Show Me Da Flowers!

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Yes.. It’s wedding season! And that means LOTS of wedding shows and opportunities to meet some of your local floral designers, see their flower creations, as well as, meet many other wedding vendors. All of them in one place!

Our recent ‘Party It Forward’ show was held at the lovely Quail Hollow in Wesley Chapel! We had lots of guests and brides-to-be come and check out their beautiful venue and visit our exclusive Party It Forward area to buy items from past hosts!

Brides N Blooms Designs smWe will  be getting another one off the ground this summer and will keep you abreast of the details. So stay tuned….

Coming up in a week we’ll be at the beautiful Beso Del Sol, Wedding on the Water Show! Sunday March 29th  from 1-5:00 pm. If you are looking for a venue with a spectacular view of the water, this is a great choice! We’ll be showcasing the popular fall color palette and an array of beautiful centerpieces, bouquets!

beso showBeso Del Sol is located just north of the downtown Dunedin area along Bayshore Blvd.

And last but certainly not least!! We will be at the Carrollwood Country Club Wedding show! Monday, April 27th from 6-9:00 PM! We will be showcasing some unique and popular wedding floral designs for you to come and see!

Carrollwood showThis venue is a hidden treasure in the North Tampa Area and well worth the visit! They are located at: 13903 Clubhouse Dr, Tampa, FL 33618

These are both smaller, more intimate shows…which we really like because we get to connect better with YOU! There’s more time to really talk with attendees and get a feel for what their needs, likes, and wants are!

We hope you’ll come and visit us at one of these two shows… or both! Say hi and let us know how we can become your personal connection to all things floral!

Now go out and have yourself a flower-filled, show stopping day!

Who Ya Gonna Call… And When?

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Some brides-to-be have a list of things to do and a time frame in which to plan them. Most, however… don’t. A lot of people ask us, when is the best time to plan for my flowers and how should I start?

Usually the first step is to gather some recommendations from either the venue you’ve booked and/or some of the vendors you’ve already chosen. Find the name of some of the florists and floral designers you might have met at a wedding show or maybe you’ve attended an event recently and you fell in love with the floral designs. If so, ask for the name of that vendor! Those will be the best ways to start your search for the perfect Floral vendor for you!

If you decide you’re a DIY kinda person and want to do the flowers yourself, then your road to follow is to find a wholesale floral company that can get you flowers at wholesale pricing, with delivery included, Or a local vendor that sells flowers by the stem.

What if… you could get BOTH a wholesale floral company to supply the flowers at that great wholesale pricing AND they did your design work for you?

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Well… you can!! If you are local to the Tampa Bay area, Brides N Blooms Wholesale and Designs can help you with either decision.  We order directly from the farm, making the flowers you choose the freshest they can be, along with great wholesale pricing and very reasonable design fees! It is getting the best of both worlds. Giving you exactly what our tag line says: “Premium Style at Modest Pricing”

The next hurdle to jump is WHEN do I start planning for my flowers?

Typically, we suggest 6 months prior. But not everyone is organized, so for that person, no less than 3 months prior to your date. The sooner your order is in place. the likelier there will be no last minute problems. The ‘when’ should also include after you’ve chosen a venue and after you’ve decided the colors and theme of your big day. That is the PERFECT time to start planning for your flowers.

Wedding-Planning

Let Brides N Blooms, Wholesale and Designs make all your floral dreams a reality! Call today for a consultation! Please check out our design website: www.bridesnbloomsdesigns.com to see our work and get some great ideas for your BIG day!

Now go out and have yourself a Flower Filled, Wholesale & Design day!

Embracing The Imperfections

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So many times when we two girls are working with the future Mrs. Someone… they say to us “I just want everything to be perfect!” We say… where is the fun in that?! It’s high time to embrace the ridiculous imperfect things that happen!

