The Business & Pleasure of Flowers

A Whole New Wedding World, Tips and Trends

Episode 75

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0:00 | 31:31

Episode 075: Weddings are coming back strong post Covid-19. Vonda and Lori share excerpts from a webinar with experts Julie Poeltler AIFD, PFCI owner of Fountain of Flowers in Lone Tree,  IA and Flower Clique Strategic Creative Advisor and Mark Griffith, product specialist for Bill Doran Company in Omaha. Julie and Mark talk about the importance of clear communication between the wedding designer and the wholesaler.  Ellie LaFever, Creative Director of Flower Clique, will add important additional perspective as well as tips for flower ordering and substitutes.

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SPEAKER_01

How far off should we be ordering our flowers before the wedding? So say if the wedding was um July 4th.

SPEAKER_00

So I just had a great discussion with the new florist.

SPEAKER_02

Welcome to the Business and Pleasure of Flowers. We're your host, Fonda LaFever and Lori Wilson.

SPEAKER_03

And we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination. Kind of like us, Wonda.

SPEAKER_02

Lori, I'm really excited about our session today. Hitting off June becomes wedding month. And so this was a perfect topic.

SPEAKER_03

It does end this time. Last year, weddings weren't a thing. So it's very exciting. Um, we got to do a live webinar, right, with one of our FlowerClick members, one of your very best friends.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

Also, she's a consultant for FlowerClick. And then the Bill Doran guy, Mark.

SPEAKER_02

Mark Griffith. Mark has been in the floral industry over 25 years and he's worked on both the retail side and the wholesale side. So that's really interesting and how he brings a really different dynamic to it. So in the webinar, we really had Julie and Mark talking back and forth about how it's so important for the retail and wholesale to work together to make really a great wedding for the flower shop and for the bride and groom and you know the couple themselves.

SPEAKER_03

Right. And what I loved about it is they were being very realistic in like sourcing flowers right now and maybe offering up some substitutions using this instead of this when you can't get this. Um we're doing something that is pretty cool. We have Ellie Lefever coming in, and she's the one that's going to sort of break into this program that we've already pre-recorded. She's gonna break in and she's going to kind of get share a little bit of her perspective because she's our flower click expert when it comes to wedding trends, right? Right, right.

SPEAKER_02

So this is available on an hour-long webinar, actually recording, but we really just took the snippets of really important information that we thought our clickers would really enjoy. And then, like you said, Ellie's putting her expert spin on in the middle. So let's give it a listen. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

When you have a consultation and you're meeting with them one-on-one, that first time that you meet with them, you know, everybody's searching around for pricing and this and that. And everybody has to just come to an agreement. It's like an interview process. You're interviewing that bride, that bride's interviewing you, and you're seeing that if the two of you can connect and make a cohesive arrangement between the two of you so you can get along personality-wise, so that you have fun. So it's not such a stressful time. It's fun because you can't wait to do this lady's wedding because she is fun and you felt really comfortable with her, and she feels she trusts you, you trust her, and it makes a very, very good time enjoying your weddings.

SPEAKER_00

I think one of the things that occurred to me when we were talking earlier is that a lot of times I think the florist is the one that gets down in the weeds with that this has to look exactly like the picture. You know, when we sell the look to our brides, we don't often get into the every single individual detail. They just love the look of it, the colors, the feel, the texture. And so it's our professional job to make that happen in whatever way we can. And sometimes I think as designers, we look at that picture and we're like, oh, it's so pretty just the way it is. I want all the things in that picture. And so we try to order everything that's in that bouquet, whether it's in season or not. And so I think the important thing to remember is to be flexible and to, you know, really be open to substitutions or things that might be in season versus out of season. Obviously, if we if we can get it, we'll get it for you, whether that's bringing it in from Italy or Holland or wherever we can get it, whatever the cost may be, if you're willing to pay it, we'll we'll get it for you. But it's also just really good to be flexible and be open to some ideas of possible substitutions.

