call us today to learn about all the colors we offer and how we can ship flowers direct to your doorstep!
Photos 1-5: Nancy Neil Photography Photos: 6 & 7: Beaux Arts Photographie
Wholesale flowers: Florabundance
Floral Arrangements & Post by Kelly Oshiro of SB Chic
Tom Bowling 2012 > Winter Wonderland
While many people live in areas of the country that never experience colder weather and snow, for some unexplained reason, it sees more people enjoy the thoughts of having a white Christmas than having snow at any other time of year. Maybe it’s the songs and images we see and hear through music, movies and television that make us think snow for the holidays.
It is easy to create that Winter Wonderland effect no matter if Mother Nature is cooperating or not simply by choosing the right components to create your Winter Masterpiece. Start by visiting the Florabundance website to examine all the fantastic selections available in whites, creams and ivories. While a true winter effect stays more on the pure white selection, an elegant look is achieved when you give the floral styling dimension by adding the rich elegant dimension of color depth with creams and ivory tones blended together. This variation in color adds depth and visual interest to the arrangement.
Once your pallet of achromatic components have been chosen, it is time to assemble the flowers and foliage’s together for your desired effect. Winter can be full of beauty and elegance or can be the complete opposite and be whimsical and fun. The effect will be influenced by both the components and the styling. For instance, a traditional footed compote based with evergreens, seeded eucalyptus, and holly sets the mood for style and sophistication. An easy compliment to this base is to use a few white Amaryllis zoned high above the foliage will provide dramatic impact to an elegant environment. Keep in mind when using hollow stemmed flowers such as Amaryllis, it is best to add an internal support to keep the heavy headed flowers upright longer. River Cane with a damp piece of cotton inserted through the stem works great and allows for easy insertion into the floral foam. When arranging softer stemmed flowers in floral foam, take your knife and X score the foam about an inch deep to allow for easier insertion of the stem into the floral foam. The X will take away the tension when inserting the stem. If Amaryllis are not the flower of choice, consider using mass Paper Whites. Again, these flowers too need stem support, but instead of River Cane, insert a chenille stem into the hollow stem of the Paper White. Leave about an inch exposed to allow for easy insertion into the floral foam. The chenille stem will also help wick the water into the stem to ensure enhanced longevity. Top dress the evergreens with artificial snow for a more winter effect, Iridescent glitter on top of the ‘snow’ will give more winter’s morning ambiance.
Another easy Winter Wonderland centerpiece is to use foam spheres cover in white flowers. Button chrysanthemums, miniature carnations or standard sized carnations are excellent choices to make ‘snowballs’ to arrange as a centerpiece. You can show them casually combined with snow men for a cute whimsical look as a centerpiece arranged in a clear tray or placed on a runner of clear food wrap to protect the table surface. Add in some artificial snow made from Styrofoam, a few fun snowmen or whimsical penguins and viola`, you have a winter snow scene to be enjoyed by both young and old alike. For a more elegant look, take the same base set up but replace the snowmen with crystal candlesticks, votive candles and crystal snowflakes for an elegant presentation. Elevate some of the snowballs on clear extenders, cut out a hole in each of the snowballs big enough to set a votive cup in or for a battery votive for even more drama. The possibilities are endless!
Winter’s Wonderland can be a theme to be enjoyed before and after Christmas. The elegant white serves as a blank canvas to allow other dramatic colors such as lime green and/or hot pink to be added for the perfect New Year’s decoration. Post all the snowball possibilities on your web site and consider imbedding a short how to video to enhance your site and also be seen on You-Tube! The more your clients understand the usage of the product, the more value is given to it.
Happy Holidays!