Here are 3 stories of wedding day trials and tribulations we’ve experienced first hand. (the names have been changed to protect the innocent)

1. The Wedding Flowers didn’t quite get done.

When Rebecca got married, she planned the whole thing from start to finish. She had incorporated help from her fiance’s best friends as well as from her Maid of honor to get everything for her big day handled. The loose flowers were ordered so they could make everything themselves to save money. The stems were brought to the reception hall in buckets to be used for the tables.The rest were put aside for the bouquets.. Unfortunately for the bride, as the day of the wedding got more and more hectic, the bouquets got less and less done. An hour before the wedding she asked the best man if he had the brought the flowers. “Yes”! he exclaimed, let me go get them.  And so, there they were. Beautiful Lilies, & Orchids…. sitting loose in a bucket. Rebecca thought… ummmm.. there’s no bouquets here. With all the rushing around the day of the wedding, no one remembered to make the bouquets! Her mother  had some experience with flowers and within 1/2 hr had 1 handtied wedding bouquet and 4 bridesmaids done. Lucky for her, someone was on hand who was able to do that!! Of course, it wasn’t funny then… but it is now. And by the way… the couple is going on their 10th anniversary this year.

rachel's bouquet

2. 52 Tea Roses

When Sara got married, her mother insisted that she have roses. White Roses to be exact. It is not clear to me whether Sara wanted them or not…I think she just wanted something pretty and not knowing anything about flowers let her mother handle it.  As it turns out it was a very large cascade bouquet, and it was beautiful. However, what I remember is her mother siting there counting exactly how many roses were in this thing to make sure that it was as big as she thought it should be (and that she got her money’s worth). For years all Sara’s mother did when wedding flowers were mentioned, was talk about how Sara’s bouquet had 52 tea roses. Which by the way… a tea rose is really just a spray rose with a fancy name.

3. The Wedding Bouquet from Summer Hell

Elaine got married on a hot summer day in June. Her mother-in-law was in charge of helping her with the wedding flowers. All Elaine wanted was a simple small bouquet of Daisies. yellow & white ones. Didn’t matter if they were Gerbera or plain, just that there were yellow and white daisies. Her mother in law was not so happy with that choice and insisted she should have something fancier, and white to ‘dress’ it up. The babies breath the florist suggested helped, and Elaine was satisfied with that, but  her mother in law was not. so the florist suggested 6-7 white Cymbidium Orchids  to add into the bouquet. As I mentioned, it was a hot summer day…  The a/c in the delivery truck broke sometime mid day and by the time the bouquet was delivered, the orchids were not happy little flowers anymore, they were downright sad and falling apart. The daisies were all still perky and bright though! About 10 minutes before walking down the aisle 2 of the orchids fell out and the a couple of the others had lost some petals.  Elaine’s mother, took the bouquet. Pulled out the bad flowers, moved the daisies around and no one was the wiser. Looking back, at the time to the bride, it seemed such a big thing! Now… its just a little blip on a wedding day radar.

Daisies & Orchids

Here’s what you want to remember…The fabulous friends that attended, the wonderful vows that were spoken, and of course, the amazing relationship that will be everlasting…Everything else, well, there’s always another story in the making…

Now, go, have yourself an imperfect but wonderful wholesale flower filled day!

 

 

Party It Forward… An Event Show With A Heart

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It’s that time again… we are in the midst of planning for our upcoming Party It Forward Event show, which will be held at the beautiful venue, Quail Hollow in Wesley Chapel.

So, maybe you’ve heard us talk about the Party It Forward Event show and wondered… Just what IS that anyway?

Basically… it’s an event show with a heart.

To understand how the whole thing came about, let’s go back in time to about 4 years ago… to a discussion we two girls from Brides N Blooms, Wholesale & Designs were having about bridal shows in general. We both decided that as much as the big shows are fun, and you get to meet ALOT of potential clients, its really hard to make a connection to anyone who stops to chat. Too much noise and too many people make it really difficult to do that.

With all the high end items and necessary vendors needed when hosting a wedding or party, we wondered if there was a way to make it just a little easier on the pocketbook. We thought wouldn’t it be GREAT if  we could connect upcoming hosts of weddings, parties, etc with the items that they will certainly need for their events, and not  just  the vendors they’ll need, but the little things that cost money. Those things that until you start planning, you might not realize you need! Especially for the DIY girls that put everything together and are very hands on.