SPEAKER_04

A lot of times I think we default to being the yes man or the yes woman in those initial conversations. We want to give that bride or groom their exact dream, and we say that we'll make it happen just as they wish. But the important thing to add into that initial conversation to set the tone, of course, is that we're working with natural organic living organisms, flowers. It's nice to emphasize that flowers have seasons, not everything is available all of the time. Because clients honestly sometimes might not even realize this or take it into consideration as they are keeping track of a million details for their big day. So educate and inspire. That's your role. Now back to Julie.

SPEAKER_01

What you're gonna do for her and why you do it better than than anyone else. And it's maybe the way you sell it to her, you know, maybe the way that you guys are connecting and you're asking, ask some very special questions like ask her to see her dress, ask her how she was engaged, ask her questions that are very personal that because those brides want to tell you how she was approached by her fiance, how he how he asked her to get married. And she wants you to see, they want you to see her dress. They want her you to see their girls' dresses. So be so personal to ask wonderful questions like that. And then the last thing is you need to know by a certain date if she's gonna go with you or not. I mean, she may say, Well, I'm gonna be thinking about it, you know, and that's okay. And just say, Well, you know what? This estimate only lasts maybe 24 hours, maybe two weeks, however, whatever your policy is, but make sure that you target that date of when she needs to let you know that you are gonna do her wedding.

SPEAKER_04

I think that's a great point, Julie. There has to be a mutual respect established from the very beginning. And giving them this deadline will tell a lot about how the rest of their working relationship is gonna go.

SPEAKER_01

The setting is very important. The back, there's always gonna be a backdrop. And if there isn't, this is your time to sell a backdrop. And the and and somebody wants to get married up against a tree, that's wonderful. But if you add a structure in front of it, very simple, it doesn't have to be anything messy or huge or anything, but sell the backdrop. It serves you well just to do some backdrop of some kind with all those beautiful settings that they have.

SPEAKER_04

These photos will last forever, and you want them to have depth and interest. You want it to look enchanting, you want it to look full of life and beauty. So the backdrop, whether it's an arbor, whether it's hanging flowers, or something else creative, it's gonna go a long way in terms of impact, and that's an important point to emphasize to them, especially if they're cutting back on flowers in other places. And now it's time to talk about the dreaded and beloved peony.

SPEAKER_01

Because the peony is such a big flower this year and has been for a number of years. Mark, what is the availability of peonies for the fall?

SPEAKER_00

Um, you know, peonies are another hard one because it's a bush, you know, it grows in nature. It's not something that can really be forced. It has to go through a cold season. And so we're bringing peonies in from different parts of the world. So right now they're coming from Holland. Um in a few months, they'll be coming from Alaska because it'll be the Alaskan peony season. If you have a local peony source, you know, May, May is huge peony season. Um, so it just depends. In the fall, the Alaskans kind of go off crop and then you start going it down into I believe it's Chile, um, where they come from South America. So, you know, again, it just depends on what color you need, uh, how much you're willing to pay. Right now, peonies are the highest I've ever seen them, you know, in my 25 years in the industry. And you'd think they'd be inexpensive because they're in season right now, but they're just not because they're coming from Holland. We're paying a lot for the logistics to get them here. So that's the crazy part of what's going on in the world right now is things that we're used to and prices that we're used to are just not happening. And so that's where that flexibility comes into play. And you know, having that tough conversation with your client, maybe you did this consultation a year ago and they were sold on peenies, and you priced out this wedding for peenies costing five dollars a stem and now they're nine dollars a stem. You know, should you as a florist eat that cost? It's up to you. Is there a hundred peenies in the wedding? A hundred times four dollars is four hundred dollars. That's a lot of money for a florist to eat the cost on. So um, you know, that's gonna be a hard conversation for you to have with that client. Say, you know, look, I am more than willing to get these into your personal flowers, perhaps, um, at my cost, you know, because that will that will do a lot for your relationship with that client to offer that to them, you know, and then say, but I can't cover the expense. I'm bringing those peonies into the whole wedding. You know, things have changed, and this is the position with we're in in the current environment, and try to keep it very positive. You know, you don't want to be like, well, I can't get those peonies, they're $9 a stem. Um, because that's not what that bride wants to hear. They want to hear a solution. Offer your professional solution, whatever that might be, whether it's a substitution or how you're gonna negotiate that cost difference with them, and just have that conversation. Be open as soon as you know what you can do or are willing to do, have that tough conversation with the clients for these upcoming weddings, and then just move forward. They'll be mad, they'll be happy, they'll be, you know, whatever they may be, then you can deal with it. But if you don't know, if you don't have that conversation, you know, you don't want to show up on the day of their wedding with some substitution for a peony because you weren't willing to pay the cost. Um, that's just gonna make everyone mad.

