By The Numbers: Heavenly Place Cards

A couple weeks ago we made this wonderful bed of flowers for our bride, Lindsey. On top of this 6 ft x 2 ft bed of flowers, roughly 120 place cards were lined perfectly. Here's my recipe for this bed of flowers.

750 white standard carnations

750 toothpicks

2 4 inch by 24 inch by 36 inch styrofoam board

3 straight picks(wired removed)

Enjoy!

About Nancy: What am I reading?

This entire week I'm in Mexico. During this trip, I'm going to check out some of the wonderful wedding venues including One and Only Palmilla which is where Spencer/Heidi first tied the knot. Another thing I'm doing is catching up on my blog reading while lounging here at the Westin Los Cabos.

One blog that I'm lovin' right now has to be Leila Khalil's Inspired by This wedding blog. It features gorgeous real weddings, insightful vendor interviews and highlights, spot on trends, all the things I love and adore.

One of the things that I like about this blog is that it is written to inspire other vendors like myself who equally need uplifting and advice. Leila offers great insight on marketing, PR, press, networking, basically - all things business. You've got to read one of my favorite posts, called Tuesday Tips , The Right Kind of Press. Leila also features amazing weddings, like that of Tara and Chris on Wednesdays. I can simply go on and on.

It's definitely a blog written for other wedding vendors like myself who love real honest to goodness writing and tips. Thanks, Leila for your incredible and informative blog.

Floral Tips: New American Style

I've built my floral business on doing modern, updated American Classic weddings but that doesn't mean that I don't like to branch out to do ultra chic, edgy minimalism or the other extreme, organic, airy, natural. Done in the right way, with the right details, with the appropriate styling, a classic wedding can take on different moods from - romantic classic, chic & classic, or natural, relaxed classic.

Today's inspiration piece is that relaxed American classic style. It's been around but lately it is gaining more followers with the rise of Snippet & Ink, Style Me Pretty, 100 Layered Cake and all those other wedding blogs that promote a more relaxed,"green", laid back, natural style.



The floral style is airy, loose, romantic and not perfect yet(big YET) every flower placement, textural element, and container needs to work perfectly in sync to create that look that's so unmanicured, organic, full of movement.

Bottom line: Don't be afraid to branch out.

Inspiration: Summertime Color from Snippet & Ink

Kathryn of Snippet & Ink is about one of my most favorite wedding bloggers in the world. To say that I am a fan would be an understatement. Following S&I on twitter is one of my guilty pleasures that I refuse to give up.

One of the things that Snippet & Ink is quite well known for is the amazing inspiration boards. The boards are always eye catching. Most recent, Board #399 caught my eye and I had to share it with you. It reminds me of all the things I cherish about summer. Vibrant, fruity colors. Whimsical, sweet details. A girly, dreamy and fanciful style. Bows, balloons, and a carousel. Oh my!


Thank you Kathryn for letting me borrow this fabulous board. Love!

Top row from left: balloon photo by Josh Goleman, Hatch Show Print for Anthropologie, lemonade photo by Alexandra Grablewski, May Day flowers via EmilyStyle
Row 2: vintage dress via Please Sir Blog, carousel photo via Little Brown Pen, candy buffet with bunting by Amy Atlas, calligraphy by Jenna Hein
Row 3: pennant flags by Something's Hiding in Here via Oh Happy Day, bouquet via Grey Likes Weddings, yellow cake
Row 4: carnival treats from Rebecca Thuss, madras bowtie by J.Press, dress photo by Mel Barlow

Brown Bag: Poll Results

Here are the results from our last poll. I asked Brown Bag fans to give me their answer to this question....

How many Bridesmaids would you ideally like to have?

And the results are as follows:

Three's a Crowd.......................38%

Two for the Road.....................19%

On My Own is Fine..................15%

Half A Dozen.............................12%

Just One....................................10%

A Brady Bunch............................4%

When I got married in 2000, I was fluctuating between 2 or 6(not anything between - it was going to be a few or a bunch). When it was all said and done, I am sure that a few girlfriends were a little sad that I didn't ask them but I'll never regret my decision. Having my best gal, Jen and my best guy, Gregg there with me was the ultimate!

To this day, my parents will never understand that I'm just a bit unconventional. But to me, it wasn't about the gender, race or number of attendants. Whatever number you pick, shouldn't really matter, it's the person(s) standing next to you that should be important.