The last and most important component we wondered about is how to find a way that people can reuse, recycle and give upcoming event hosts and brides, who are spending so much money, a break. We thought the best way to do that was to get up and coming hosts together with past hosts of celebrations who have beautiful items that they no longer have a use for. The things they no longer need that could become a new host or bride’s treasure trove.

party it forward concept

That is how we came up with our Party It Forward event show concept!!

Now, you may ask… how do we do accomplish that?

We invite girls who have already had their wedding or party and are trying to sell their event items, and we ask our past clients and their friends to sell any of their event items too. They get to make some money back and the new hosts are getting beautiful almost new items that they need for less money.

And just to make it more interesting, we like looking for the smaller or lesser known venues that  people may not know exist in and around the Tampa Bay Area to co host with us! It is just as fun for us to come upon a hidden treasure of a venue as it is for them to co-host what sometimes is their first bridal/event show! Last, but not least, we thought that no event show is complete without vendors. Since we wanted a boutique style show we decided to only allow one vendor of each category and we only ask vendors that we trust to do a good job, and are customer service friendly, to participate in our vendor area. We like to have the traditional vendors, but we also like to have some that are not so traditional as well!

A concept that helps both the brides and hosts of upcoming events and of past events save money. A show that introduces unique, and service oriented vendors. A location that may be a hidden jewel in the Tampa Bay Area.

That is how we “Party It Forward“!

To register for this great boutique show, just click the link and register:    http://www.eventbrite.com/e/party-it-forward-a-new-concept-in-planning-your-party-tickets-15677388491

Join the event on facebook too!                         https://www.facebook.com/events/571672826300259

Here is a video from the previous show we held at Quail Hollow and we expect this one to be just as fabulous!  Party It Forward© A New Concept In Planning Your Party

If you”d like to participate as a seller, just email us at [email protected] and let us know. If you’re a vendor and would like to showcase your business, we’ll be happy to send you some information. And of course we invite all of our upcoming brides and event hosts to come and experience a great way to shop  for your event.

Now go out and have yourself a Wholesale Flower-Filled Party It Forward Day!

Hey! What were you thinking?

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We two girls spend a lot of time talking with perspective brides and/or event hosts about their upcoming celebrations. For most people, planning, deciding on items and vendors and keeping track of everything is an overwhelming task. I’m sure there are times when one just want to run away and hide from everyone and everything!

So, why is making a decision SO hard??

A question we ask ourselves is, when a vendor is there, reaching out with the answers that you want, and with everything you have asked for, why then answer with a NO!  or I don’t know! Or we cannot decide just yet! We two girls have personally planned a lot of events for our families and friends, from the very intimate and small, to what could basically populate a small third world country… and not for one second will we hesitate to say yes to a vendor if they show us the value of what we are getting and if they understand our needs and vision. Better still if they have a good reputation.

So here are my 3 rules to live by when making a decision for the ‘right’ vendor:

1. You have a connection with your vendor and you feel they really understand your needs and your vision.

You’ve met with one or two vendors and one of them really connects with you. They understand and come through with a quote in your budget comfort zone.  Stop! Say yes, and move on to the next item on your list, or, you will make yourself CRAZY!   Understand one thing, every vendor, no matter what they do, is going to give you something a little bit different. Some will listen better to your vision, some will try to convince you to change your ideas. Some will take your budget into consideration and some will not. We say, if you’ve met with a vendor that you connect with, who has a website that shows you the level of their work, has a good reputation with other vendors, and they understand YOU… then STOP looking further. Make the decision to say yes and have a little faith that they want your day to be a great as you do.