SPEAKER_04

So the tricky part that you might find yourself faced with in the future, in the near future, is when it comes to changes in COVID protocol. So before you place your order to your wholesaler, you really want to confirm with your event planner, the bride, the groom, whoever is in charge of communicating, especially the the details, the granular details, like the floor plan and the seating, what exactly the final floor plan is going to be for the ceremony and the reception. I'm actually working on a wedding right now for my friend Sarah, and it just changed. All of the social distancing changed, everything. So the rows of chairs at the ceremony, the number of tables at the reception, actually cut in half. So, you know, people don't have to sit at it's only two to four to a table and end up having 20 28 tables. We have we have more than half gone now. I think there's like 11 tables. So that changes the number of centerpieces. Um, the rows of chairs at the ceremony, that changes the number of pubos and and ultimately how much you need to order. So when you're at that deadline that you need to submit your flower order, you need to confirm that everything is still as you planned it. And as you know, obviously it's good to have a buffer of extra flowers, but you don't want uh an excess to be going to waste either. So just confirm those final plans. Communication is absolutely crucial, and just so everybody's on the same page.

SPEAKER_01

How far out should we be ordering our flowers before the wedding? So say if the wedding was um July 4th.

SPEAKER_00

So I just had a great discussion with a new florist yesterday. She just bought an existing shop and she she's not really done flowers before. So I wish her all the luck. Um, but she has lots of questions, which is great. But she asked that same question, and basically the the first thing I can point you to is you need to be thinking in terms of ship date, not in terms of wedding date, because people get tripped up on that. So if we tell you that we need the order two weeks in advance, that's not two weeks in advance of the wedding date. We need the order two to three weeks in advance of the day you want to receive the flowers, because that's the date we're working off of. That's when we want to ship the flowers to you. So we always say we want it two weeks ahead. Three weeks to four weeks is not uncommon now because that's really gonna help guarantee that we kind of get those orders into the farms as soon as possible. And there is somewhat of a system that first come, first serve. If they sell 3,000 quicksand roses to a giant florist in California for one of those celebrity weddings, you know, there's not gonna be any quicksands on the market for the rest of us. So um, the sooner we get those orders in, the better.

SPEAKER_04

That wedding I spoke of uh a minute ago is primarily all foliage. A lot of eucalyptus, tons. So it's definitely still hot.

SPEAKER_00

Olive branches are still hot, they're still part of that kind of eucalyptus color trend. So they're still in that color family. They also have that great two-tone quality where they're kind of the sagey green on one side and that silver underside of the leaf. So it just provides a lot of interest to the bouquets. Lots of different foliages. People love the foliage still, either for runners or just included in the bouquets. Eucalyptus is still crazy popular. It's Pinterest. I mean, they they just it's taken over. And so these girls, they just use that as a resource, and because the same pictures appear over and over, they kind of stick within these small boxes of trends versus kind of opening up to something more unique. And so until we, as the designers, put something different out there, um, they they're gonna stick to what they see and like, and so uh right now the eucalyptus is what they're seeing.

SPEAKER_01

Seeing that uh Italian Ruscus is really sort of launching in a little bit more and more that dark, dark green.

SPEAKER_00

They're like dark green mixed with the eucalyptus, or they're yeah, it's it's leaning a little bit more towards the green, I think. Hopefully, we're getting away from some of the eucalyptus, but so the lavender plumosa is a huge trend right now. And if you're not familiar with that product, you do not have to be painting all that plumosa. This is a fresh product from Fern Trust out of uh Miami, and they will paint all that product for you in about 20 different colors. So it's just a wonderful product called Color Fresh, and they do the painted um plumosa, they do tree fern, salal, several different foliage types are uh available in that tinted, painted color. So it goes with every color palette, it's a great product. You pay a little bit more than if it was just regular green foliage, but it's well worth not having to paint it yourself.