Also, please stop by and vote on our new poll about what is the most stressful part of wedding planning.


Image by Richard Wood.

About Nancy: Pink Blossom Article

Dear Readers

The Pink Blossom List is looking for more floral designers to contribute their input on their Reality Check series. If you've never read the Pink Blossom List, it's one of my pet project that I started with my assistant, Nancy Yu Trio early this year. Together with a dozen other inside experts, the Pink Blossom List offers great ideas about all things wedding decor from insiders. It great vendors offering candid insights.

If interested, please send me an email!

Thanks for your help again.

Ask Nancy: What's the Name

A few weeks ago, we received a call over our phone lines of a friend of a bride who asked me to identify the name of the 'peach' rose I used for this image from The Wedding University. It's called 'Versilia'. It's a beautiful medium peach rose that comes in various length. Commerical available.

As I thought about the call I realized that many people don't know that there is a name for each specific flower within their species. We all know about roses but did you know that each rose has a specific "name". Just as my name is Nancy, there is a rose called 'Esperanza'. And 'Esperanza' is not at all like 'La Dolce Vita' though in description they might be(White with a tip of pink). And the characteristics of a 'Vendela' is very different from that of 'Creme de la Creme' though both are creamy roses. 'Vendela' has a light blush center and 'Creme de la Creme' as a creamy yellow center.

Now, I don't expect all florist to know every name within a flower type. That is an incredible accomplishment but I do think it is very helpful to know the names of specific flowers that brides just have to have. For example, 'Sarah Bernhardt' is a very beautiful, lush medium pink Peony.

Image by Kevin Chin. More on The Wedding University see story from The Flirty Guide.

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.

__________________________________

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.

Inspirations: Pop! Pop! Pop!

If you spend enough time with me, you'll know that I'm in love with soda bars. And with my sweet tooth, you probably know that I love those fruity, girlie flavors like Green Apple by Jones Soda.

I think it's a great alternative to the signature cocktail and let's be honest - it's so AFFORDABLE!!!! and they look so cute. Can't you imagine them all lined up like little soldiers?

Not only that, but soda pop has a great array of color that you can choose from so there is no shortage of choices to mix with any color palette.

I know that I'm suppose to introduce creative concepts but I had to "steal" this colorful inspiration board from my friends over at Project Wedding. It's fantastic.

So when you need to trim your budget, forgo the specialty cocktail at $10 a pop and introduce a little pop soda at less than $3.00 a bottle.

Behind the Scenes: The Story Within

I know I am not suppose to write this week since I'm taking a break...but I had to just share this one little photo and story of this Peonies bouquet!!!! ENJOY!

_____________________

A week ago, I had the pleasure of working with Chenin Boutwell of Boutwell Studio and Alice Grisez(I'm a big fan!). The wedding at the Fairmont Hotel was held on July 4th so you know it had to be special.

I'm going to do a more detailed story on Lindsey and Chris' wedding but I wanted to share with you one image by the talented Chenin Boutwell. You can see more of the gorgeous images from Lindsey and Chris' wedding on Chenin's amazing blog(love her soft romantic and fresh style).

And for those who aren't sure, yes, that was an all Peonies bouquet. Before everyone starts planning on Peonies for July, please be warned, we treated these Peonies with kid gloves. Lindsey's bouquet was an all David Austen garden rose bouquet in a soft cream and I had planned to go with the all rose bouquet knowing that the chance of an all white Peonies bouquet was very slim. During our wedding planning process Lindsey told me how much she loved Peonies and had her heart set on them but knew that the chance of getting Peonies the week of her wedding was very unlikely. Never once did I let on that I secretly had an idea....

To prepare for it....