2. First is not necessarily Better:

You want to pick the perfect vendor, you want everything to go perfectly… so you gather information, go to the web and do a search. It’s natural to think that those first names listed are the ‘best’. Why wouldn’t they be?? They’re at the top of the page! They must have gotten there somehow?! Do not be fooled by internet placement. Best does not mean first. It could mean that the company pays alot of money for SEO or they have a savvy marketing strategy. It also does not mean they are the ‘best’ vendor for you. It’s been our experience that the littler guy, Maybe the one on page two or three is the one who will go the extra mile.

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3. Everybody has an agenda:

As much as your special day or event is. for you, the most important and special day EVER… (and it should be!)… your friends and relatives might have an underlying motive for offering up the vendors they’ve used in the past. Those closest to us many times want their friends and family to use the same vendors they did. In doing so it becomes sort of an affirmation in their mind that they made a good choice. So if you go with their same choice, well then, they MUST have been right and it will be a good choice for you too! Be aware that just because one vendor was perfect for a friend or family member’s wedding/event, that does not mean they will automatically be a perfect choice for yours. Each event is different and the vendor you choose must really understand what is important to YOU first and foremost. Sometimes the vendors who you have already chosen will give you their vendor recommendations. It’s great to get those! However, it is always a good idea when getting a referral from a professional to ask them how they know this vendor and why they believe they are a good choice for you.

One last piece of advice. Don’t over think it. You meet and talk, you connect, you get a quote that works for you.  Just say YES! and move on to the next item.

Now go out and have yourself a decisive, wholesale flower-filled day!

 

 

6 Pieces of Advice For Planning YOUR Flowers

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We two girls enjoy what we do. We love working with flowers, we love working with excited brides and event hosts and we love working with each other. What we don’t love, however, is bad advice. Here’s a list  of 6 pieces of advice we can give you when it comes to choosing your wedding flowers and your floral designer/florist.

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1. Using only one color or matchy-matchy

A lot of brides want to match the flowers to their bridesmaids dresses exactly. While it is a nice idea to keep the colors in the same color tone, flowers are a great place to add some accent colors and highlights. You want the wedding party flowers to stand out against the dress color, not to blend in and become invisible!

2 . Setting a budget for flowers

Many brides and event hosts do want flowers, and consider them an important part of their day, yet they either forget to include them in their planning budgets, or come up with a price point too low for what they are looking for. A good average for wedding flowers is between 8 & 10% of your total budget, and closer to 12% if you are a David Tutera fan of floral design.

3. Trying to do too much DIY

Brides and event hosts who try to DIY their flower designs, many times will purchase dozens of different styles and shaped vases for centerpieces when trying to decide on the look they want, only to become overwhelmed or undecided. Many times we will receive a last minute call from some exhausted and distressed bride asking if we can take over the stress of their DIY wedding project, Though we try to keep the costs as low as possible, this last minute decision becomes more expensive than if they had just hired a professional.

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4. Time to order the flowers!

The flowers your floral designer/florist bring in for you, come from many Countries. It is very difficult to try to contact farms across the world to have flowers arrive within one or two weeks of them being ordered.  At the very minimum, leave at least a six-week window ahead of your wedding week so your florist is able to line everything up. The earlier you plan for your flowers, the less chance for last minute price increases and the more chance you will be able to get exactly what you want.
girl phone

5. Compromise

One of the biggest mistakes when ordering flowers for a special event, is to not be flexible. We know that everyone has a “special” flower in mind for their big day, however, if you are working within a tight budget you should try and be flexible. A florist can do a much better job if you are open with your flower choices. Tell your floral designer what the overall look, feel, and color scheme is, and then let them create it. If there is a specific flower that you absolutely do NOT want, voice that opinion as well. There are lots of choices in the world of flowers.

6.  Trust the Professional

When you sit down with your florist/floral designer, or any one of the vendors that you are considering hiring for your event, communicate your vision, likes, dislikes, and expectations. Make sure that you are absolutely comfortable with their ideas and suggestions. Hire someone you like and feel comfortable with. Most of all, trust that your designer wants to make your wedding as perfect as you have been dreaming it would be.  Many of the best professionals in this business actually do lose sleep ahead of each event, running through THEIR list of things to do and remember to make YOUR event the best it can be.

professional

Now go out and have yourself a wholesale flower-filled, excellent occasion planning day!

