Destination Asheville Wedding Flowers

When Life Gives You Lemons....Make A Pretty Wedding!

2011-06-29T15:49:00.000-04:00

We had the most fun doing this incredible cute and BOLD wedding at the Crest Pavilion this weekend. I loved the color palate that the bride chose: black, slate, and lemon yellow. It was perfect for a sunny summer day! We did three different type of centerpieces: floral, lanterns, and a cube of lemons and looped Lily grass.

Between the like color and diversity of shapes and sizes, these made a great impact without having to cost an arm and a leg!

Janet did a spectacular job on the bride's bouquet of yellow mini Calla lily, Dusty miller, and a mix of foliage, grasses, and pearls. Doesn't she look like a Greek goddess?! Stunning.

Emily whipped up a beautiful matching boutonniere for the groom.

The bridesmaids carried sheath style bouquets of stock, Vendela rose, and yellow spray rose. it looked so good against their soft gray dresses.

The ceremony site was designated by our super duper floral tiki toches, billowing sheer fabric, and a breathtaking view. This is why we LOVE doing weddings at the Crest Pavilion!

What we really had a blast doing was the cake and dessert display. Incorporating the lemons again, we used four 4" cubes filled with the bright citrus goodness to act as the cake stand. Cool, right?! Then Janet, in her infinite patience and appreciation to detail, braided, yes braided Lily grass! This went around the base of the cake stand. Compliment all of this with some extra Calla lilies, some stunning Vendela roses, river rocks and mossy rocks, and bam! That is what I call a cake display!

Congratulations to the lovely bride and groom! We hope you are sipping on some great lemonade on a tropical beach!!

What Florists Never Tell You, and hope they never have to

2010-03-22T18:41:00.000-04:00

IT'S ABOUT TIME....it really is about time. It's about the time involved in consultations, emails, gathering information and doing proposals. It may be time you take for granted. For us florists it's literally hundreds of hours out of our usually busy days.

It's time that must be covered in our pricing. It's time that we keep in mind when we price out your wedding. Time equals money.

I usually spend 2 hours per day answering emails from brides (or affiliated parties) about their weddings. Another couple of hours may be spent making minor adjustments to the original flower proposal.

A "normal" flower proposal takes 2-4 hours work-time. This time is built into our pricing. Minor revisions (add a boutonniere, subtract a corsage or change color of a flower) are also normal parts of this process and built in. Major changes and revisions are not. Major revisions require an additional expenditure of time which must be recovered.

I try to keep "time = money" in mind when I prepare for a consultation. If I save time I save you money. One of the most important items on our Pre-Consultation Questionnaire is our request for your budget. The one area that wastes the most time is a clients refusal to tell us her budget.

It's not a trick question, We're not trying to gouge you. We simply NEED to know what neighborhood we're in prior to opening our design portfolio. If I know what your budget is and how many pieces you need for that budget I can show you designs that fit. I don't stumble around showing you 50 designs that don't fit or you wouldn't be interested in.

I can do a beautiful wedding for $500. I can do a beautiful wedding for $5000. What I can't do is a $5000 wedding for $500. Refusing to "give up" your hoped for budget leaves both the above options on the table, and usually results in many extra hours of us having to re-work the proposal to finally get to that unknown "bottom line". What should have taken 2-3 hours has turned into a long drawn out 10-12 hour process....TIME = MONEY.

Don't say you haven't thought about a budget and you have no figure in mind. You have and you do. Telling me that figure will only help you in the long run.

This is important for you as a client because this time/money must be recouped somewhere. I have the power to say to my designers..."Oh, make hers nice, put extra in if you need it, here; add some of this, she's been really easy to work with".
What you don't want me to have to say to my designers is..."we're already not making anything on this one, count every stem and make the design smaller to fit the stem-count if you must."

We'll do everything in our power to give you the wedding of your dreams at a price to fit your budget. Think of your relationship with your florist as a partnership....it works best when there's communication!

Florist Consultations, what to expect.

2010-02-25T19:07:00.000-05:00

Once you've selected the date, time and place for your ceremony and reception it's time to begin contacting other vendors including your florist. Knowing the colors & style of your maids gowns is helpful to know at this point also.

Many plans can be started using email by zipping ideas and pics back and forth. It's becoming more common doing all planning this way. We sometime only meet our bride on her wedding day. Technology is an amazing thing!

For f2f mettings you will need to make an appointment. Most wedding specialist have 1 person (experienced in designing and planning) do these consultations. Prior to the face-to-face consultation we ask you to complete our Pre-Consultation Questionnaire and return it to us along with any pics you've collected.