The week prior, I decided to hold 25 stems of white Peonies from June 24th in my cooler. In our walk in cooler, we set it at a little below 40 degrees, I babied them for more than 7 days - keeping them hydrated, re-trimming them, placing paper around them to keep them from shattering and finally spraying the entire bouquet with Crowning Glory before we delivered them. In order to make this bouquet, we had to throw out 10 peonies in order to get the 15 I needed to make this delicious bouquet. So if you are even thinking about it, you need much more Peonies in order to make it. I knew the chance I was taking and that is why I never once told Lindsey that I could deliver her the bouquet. Even the morning of the wedding, I was nervous when I checked the cooler..but it stayed beautiful!!!
(And yes, praying does help!!!! )

Let me say one last thing, when Lindsey saw the Peonies bouquet, she was beyond thrilled. Her radiant smile and genuine happiness made the day(and the week of nursing the Peonies) worthwhile. Though I knew that Lindsey would also like the David Austen bouquet that we made, I'm glad that she walked down the aisle with the Peonies bouquet because it was a labor of love! Congrats Lindsey and Thanks Chenin!!!

Real Groom: What to Ask the Florist - Part Two

Last week, Real Groom, Danny Lai began a post entitled "What to ask the florist?". It's not just what to ask but also what to look for. Today, we are featuring the second part to Danny's great post. Enjoy!

_____________________________________

Inspirations -

When interviewing your floral designer, you simply should provide keywords describing your floral vision, and leave it up to the floral designer to show you ways to represent it visually. For instance, we used words such as "minimalist", "slightly asian", and "not pink" to describe our wedding, and left it up to our floral designer[Nancy Liu Chin], to show us how she would design the layout and arrangements.

Usually, a florist will [show] photographs of past work, or perhaps simple sketches or drawings.

Pay attention,
Take notes
Make suggestions to these proposals and sketches

This consultation is [sometimes] complimentary, and if the floral designer is good, you will discover new and interesting ideas to incorporate into your vision.

Collaborations -

Your wedding is a symphony of artists: photographers, videographers, floral designers, etc. As such, each artist has worked with many other artists.

Find out which wedding planners, photographers the floral designer has enjoyed working with in the past, and see if the names match those of the vendors you have chosen.
There's something to be said for the peace of mind in knowing that your floral designer has enjoyed working with your other vendors in the past.

When all of your vendors get along and play off of each other's vision and ideas, each vendor (including the floral designer) is much more willing to go the extra bit for your wedding.

Schedule -

Make sure that your floral designer has his/her priorities straight.

Have they been responsive by phone or email?

Do they plan to be on vacation the week or two leading up to your wedding?

Do they have another wedding scheduled for the weekend of your wedding? Make sure that your floral designer understands and budgets the leading days necessary to properly support your wedding.

Personality -

Finally, make sure that you enjoy talking to your floral designer, you find his/her ideas fresh and similar to yours, and that you trust his/her ability to design and execute.

All the logistics questions aside, what makes the working relationship work throughout the
planning process is the fact that you enjoy each other's company and you value each other's input.

Good luck!

About Nancy: To Write or Not to Write

Like I announced on Friday, I'm making some changes this month. In July, I'm going to 3 posts-a-week format. This week I'm taking a much needed break from writing. Sometimes you have to do that in order to become a better writer and to re-fuel the creative soul.

For today, I'm asking all of you - are we overloading on blogs? Is there too many blogs to read? Too many twitter tweats to catch up on? Too many facebook posts that we have to review?

Enjoy! Hope your Fourth was amazing and safe.

PS: You might have noticed that I have changed one small detail. I've gotten rid of {} in the titles. I learned from a Twitter post that bloggers should not do that in the title. See - Twitter is good for something!

{About Nancy: Three Times a Lady}

Well, it's Friday and I thought that I would announce that starting July, I'm going to 3 posts a week instead of the five that I've attempted to do. After talking to a few VFF and my support network, I've come to realize that when I write 5 times a week, the content isn't where I would like it to be.

Thanks for your patience and for always being such great fans. And honesty, I'll try to do a better job in the future because if you are going to do anything - do the best you can.

Keeping reading weddingbeepro, visit Pink Blossom List(pinkblossomlist), follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

You guys are the best!!!!

Happy July the Fourth!!! Stripes and Stars Forever!

Image by Lisa Lefkowitz

{Inspirations: Color me Purple}

Purple has been a huge trend color for several years now. I've seen combinations of lilac and chocolate, deep purple with orange, amethyst with marigold, but what else can go with purple hues...

Why not add and mix it with rich burgundy or raspberry?

I have to send some love to my friends over at Style Unveiled for creating this very lush board which really does say it all. So, when you think of purples, try picturing it with red, burgundy, raspberry hues. To read the full article simple click on the image above.