Thankfulness and Other Things…

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This week’s blog is about being Thankful. We 2 girls have lots of things that we are thankful for. If I were to list them in order it might go something like this:

  • Family
  • Friends
  • Good health
  • Enough for shelter, food & safety

We have a list of those things we’re thankful for, but…. sometimes give us a few headaches along the way:

  • Children
  • A business that we own
  • Husbands (with selective hearing)
  • Mother’s who are alive and well, but sometimes want to help a little TOO much

Then there’s that list of things, we’re thankful for and yet…

  • Did I mention children?
  • Overly nervous or indecisive clients
  • Quickbooks & Excel
  • Vendors, salespeople, suppliers who just don’t get it…

And then… there’s THAT list… the one we keep in a dark, hidden place. We’re  thankful, but it’s just too scary to contemplate why:

  • We 2 girls actually still LIKE each other!
  • Our husbands actually still LIKE us!
  • We have minds that still work… well… sometimes. Okay, when the gremlins haven’t invaded and moved things that we know we put right THERE……
  • Skype. So we can call to each other pretty much every minute of every day that we’re NOT together.

Remember, it’s that time of year to be thankful for what you have… even if it doesn’t seem like something you should be. They are all part of life and usually end up being the stories that MAKE life so interesting.  Be mindful to keep those important ones in plain sight. Even when times get rough…. even when the gremlins attack.

 

No go out and have yourself a thankful, wholesale flower-filled day!

 

I Cannot Wait To Be Done…

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Sometimes we poke around other people’s blogs. We confess. Sometimes We are just at a loss as to what to talk about! We two girls sometimes just end up staring at one another with the proverbial guns drawn thinking, THAT is dumb, THAT won’t do! So, in the case where, like today, we want to write and the block is there, off we go blog subject hunting. Lo and behold, we came upon this idea and thought hmmmmm… good one.

We bet ALOT of people that are planning weddings/events get to a point and think:

I CANNOT WAIT TO BE DONE WITH ALL THIS!

Planning a wedding, or any kind of event is not for the fainthearted. Planning a BIG wedding is even less so. If organization is not your strong suit, then it will be tougher still. There is so much emotion, as well as, organization that comes with planning a life event such as Weddings, Bar/Bat mitzvah, Quinceaneras and the like.

For a long time the event IS perpetually a non-stop think fest, with a constant filling up of  to-do lists, searching for ideas and wondering if you made the right decision. It is a driving force or an annoying dream that keeps badgering you about things you don’t want to think about right now. Making unreasonable demands on your brain when all you want to do is sleep. This stultifying living situation somehow becomes the norm for you, until one day….finally….you come to realize, it’s all done, you’ve gathered everything you need,  you must trust your vendors and come what may.

So, for those of you still in that planning vortex here’s a short list to keep in mind:

1. Interview each vendor, be comfortable with them, and after you’ve hired them… let go and move on to the next . Don’t keep going back changing, redoing, reworking . Trust that your first idea or two, was your best.

2. Take a break. Pick 3 top items to do first. Let’s say Venue, Caterer, Wedding Gown & Bridesmaid’s dresses. Then.. take a week or so off before you start on the next part of your list.

3. Keep a time line. With a list of what needs to be done and keep to that timeline. Don’t jump around and do #1 then #10 then #5. Make an order… and keep to it. That way you won’t forget anything along the way.

And last but not least…

4. Calm down. Be aware that not everything will go EXACTLY as planned. But, for the most part, everything will go like it should. Whatever doesn’t… will be a really funny story to talk about later on. One of those things that will become family legend.

So, really what  I’m saying to all of you who are still in the planning stages is, that it gets better. One day, you will not have to think about weddings or events anymore. You will not care about weddings anymore. You won’t even really care about your own anymore! You’ll be like “Did I really get THAT crazy? over that?? What was I thinking!?”.  The thing is when you’re knee deep in wedding blogs, magazines, and every one else’s opinions… well…You’re NOT thinking. So I say, Stop! Relax and smell some roses. Remember, this too shall pass.