Seeing your ideas and personal style helps us to translate your concepts and special requests into workable floral designs that are personalized just right for you. Knowing your budget range is another integral part of this process. Generally speaking you can budget aproximately 10%-15% of your total wedding costs for flowers & decor. Knowing your budget helps us make more appropriate suggestions. It saves us and you time, floundering and frustration.

Bring with you to the consultation any sketches, ideas, cut-out pics or photographs of flowers you like or your scrapbook. Bring pics of your gown and the bridesmaids dresses, along with swatches of fabric if you have them available.

During your initial consultation, we'll discuss specific design ideas that fit both your personal style and budget. Although we're familiar with most local venues, if yours is an unfamiliar one we may request to make arrangements to visit it. Having contact info for the venue coordinator is helpful.

After the consultation we take the ideas presented and begin to work up a written proposal. This usually takes from 1-2 weeks. At any time up to this point you may choose to book our services and reserve your space on our calender by utilizing our "Hold The Date" deposit. While this is our process, individual florists each have their own system. Ask your florist what their process is.

Once we send you the itemized proposal a deposit of 25% is due. Our goal is to give each bride her dream wedding within her budget without expending excessive time on ladies who are still "shopping". We are happy to make any changes you may request after we receive your deposit.

Enjoy the process. Picking and planning the beauty that flowers add to your day should be one of the most fun parts of your wedding planning process. Relax, have fun.....enjoy the ride!

Wedding Shows

2010-02-04T09:33:00.008-05:00

Wedding festivals and shows are a great way to connect with your wedding vendors. You can get a feel for how your personalities might mesh and a view of the product they're offering.

As a florist I try to show a large variety of the items we offer. Not only do we bring 12-15 different wedding bouquets, we also show rental items such as vases, canopies/arbors, aisle decor, reception decorations and ceremony pieces.

What is your favorite part of wedding shows? Tell me.

Choosing your vendors

2010-01-22T11:16:00.022-05:00

I could have titled this "Brides Beware". Since the growth of the wedding industry these past few years, more and more people are jumping into the boat by presenting themselves as "professionals". I would caution any bride to carefully question potential vendors:

> How long has this person been in that profession (be it floral, baker, photography, venue, make-up or planner? This is important to "weed-out" vendors who have bought an exhisting business and have very little actual hands-on experience doing the work themselves. Do you want them to practice & learn on your wedding?

>How many weddings per year does this individual or business handle? Again, a question to weed-out inexperienced vendors. Good - Professional vendors usually do upwards of 40 weddings per year.

>Ask to see multiple examples of their work. True professionals love showing you photos of work they've done and will have an extensive portfolio. Question to make sure you're seeing examples of their work.

>How long has the vendor done their particular trade/work in the area? Beware of vendors who are relitively new to the area. You're better off with more experienced vendors who are familiar with the possible peculiarities and special needs of your venue and area. Most venues have "Recommended Vendor" lists, pay attention to it!

>Ask vendors to recommend other types of vendors. As a florist, I know which venues go out of their way pleasing clients (and which well known one couldn't care less). I know which ourdoor sites are glorious to work in (and which one becomes a mud-pit in rainy weather). I know which bakers make beautiful and yummy cakes (and which one showed up with smudged crooked designs on a cake that tasted like it came from a grocery). I know which photographers know how to shoot beautiful photos of flowers (and which one showed up in muddy slacks & boots). I don't usually get to hear the band or DJ unless they arrive early and practice. I have tasted the food from most area caterers. Every vendor has similar stories.

> Look at their website. Is it professional looking? IS IT THEIR WORK!!! Beware of "canned" sites showing work produced by others (clue, photos tend to be lettered/numbered with longer designations. 6-8 characters).

Do you want your wedding to be the one that inexperienced (or incompetent) vendors learn from? Every EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONAL out there has made mistakes (once).....and learned from them. That's the nature of the human condition, to make mistakes. When you choose an inexperienced vendor you're giving them permission to make their mistakes on your event.

Last season I hired a person, to help out with a small simple event prior the rush of our wedding season. She was new to the area but supposedly a professional. Her website showed beautiful work with great use of color, texture and composition. Thank goodness I learned ahead of the Spring rush that what she presented as "her work" simply couldn't have been. She couldn't produce the simplest mono-floral bridesmaids bouquets. Everything I paid her to do had to be re-worked. Today, this person continues to attract brides with her site. I can only imagine their disappointment upon seeing the completed bouquets and decor.

Your wedding day should be one of the highlights of your life. At The Enchanted Florist Asheville we honor this and commit ourselves to creating dreams. Let us create yours!