SPEAKER_04

I think every bride is so unique when it comes to what they want to hold walking down the aisle. It's so personal. Some are super minimalist, you know, maybe just a massive cluster of babies' breath. Some say the bigger the better.

SPEAKER_00

This is a trend that we're seeing. It's been around for a couple years, but that oversized bouquet trend, um, and you'll notice her dress is fairly simple compared to some. So, you know, in her case, she really wanted that bouquet to be a star in the wedding, and so she has that oversized bouquet. It's not the Martha Stewart round all rose bouquet, you know. It's it's you know, each bouquet might have 20 different flowers in it. Um, that just seems to be the trend right now.

SPEAKER_04

So yeah. Let's talk about the dried category. So we've got bunnytails, palms, different grasses, different foliage. We have dried, we have dyed, we have bleached. Are you seeing a lot of demand, Mark?

SPEAKER_00

This is huge. Uh, I know Julie can speak to that too, but from a wholesale perspective, it's so huge that we can't source enough of this product. So, my number one recommendation to you is buy it when you see it. Um, I don't care if your wedding is in six months or a year, buy it now. Um, a lot of this product is coming out of Italy, and so just because of limited uh production of companies that are even making this or have this available, it is a very limited supply right now. So grab it when you see it. We have the bunny tails right now, we have this Italian bleached Ruskus, we have the fan palm. So, you know, check with your local wholesaler. Um, if they don't have it, ask if they can get it for you. We can ship anywhere in the country. So if you you know want to call Bill Doran across the country, several of us would be able to get that product for you.

SPEAKER_04

Julie, I have seen a lot of your work on social lately incorporating the dried look. You're making some bouquets that were on a circular gold ring with that dried look incorporated. They look incredible.

SPEAKER_01

The bridesmaids are all carrying rings.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's definitely a trend as well. And the beautiful thing about that, I know Julie talked about it the other day, is that you know she was able to do all this work ahead of time, and then come wedding time, she's just gonna kind of glue in a few fresh pops of roses and things just to liven it up a bit. But how great of a trend is that where we can do our weddings ahead of time? Yes.

SPEAKER_04

For one of my weddings, I'm actually using pre-made wreaths for the centerpieces for the reception tables. Some of them will be laid flat, some of them will be standing up in a creative way. So this is also a great way to save time, especially when you have a limited time slot to do the install.

SPEAKER_00

But we can paint it, can't we, Mark? You can paint it. We can color enhance it. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04

Another major trend is using Design Master color tools to alter and enhance the natural beauty of flowers. While I'm still perfecting the process, Julie is a pro at this.

SPEAKER_01

Can you speak into this, Julie? Each flower is different, but you uh sometimes I just put on a plastic glove, like a disposable glove, and I just put the flower in my uh hand, and then your hands protected, so you just sort of just very short spurts of paint. Sometimes I'll pull the paint into a plastic and take like a Q-tip or a Kleenex and then just rub the top of it. It all depends. You might want to play with a you know, a carnation or something that you know you can sell in another bouquet if you're gonna do like a unicorn bouquet, just to get comfortable in painting. Gently do it a little bit at a time. And if it's not enough, just take a little more, pull the paint into a plastic and then take your Kleenex or Q-tip and just sort of brush it on. Another way with a carnation, I just slide the um ring from the stem wrap, and then I just slide the flower down there and I push the flower in, and then I just uh touch the top with the carnation. So if you want to do it that way. So there's several ways of just gently do it and until you get the look you're wanting.

SPEAKER_00

I just want to mention with the paint, and I'm sure most of you are experienced florists and you know this, but um, you know, you really can layer those colors, especially with the just for flowers. So you might need three different cans of paint to get the color you're trying to match in one of these pictures. Um, and so you know, the the people at Bill Doran or at your wholesaler can help you with that too. Um, Design Master also put out a chart about a year ago that I picked up at AIFD. Um, and it's an awesome resource that says if you start with this color flower and you want to end here, these are the three colors you need to layer on top of your flower.