Now go out and have yourself a rose smelling, calm and sweet, wholesale Flower-Filled Day!

 

 

5 Important Questions! Can You Answer Them?

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We two girls meet a lot of potential clients. We network in vendor groups, we show our work at bridal shows and talk with a lot of brides. We introduce ourselves to different venues and establishments that would use our services and give out our cards in the hope that we are referred to YOU!

With all that we do, sometimes we have to ask ourselves….

WHAT HOLDS NEW CLIENTS AND BRIDES BACK FROM RESPONDING TO OUR INQUIRIES?

We’ve attended many seminars and webinars on how to be the best vendor possible. With quick email response, texting if it is preferred and calling to set up appointments. We pride ourselves on having a fast response time to inquiries and giving excellent customer service no matter whether you have booked or are still in the planning stages.

We want to be your go-to flower company for both wholesale DIY girls and full service floral weddings/events. So! if you are reading this, we would LOVE your input! Simple answers are perfect! And if you are a past client, even better! Please,  let us know what worked for you. What made you choose us?

So, go ahead, email YOUR answers back! or text them…We’d love to hear from you!

QUESTIONS:

1. Are you so inundated with wedding related email that you just get overwhelmed and don’t respond to any at all?

2. Would you be more likely to open an email if the subject line is interesting/funny/different?  Or from a vendor you remember?

3. If you have reached out to us with an inquiry and we replied with a question, would you be inclined to reply back?

4. If you inquire about our services and we respond asking for a telephone consultation or a meeting in order to get all the bridal information we need to give you a quote, would you be inclined to disregard the email?

5. Do you go to wedding shows mainly to just gather the names of vendors and check out their work and would rather them not contact you afterwards?

If you have any suggestions, please let us know! We want to hear from you! We are excited about what we do and we want to be the floral company to make your wedding flower dreams a reality!

Now go out and have yourself a fabulous, wholesale Flower Filled day!

 

5 Tips For Beautiful Wedding Flowers

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We two girls at Brides N Blooms Wholesale and Designs want you to know that we care about our customers.

This is not to say that other “florists” do not, but, we become VERY invested in ours. We care enough to tell you that a particular design may not work well, or that a comparable look can be created with different flowers to save you money, but, will give you the same “feel”.

Below you will find some tips that we would like to share with you.

  • Look at the big picture:

If you chose a venue with a great view, don’t obstruct it with tall centerpieces, you’re paying for the view. On the other hand, if the location is stark, with no windows, open up the room with designs of high and low. This gives your guest’s eyes several places to look for beauty.

  • Double duty flowers:

Bouquet in Eiffel Tower vase

If you want to save money, why not reuse some of your bridal party flowers?

Your bouquet can be placed in a beautiful vase, on your table, and the bridesmaid’s bouquets can be placed on other guest tables. Have the alter flowers used on the buffet table or on columns at the entry to the reception area.

  • Don’t limit yourself to a singular color:

Lots of brides want to match the flowers to the bridesmaid’s dresses, if you do this, when you look at your photos later on, you will not really see the bouquets at all, they will be blending in with the dresses. Try and use a complimentary color along with the dress color, this will help your photos to pop.

  • Size and shape of bouquets:

We all see beautiful bouquets in magazines & Pinterest, but, when you choose your bouquet, make sure to remember your height, & your dress style. Most girls are not 6ft. tall, and wearing haute’ couture dresses. If you are an average size or shorter, and you are wearing a fitted gown, try and envision yourself carrying a bouquet that will help to show off your lovely figure AND beautiful wedding gown. You are the star of the show…the flowers should enhance your look, not hide you.

  • Table size and design:

Try and think of your flowers as jewelry for your tables. If the table is small, you will want to adorn with smaller styles. If your tables are large, you will want to have a larger design. Large doesn’t have to be tall or expensive, just simply larger than what you would place on a more intimate table

Now go on and have yourself a wholesale fresh flower designer day!