July | 2021 | Winston & Main

The BOOM is here. Weddings, events, activations are all booking up and booking out- in fact our calendar is full for 2021 and our weddings are about 30% booked for 2022.

WILD.

One thing I know is that when we’re busy, it’s easy to rush, to throw money at problems, or just to get it done by any means necessary (caffeine, caffeine, caffeine).

Being busy makes it a lot harder to make intentional decisions.

SO….

If you’ve been meaning to make your floral biz a little more earth friendly, but don’t know where to start, here are 5 tips to get you started. Don’t be overwhelmed, just get going!

1. Eliminate Floral Foam in your arrangements.

Flowers LOVE fresh water so much better- they’ll last longer and look WAY happier at your events. Use chicken wire, flower frogs, and/or curly willow (or other branchy goodness) to create the armature for your designs.
Pro Tip: There will be some splashing during transport- pack your arrangement in reusable bins/totes and bring a small watering can to top up on arrival.

2. Shop Local

You’ll find amazing variety, and the freshest blooms from your local flower farmers. Do a little research and discover which farmers (big and small alike) grow near you and then figure out how to get your grubby florist paws on those fresh blooms! 🙂 Less travel means a lower carbon footprint AND A longer life for your blooms. We sourced these beautiful Zinnia’s from local micro-farm, Elley’s Flower Farm.

3. Repurpose/Donate your blooms After an Event

We love to send our blooms to hospice patients via the lovely Anita of Guided by Flowers. Find yourself an Anita OR call around and see if there are hospitals, convalescent homes, or community organizations who would like to enjoy your blooms.

4. Compost Green Waste

When biodegradable items (like flowers/plants/food) are tossed in the regular trash and end up at the landfill…they don’t break down the way they can/are supposed to. Make sure you are sending your compostable items to green waste (if your city offers it) and/or use a composting service to ensure that all those plants are turned into compost…instead of garbage. ps. I snapped this photo of what happens to flowers after too many events- they’re tossed straight in the garbage. BUT these are not our blooms/our event! 🙂

5. Sustainable Business Practices

Speaking to all of my floral friends, but especially my solopreneurs here: you are not a flower making machine. You’re just not. Hire help to make your days shorter, and spread the wealth around. Schedule breaks. Meal prep or have meals delivered on event weeks so that you actually eat (I do this and it’s the best!) Drink water. Take days off (and don’t respond to client emails on your days off). Schedule exercise.

It’s all too easy to hit the market before the sun rises and grind away in your studio until after dark. Step into the light my flower friends- sustainability starts with you ensuring that your business practices support you for the long haul.

If you’d like to hear more tips on sustainability from me you can grab your FREE ticket for the Wedding Series Summit: Design Edition right here!

Over 40+ speakers, panelists, and experts will be diving deep into ways to hone your design skills, and sharing actionable tips that you can implement right away.

See you there!
xo, TAB

2020 started out so hopeful. I attended the Team Flower conference in Pasadena. The next week I took Amy Nicole’s Bouquet Bootcamp. I love education and I loved getting it in right at the beginning of what was sure to be a busy year. A profitable year. The MOST profitable year yet. (ha ha ha)

Photo: Rebekah Lemire Workshop: The Floral Coach

We did two beautiful weddings, a few brand activations, and one AMAZING celeb event (NDA be damned). We did our final design meetings for our spring weddings…

Photo: Brooke Allison Photo Planner: Events by Emily Kay

Photo: Miki and Sonja Photography Planner: Moxie Bright Events

And then the world shut down.

Our studio building, aka The Original LA Flower Market, shut down, and I had a couple hours to take everything “valuable” out of my studio. To watch my vendors throw their product/profit in the garbage. Talk about a surreal and heartbreaking day. What IS valuable in your business/workspace/life when you have to choose what to take with you?

After a month at home without flowers, I tentatively dipped my toe back in, and started figuring out how I could safely get flowers (both locally and from my wholesaler). There was a veeeery strange period of picking up flowers 100% no contact- checking out my pull from a parking lot, and then putting it in my car before dousing myself in sanitizer lest any covid nasties were hitching a ride.

I arranged flowers in my backyard and turned my tv/guest room into a temporary cooler by cranking our AC.

I advertised my new delivery biz solely via instagram AND the response was overwhelming.

Clients, old and new, embraced flowers in a way that felt absolutely sacred. The joy I witnessed when I delivered flowers from a grandchild to their grandmother, who was isolated at home alone, was beautiful and heartbreaking and so very meaningful.

Photo: The Hendrys Planning: Opus Events Co.

Photo: The Hendrys

Photo: Heirlume Photography Planning: P.S. & Associates Event Planning

Photo: Michael Gomez Photo

Photo: Faye Casaje

There were elopement blooms too- in national parks, backyards, hotels, and homes.

2020 was an excellent reminder for me about just what I love about flowers.
An opportunity to come back to my WHY again and again, one bouquet at a time.

Flowers are magic and they have the power to transform spaces, people, and bad days alike. Flowers are a powerful reminder to be present, and they teach us to cultivate a more mindful relationship with ourselves and the world around us.

They remind us that joy is now.

This is one of the lessons I’ll be taking into 2021, and the busy season ahead.
How about you? What did you learn or relearn about your business in 2020?