SPEAKER_01

The same thing goes with hydrangea. If you don't have a purple hydrangea, you if you want an antique color for fall, you've got green hydrangeas, you got blue, and you got some a few cans of paint and you can create that. Um, if you need pink hydrangeas, again, Mark, you can take a white carnation and several layers of of paint will enhance that to the color. So hydrangea is another one that if you buy a box, a whole box of white um hydrangea from Bildoran, you can create lots of colors.

SPEAKER_00

The other thing on the hydrangeas, Julie, that I kind of forget about is you know, you can actually order tinted hydrangeas. Um, South American hydrangeas can be tinted at the farm level, and a lot of them look very realistic. I mean, the blush ones that are tinted, you would never know that it was a tinted blush pink uh hydrangea. So that's another tool to add to your toolbox as well.

SPEAKER_01

Good to know. And if anybody ever wants help, please reach out to me. I'm happy to help you. So an email or a phone call, I'm happy to help you.

SPEAKER_04

Thank you, Julie, for that offer to help our clickers. Another flower that continues to be popular is the dahlia. It's being shown in so many bouquets, and we know it's not only the beauty of the flower, but also the texture that it adds to the design. The challenge, however, is the availability of the dahlia, as well as the price at certain times of the year. Julie and Mark talk about using a cremone, which is a really good suitable substitute for a few reasons. Let's listen.

SPEAKER_01

And really, when you look at the petals, if you put them the dahlia against the cremone, really they're unless the bride doesn't know. They they they know that it's white or they know that it's you know purple, but they don't know the pet, they don't know the difference of the flower because the that they're so close together on their petals.

SPEAKER_00

And that was kind of my comment earlier is that sometimes we're the ones that really get so frustrated because we want that dahlia in that bouquet. But if you get them this look and the overall style, I mean, they're they're gonna be thinking about so many other things on their wedding day. They are gonna be so happy with that beautiful bouquet that's fresh and well designed and professionally put together, um, they're not gonna be down on the fact that you didn't get this one cafe au lait dahlia. Um, they're just they're just not. I think we're putting that pressure on ourselves more than we need to be.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and I think cost wise too, you know, if you go to the bride and say, you know, I can do it for them, this dahlion is going to. This much, or I can replace it with this, which looks really similar, you know. Um, and it's half as much. Uh, a lot of them will go, Oh, I just like that look. So it's like you're saying, Mark, we beat ourselves up.

SPEAKER_00

It's about as ninth as ninth as much of cost instead of half.

SPEAKER_01

So and if you and if you're honest with them, they're they're in tune to it. When they feel the trust that once you can give that connection and they trust you, then that's when you know you can say, Listen, I can't get this daily. I this is what we have to do. And you show, and maybe it's gonna have to take something to bring the product in for them to see. But if that's what it takes, you can sell 10 stems of Cremon mums. You can to just show them that it's really, really close. And they'll and they'll as long as you're honest, I think that that's half the bulk game.

SPEAKER_00

And there's different ways to handle this, right, Julie? I mean, this can be something that's as early on as the first consultation about what you're what you're able to substitute or well, how your contract is written. I mean, it's not like you're gonna constantly sub all these flowers that you talked about, but you know, every client's different, but you might get the get-go from day one that says, you know, I trust you to sub in whatever you need to to give me this look.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

Just some education on the word disbud. A disbud simply means that a flower has been trimmed from all the side shoots so that it grows to be one flower on a stem. So basically, they're trimming off all the side shoots in order to send all the energy to that one flower. So the word disbud doesn't really dictate what flower it is. A disbud could be a cremone, a spider-mom, a disbud ball. That's just kind of education to help you order because today someone tried to order, you know, a cream disbud, and it's like, well, that doesn't really tell me what flower they want. So, you know, words are important, and I'm kind of a stickler for ordering because I when I was a designer, I found it super helpful to know the names and exact varieties because I knew then if I ordered that variety, that's what I was gonna get. And so, as part of our you know, ongoing education as forests, it's important for us to learn these things and educate ourselves so that we can elevate our profession above the next designer.

