Inspirations: Meet Kelly Kaufman of Florette Designs

Dear Brown Bag Fans,

I'm taking a much needed break from writing as all of us at NLCD are working on the many summer weddings. I'll be back with some real weddings, floral inspirations, and Ask Nancy posts but I've asked a few other wonderful people to share some posts. Danny Lai is our resident Real Groom and his follow up post to last week's, "what to ask a florist?" was featured this week and today, I have another treat.

As many of you know, I'm a big supporter of those starting out in the floral and wedding business. A curious person by nature, I'm fascinated by people who want to enter into the wedding floral business because it just isn't for the faint of heart or for those who do it for the money. It's often a thankless, laborious business where change is constant, things are unpredictable, and emotions can run rampant. Because of this, I admire people who dive into it with such passion, courage, and of course - a great attitude.

Today, we have Kelly Kaufman from Southern California who has some wedding advice. Kelly is an avid follower of the Brown Bag and she loves flowers and floral design as much as I do. Let's give a big welcome to Kelly of Florette Floral Design.

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Hi Brown Bag Readers, I am very excited to share my first wedding project with you! The lessons I learned from my first experience goes beyond just the floral part. I learned so much about wedding planning. This wedding is very dear and special to my heart because it is my very own wedding.

The wedding took place at the Firestone Crossroads Estate in Los Olivos, California. I immediately fell in love with the venue. It was everything I dreamed about, from the large magnificent oak trees to the beautiful open pole barn. Even though the venue cost significantly more than we had planned to spend, we were so in love with it that we changed other elements of the wedding in order to fit it into our budget.

One of the big ways that I fit our dream venue into my budget, but without sacrificing style or quality, was by taking on many projects myself.

I wanted letterpress invitations and paper items, but it was simply a luxury that was out of my price range - so I signed up for a letterpress course at a nearby art center, where I designed and printed save-the-date cards, invitations, place cards,table numbers and menus!

Despite our reduced budget, I was unwilling to compromise on the very specific floral look I had in mind. Unable to find a florist who would execute my vision within my budget, I decided to take on the task myself. I took a position as an intern for a local florist, and loved working with flowers so much, I started my own floral design business!

Thanks for letting me share how I turned a DIY wedding project into a career.