Nashville ALIVE!
Nashville Tennessee was alive with sights and sounds this past weekend! Nashville is known for its home for country music artists, but this weekend it was the home for the Tennessee State Florist Association. With a talent pool of some of the best and most talented floral designers from around the country, the attendees were in for a treat from the minute they arrived until the last program on Sunday afternoon. The program began with a lesson on the impact of color and how flowers can be used to convey emotions. J Schwanke aaf, AIFD, PFCI shared the new forecast colors to keep an eye on for the 2012 season. Dan Fisher from Fitz Design and Tom Bowling AIFD, PFCI presented a marketing program, design show about how to capture your prom business in your area. It was then followed by a hands-on session taught by Tom to show just how easy constructing a personal flower presentation using Fitz bracelets and flowers from Florabundance. What a winning combination! The participants constructed a composite cymbidium corsage accented with lily grass and Hypericum berries.
Although the workshop was centered on prom, the savvy participants learned skills that could be used for personal flowers at any level whether it is Homecoming, Prom, or wedding work. These special events have moved way past the traditional 5 sweetheart roses and baby’s breath on a piece of elastic. Personal flowers have a more sophisticated presentation. Although roses are still a great choice, we are seeing the revival of Cymbidium orchids, Oncidium orchids, Gloriosa Lilies, Stephanotis, Mini Callas, and Freesia to name a few choices. Keepsake accessories such as fashion bracelets, rhinestone hearts and keepsake clusters are all the rage with our younger clients. Tom even showcased a number of hair accessories, Necklaces with floral trims and rhinestone belts accented with floral components. One of the hits of the program was when he showed a thin rhinestone belt fashioned into a necklace that hung down the models back. Adorning the necklace belt were a series of Gardenias that had been affixed to the belt that swayed gently as the model walked. What a great idea for all those backless dresses that are so popular! Another smart and creative idea was using one of the Fitz Design bracelets called Eye Candy to accessorize the upper arm. The bracelet serpentines on the upper arm and can be enhanced in one area or multiple interest areas. These bracelets can even be worn on the calf for a super sexy look!
Following lunch, the attendees were treated to an amazing program on Armature designs from Larry Kramer AIFD. Larry shared ideas that were very simple to artistically complex. The flowers and the armatures were combined to form artistic floral presentations. Following Larry’s program, another fantastic wedding program featuring the talents of Mandy Majerik AIFD was enjoyed. What a full day of education these attendees ha!. But, it continued with Sunday being action packed with presentations from Brita Edlbauer AIFD, Bert Ford AIFD and Ann Jordan AIFD.
Nashville Tennessee was in the spotlight this past weekend with all the florists eyes focused on the talents of floral designers from around the country and great support from vendors exhibiting in the trade market and fantastic support from vendors around the country such as Florabundance. Hats off to the success of Tennessee State!