Thanks Style Unveiled!!!

{Ask Nancy: Social Networking}

Hi Nancy--I have a question for you....I recently moved and I am not as familiar with the vendors in my new area. I really am trying to get a small wedding and event floral business going and I was curious what advice you have for getting to know other vendors in the area, whether its coordinators, catering, photographers, etc. I know that referrals is such a big part of the this industry and I would love to get my name out there, but want to do it in a really classy way.

Thanks in advance for you help.
Starting Small

I applaud you for your bold and sincere question. Brown Baggers, especially other vendors, I think you could really help Starting Small. If you have some feedback, make your comments known.

The first thing I would say is this.
1) Ask yourself, what target is your market. Just because you want to do small weddings, doesn't mean you want to start anywhere. Do you want to do high end, medium end, country club, society events?

2) Once you figure out what target market you are in, find like vendors. What I mean by that is this. Find vendors who have similar style, taste, design concepts, market savvy. Call or email them. Take them out to lunch. Meet with them. See if you have made a connection. Find the vendors in your area who do consistently great work. Read, research, and do some online investigative work. If you can't figure this out, start with meeting with venue managers.

I'll give you an example. When I first started out, I went through my Here Comes The Guide book. I wrote on a piece of paper all the venues that I liked for it's elegant decor, beautiful location, and unique space. I took 10 spaces and decided to contact the event/catering manager or director. I invited them to lunch. Many of them were so willing to have lunch and told me that so few florist ever called.

During the lunch, I refrained from trying to sell myself. I made sure that I was there to listen to their needs. I ask them what the venue was looking for. How was business? How I could help? I also sent them a large, unique arrangement with a hand written card. Don't type a note. Don't send an email. Write a card with a heartfelt note include your business card, marketing package, whatever you have.

3) Ask these venue managers who's who in the industry. Find the GATEKEEPER. Find the people in the industry who are the most influential. Start by asking these experienced managers, who in the industry you should get to know. When a name keeps popping up. When you see someone in your area in magazines, blogs, etc. Perhaps that's a sign that they might be respected in the wedding community.

I feel very lucky that early in my business, Kevin pointed me to Linda Hylen, who is the current Director of Catering at Julia Morgan Ballroom. Till this day, every year, I have a wonderful lunch with Linda Hylen who is one of the most influential women in the wedding business. She recently hosted 50 Fabulous Babes which I had the delight of attending. That was one great event in which 50 of the Bay Area's female wedding owners/managers got to meet each other. Now, that's influence. (Photo above is of Linda at the 50 Fabulous Babes Luncheon)

Her opinion is the one of the many opinions that matters to me because she is one of the greatest CONNECTORS in my field. Meeting a genuine CONNECTOR is key. They help to point you to the right people. The bridge vendors to the right client.

4) Find yourself a MENTOR. I'm completely honored that one of my mentors is Shawna of Flower Divas. I go to her for advice. The wealth of information that she has imparted to me surpasses all the books I've read, all the magazines I own, and certainly all the schooling that I received. A good mentor is so valued. It is someone I respect for their ability, their knowledge, and their advice. Shawna is my floral mentor.

It's not enough to have just a mentor, find groups of other floral designer, floral owners, wholesalers that can point you to the right direction. In the beginning you need the help of other floral designers to get your business started but you need to be sensitive to their business needs. If you come off as "threatening" you won't be able to find a mentor and other floral friends. If you come off as a newbie who's eroding their bottom line, you might not be able to gain their respect. The point is, play nice. Don't undercut just to get jobs because you might find other florists, shops, designers, put off by this. As someone new in the area, you can only gain respect when you show respect.

The Bay Area is great - there are so many great people who share information, who help each other, who aren't afraid to give advice. I can't even begin to list all the people that I adore.....I'll try....Pat Gibbons, Linnae(of Asiel Designs), John Gomex(of Americana), Leighsa Montrose(of Branch Out) , Suzy Hawk(from Americana), Sean(at Torchio Nursery), Orna(of Ornamento), Susan Groves(leader of the SF Flower Group and owner of In Full Bloom), Jessica S.(Fleur de France), Rhonda(of Grace Street), Arlene(of Violetta)...and the list could go on and on and on. When you are starting out, find a peer group. If you can't, then start your own just like Susan Groves did.

Enjoy!