I'd like to introduce you to one of Floral Occasions' newest team members, Randi. She started with us during a very busy wedding season last year and we are oh, so happy she has joined us! I went through a grueling hiring process to find the right fit for a new assistant extraordinaire that could help me with the social media and be a great design assistant. Let me tell you, I hit the jackpot!! She is sweet and smart, motivated, a quick learner and the fact that she has a natural ability to design is something I didn't anticipate but sure admire.
What made you leave a Human Resources career to start working with flowers?
Honestly, the “Artist” in me started to come out…I couldn’t hold it in any longer, and I had the support of my husband to say, “I’m doing this!” Also, my mom always had flowers growing in her garden that she would pick and arrange around the house. We grew dahlias, roses, freesias, hibiscus, succulents, cymbidiums, gerber daisies, ranunculus…everything. I think floral design has always been a part of my life in some way.
What do you love most about working at Floral Occasions?
Our team, the brides, and the flowers! I remember my VERY FIRST day I helped with a wedding, Stacey handed me a pack of two dozen roses and told me to clean and prepare them. I was like “wait, I get to TOUCH flowers on my first day!” Whoopee!! We have fun together, trust each other, and get to make couples happy on their big day. What’s not to love?
You just got married yourself. What advice would you give brides about flowers that you wish you knew then?
I did DIY centerpieces because my mother had experience arranging and working in a flower shop. My advice for DIY flowers, is to do a full-on (no cutting corners) sample before the wedding. Don’t wait until the night before with buckets and buckets of flowers and try to put something together….it's too stressful. Doing an exact sample ahead of time allows you to see how much room you’ll need to transport, how many flowers you’ll really need, and to make sure that your design is actually feasible.
OTHERWISE, my advice is to find a great floral designer, bring lots of inspiration pictures, and TRUST them on your wedding day. Part of paying for a professional is about knowing that they have the experience, professionalism, and know-how to make your day perfect.
What is your favorite flower and why? My favorite flower is the Ranunculus. It always looked like the petals were thousands of luxurious layers of tissue paper, and it comes in so many colors!
Since you do most of the social media for Floral Occasions, who are some of your favorite bloggers, facebookers, and tweeters?
This is a loaded question. Working for Floral Occasions and as a bride planning a wedding, I have spent thousands of hours scouring the internet for the greatest stuff.
WeddingChicks.com is amazing. They have the coolest FREE printables and always have beautiful wedding features. When looking for advice,
WeddingBee.com was my favorite site because you are literally talking to other brides who are planning their weddings. You can post pictures of your ideas and others will comment. It’s an amazing tool (they also have an amazing DIY portion)!!!
GreenWeddingshoes.com,
The Knot,
Ruffled Blog,
Style Me Pretty,
Pinterest.com, and
Etsy.com are some of my other favorites. There are just too many to include! :)
All photos were taken by
Studioworkz Photography. They are the kindest and certainly very talented photographers (a husband and wife team), and it was so great to work with them. Please check out their website
here. The hand bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages were created by
Jenny B Floral Design.
Please take the time to welcome Randi! We are so happy to have her as part of the team.