SPEAKER_04

We found some really good varieties of Cremones and Bal Moms that would work for the Dahlia from the Queen's Flowers or from Rio Roses. You can check them out online and order from your local wholesaler. What do you think about florists offering wedding packages, Julie?

SPEAKER_01

Well, sure, you could sell packages with no problem. You can put that on your website most definitely, doing a package. I mean, when you're buying your bunches, like the Flower Click bunches, and that's what Bonda and Ellie are developing right now, is you're going to be able to take those bunches and make your own little wedding out of those bunches you receive from Flower Click. So they're in that stage right now, but there is a market for that. And if you go to all some of your big box stores, you'll see that that market is there. That's wonderful because you are grabbing hold of a unique set of women that want to have that happen.

SPEAKER_00

Each wedding is so unique in the quantities. So you have different numbers of bridesmaids, different numbers of boutineers, different numbers of centerpieces. So you'd really have to have like a base package and then some way to do add-ons, something like that. Oh, I think it could be a great way to sell and kind of especially for maybe the lower budget brides. It's a great tool that to help those clients.

SPEAKER_01

But if you're if you're wanting to target that market, you're only going to get a certain group. You're not going to go, you're not going to ever elevate yourself to the next set of women that might come in there or the next two levels of women that want to come in there, and you want to do a fantasy wedding, they may never even come to your door because you're selling a just those pre-packages only. So make sure that you're, you know, not only doing that, but you're also advancing yourself into other areas. But there is a market there.

SPEAKER_02

That was really good information that Julie shared with us on the wedding packages. So good food for thought.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, it really was. And Ellie, thank you so much for breaking in to the to the webinar and interjecting your comments and your expertise in the whole wedding thing. Um, I do have a question for you. People listening. What do you want them to walk away with? Like, what are two or three things, bullet points? We always like to have takeaways. Like what would be the takeaways?

SPEAKER_04

Okay, I have three. I think number one, above all, you need to manage expectations and be transparent. Okay, that's number one. With the bride, with the wholesaler. And also, number two is communication. And again, this is all the way around with your bride, with your wholesaler. Um, information is ever changing right now, especially with all those the guidelines that I referred to earlier. So it's gonna be an open dialogue more than in the past. And then number three is Vanda had mentioned be ready for substitutions, but I say be ready for anything.

SPEAKER_03

That's really good. Yeah, that's really, really good. So I love all those takeaways. I can't even think of another one that I would add to those. Communication is key, you know, and and honesty being up front is is key. So thank you so much. All right, okay. My last question, I have to ask it or I'll get fired. What is inspiring you right now? Ellie, I'm gonna start with you.

SPEAKER_04

So I'm inspired by this wedding that I am doing the flowers for because usually I'm behind the scenes, behind the screen, and to see something come to life physically is is something that I don't get much right now. You know, I everything's so digital. So that's what's making me inspired right now.

SPEAKER_02

That's great. That's good. All right, Vonda, what about you? Getting ready to get out and about again. That's giving me so much inspiration. I get to see both of you next weekend, and I'm really excited about that. So that's really inspiring me. It's it's always inspired to be surrounded by creative minds and creative people and actually get to give people hugs.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, you stole mine. That's what I was gonna say. I'm so inspired. And like I said, Ellie, I was telling Vonda earlier this morning that I went into our flower click YouTube channel and started watching her tutorials on our bundles. Like, I don't know why I've I've seen them, but I saw them differently. I think because I'm getting ready to go and we're getting ready to start filming some more. Um but it really did inspire me, it made me realize you know what? Foliche matters. Foliage matters. You a person that's not a designer like myself, you don't really think about it. You always just think, oh, they just threw that stuff in there. But like there's a purpose. So I was inspired, and I was sharing that with Vonda this morning, and she was looking at me and she's like, Why? Why are you why now? Like, I don't know. Something clicked. That's okay. Something clicked. All right. So thank you. We'll talk to everybody later.

SPEAKER_04

Thanks, Lori and Vonda.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you so much for listening to our podcast. We hope you enjoyed spending time with us because we enjoy spending time with you. If you did, make sure you hit that subscribe button or add the business and pleasure of flowers to your Google morning routine or your flash briefing on Alexa. We look forward to seeing you next week.

SPEAKER_02

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