Catching up With a Few Questions and Comments

Pink Anemone

Hello everyone!  I just wanted to write a quick blog to reply to all of the recent questions and comments on our Facebook over the past few weeks.  I have also received many e-mails about how to become a floral designer or florist; and a few asking for small business start up advice.

I’m going to tackle our Facebook comments first.  First of all I absolutely LOVE seeing so many former clients on here, thank you all for keeping in touch!

Katrina- Congrats, I just saw that you are expecting!!!  What wonderful news!

Martha, Amanda, and Natasha- I can’t wait either!!!

Carol Gast Kohn- We have done tons of fall weddings in the past! Please check out our website, blog, and Pinterest for some of our past work.  As for silks, we really don’t work very much with silk, we certainly have the ability to, however we really prefer fresh flowers.

THANK YOU so much for all of your sweet words and comments! You sure know how to make a girl feel loved!

Pink Anemone and Delphinum with Cherry Blossom

As for all of the e-mails about becoming a florist, I know there is a lot of conflicting information out there; but I still recommend working FULL TIME, YEAR ROUND for traditional flower shops, (not event florists),  to really get the hang of this industry.  And honestly, I would recommend a minimum of 5 years, complete with all of the holidays.  There is so much to this business, it is not simply being able to work with beautiful flowers.  Having a floral business involves TONS of paperwork, math, science, marketing, photography, cleaning, health issues, very little sleep, and DRAMA.  I know many of you would like to find the express lane to a successful career in this field, but there isn’t one.  You absolutely must put in the time and make the necessary sacrifices to really be successful.  I have been working in this field since I was in my teens and I still learn something new every day.

For those of you who are looking to start your own small businesses, I would strongly recommend enlisting the help of a small business adviser who can guide you through writing a solid business plan and all of the paperwork you will need to help you get started.  For those of you with babies on board, hoping to start small businesses from home, please refer to some of our Mompreneur posts.  I have been really bad about posting in this category, but I’m trying my best!

I hope that covers some of your questions.  We have a very busy season ahead of us and I’m looking forward to sharing it all with you.  Thank you all so much for your participation in our small business adventure!

~Heather

Introducing….Spring Samplers!

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m going to lose it if spring doesn’t get here right away!!!  To chase away my winter blues I have been trying my best to keep a few bunches of fresh flowers at the studio (despite having no weddings for a few more weeks),  and my mood has improved tremendously!  Which got me to thinking, I’m sure we could ALL use some spring in our lives right now!  So for a limited time, we are offering sampler vases for $20 all spring long!

Yellow Tulip Sampler 2

This week’s Sampler is New York State Grown Tulips, Florida State Grown Fragrant Myrtle, and Bupleurem!  Over the next few weeks we will offer samplers in the following categories: Tulips, Anemones, Forsythia, Daffodils, Lilacs and more, depending on weekly availability.

The studio will be open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10a.m.- 4 p.m., feel free to stop by for your spring fix!  And for a very limited time, we will offer delivery (for an additional $10) if you call the studio during business hours.  Delivery areas will include Kingston, Saugerties, Woodstock, New Paltz, Rhinebeck, and Red Hook.

We hope to help you all spread a little spring 🙂

Way Back Wednesday- The Glamelia

The Glamelia! A beautiful floral creation that was big in our Grandmothers’ day,  is making a come-back with modern brides, especially those who love the vintage look!  What exactly is a Glamelia, you ask? This gorgeous variety of “flowers” is nothing you will find in nature.  The birth of Glamelias came from the Victorians adoration of Camellias.  While beautiful, Camellias flower early in the year and only for a short time.  They are also very expensive.


camellias

In the 1940s, the method was developed by florists, who used Gladiolas to produce a composite flower.  The process of creating a Glamelia flower is very tedious and involves detailed, intricate work.  Each petal of a Gladiola is stripped and reconstructed, petal by petal, to form a perfectly symmetrical new floral creation.  Each petal must be wired and secured in order to stay in place.  Although these days many floral designers use cold glue to achieve the final effect.  It is a long, difficult process, but the final result is truly exquisite.

Here are some examples of the modern day Glamelia:

glam

martha stewart composite bouquet

Glamelias can be made using Gladiolas, Calla Lillies, Lilllies, and Orchids just to name a few. These beautiful designs are 100% customizable, so they can easily be created to fit your style and the theme of your wedding.

Happy planning!

~Nadine

That’s Fabulous Friday!- The Return of the Bloomie Awards and Free Flower Fridays!

I know, we have been really bad about following up with the Bloomie Awards.  http://blog.anightinbloom.com/?p=3444 These awards are usually held every December to honor everyone’s favorite wedding of the year.  The winning couple receives $100 and $100 to the charity of their choice.  However due to our winter orders, the flu that just wouldn’t quit, and then the influx of newly engaged couples; this season’s scheduling just got really wacky.   But we are finally caught up and ready to go again!  For those of you not familiar with how this works: to cast your vote please “like” your favorite wedding on our Facebook page.  Our voting deadline will be Tuesday April 2nd at 12:00 a.m.  Thank you all for being so patient this year!!!

And to show you how much we appreciate your patience and support, we are announcing the kick off of our FREE FLOWER FRIDAYS! once again.  Each Friday look for our Facebook post announcing, “It’s FREE FLOWER FRIDAY!!!”  When you see that post, please leave a comment below the post in order to be entered to win a beautiful fresh flower arrangement sent your your door, (or someone else’s door if you wish).  The winner will be selected at random.  Participants must live in the local areas of Kingston, Saugerties, Rhinebeck, Red Hook, or Woodstock.

peach and white garden rose arrangement

 That’s all for now from flower land for now,  have a wonderful weekend everyone!

~Heather

 

Mompreneur Monday- Put Those Kiddos to Work!

Whether you are a Mompreneur or just a busy working parent, there is no possible way that you can find time to do everything yourself.  Or if you can, please tell me what your secret is!!!  I was so naive when I first began my business.  I thought that by being self-employed, I would have so much more flexibility to get it all done. Boy was I wrong!  I’m actually laughing as I type this!  In addition to all of my work related responsibilities; I still have all of the house work to deal with, and two little ones who will tear everything apart as soon as I have it just right.  I tried creating a few of  those Super Nanny charts, in hopes of getting my little ones to help out by picking up their toys, and doing a few things on their own, but they never seemed to work.  Until I stumbled across a website called My Job Chart. http://www.myjobchart.com

IMG_1224

If your kids are anything like mine, they know how to use all of your mobile devices and computers. This website is a very simple solution, you create jobs for them and they get points for each completed task.  The children even get to “login” which my two absolutely love doing!  They have a lot of different options for using their points.  Points may be saved, donated to charities,  used to purchase toys, or you can even create your own custom prizes like stay up late coupons, go out for ice cream, movie night, etc.

For working parents I highly recommend jobs such as “keeping quiet during Mom’s phone calls,” and “being respectful of the studio”.  For at home tasks you can create whatever jobs you like such as getting dressed, brushing teeth, etc.  After one week, I didn’t have to nag my oldest to do everything in the morning, he began doing it himself!  A miracle!!!

mom on work call cartoon

I really can’t recommend this site enough!  It has saved this working mom’s sanity!!!

~Heather