Whew...almost

2009-12-31T15:01:00.003-05:00

What a season, it has seemed to go on and on and on....last wedding this weekend. And then a week break before the Asheville Wedding Festival. Can't hardly wrap my mind around ideas of what we'll do there. But, never fear...I do have a few ideas up my sleeve.

We're also in the process of having our website updated, FINALLY! It's been over 2 years since we've made changes to it. When it was built in Sept. 2007 we had very few digital photos of our work so it was not easy to make it look good. We put on almost every pic we had, just to fill it up. I know of 1 wedding we recently lost because the bride used the florists websites to make her final decision. She told me she loved what we showed at the Sept. Wedding Festival and presented to her at the consultation and in our written proposal, she just had to base her final decision on what she saw on the websites and ours was not the best looking. Ouch! I got the message!

Here lies a lesson. I had all intentions of having it reworked last fall and let it slip thru the cracks, lost in the back of my mind...and it costs us. Makes me wonder about other "good intentions" that I've waylaid and what the consequencies of those are.
The link above leads to our site....still mostly the old one as I write this but will be fresh and new within the next week or so. I've spent a lot of spare time these past few weeks combing through my files choosing photos. Boy, that was hard!

The new site will have links to our Facebook page, this blog and Twitter....gosh I feel so throughly modern!
Guess we're bringing in the new year right....freshening things up! Hope everyone has a Happy and Sucessful 2010.....Happy New Year!

2009-11-12T10:17:00.006-05:00

I watched Flowers Uncut on TLC again last night and while it wasn't as drama-filled and exciting as last week, Jeff Leatham again proved himself a professional. Again I saw situations I could identify with...

I've been at this over 30 years and I've done every one of these and more! I'm just waiting for the episode when he has to hoist an employee up to climb in a high skinny open window to "break-in" the church because the venue staff was all "to busy" to come unlock the doors so we could set up the event.

Here's what we identified with last night;
*Trying to keep flowers from wilting while producing an outdoor event.
*Last minute unexpected (& unplanned for) clean-up of fingerprints on containers.
*Expensive and vital vases breaking on-site,
*Having to fill those same humongous vases with tons of heavy water.
*Again, having to invent a Plan-B on the fly
*Totally amazing our clients when they see what we've done for them (my FAVORITE part of the job)

...and last weeks identifying moments;
*Product not arriving or arriving wrong color,
*Last minute schedule/time-line changes that throw all pre-planning out the window,
*Having to schlep designs into slow cramped elevators and down "miles" of tight hallways to event site,
*Adding a last minute job to an already tight schedule then figuring out how I'm going to do it,... Read More
*Getting stressed and becoming hyper-critical to staff,
*Having supposedly "professional" temp-help that couldn't design their way out of a paper bag ...and
*Having to invent a Plan B on the fly.

I applaud his nerve in allowing a camera crew to follow him around and film every unflattering thing he does. I sure wouldn't want it! Have I always cut flowers the exact "proper" way? Hell no! If I'd had the deadline of an event that size suddenly change & become 2 hours sooner than planned I'm sure I would have broken flowers over my knee if I could have.

Truth folks, good bad or indifferent, I think the exposure that he's giving us as an industry will only help. The guy does pretty work...period. Doesn't matter how many times he does the same thing, if it looks good the public will like it and therefore like us.

Thanksgiving flowers

2009-11-11T11:58:00.003-05:00

This one if for our non-florist friends. Follow the link above for the chance to win free flowers for your Thanksgiving table. We all know everything is better with flowers so pass this along to all your friends. It's simple and easy.

Have a great day, even if it is rainy outside, it doesn't have to be rainy inside your head!
Janet

Flowers Uncut

2009-11-05T08:27:00.006-05:00

Watched the first show last night of Flowers Uncut with uber designer Jeff Leatham. If you missed it be sure to catch it on rerun, TLC channel. Great show.

What hooked me was how even with his budgets of $80,000 he still dealt with the exact same issues I do with a considerably smaller budget. Namely; flowers not arriving as planned, flowers coming in the wrong colors, debating whether to add on that last minute extra job (and wondering if we can handle it), getting stressed and becoming hyper critical with staff, having staff that doesn't produce the quality work I expected, dealing with deadlines that suddenly change without notice (the absolute worst stress), expensive vases getting broken, having to schlep designs from some distant workspace into a slow cramped elevator down long winding hallways to the event setting and trying to invent a Plan B on the fly....not that us at Enchanted Florist Asheville would ever do any of that (wink-wink).

I think all wedding and event professionals deal with all the same issues whatever our budgets. The difference between a PROFESSIONAL and someone with little experience is that the professional IS able to handle the problems and create something of beauty in spite of them and sometimes beyond what was planned.

This is something you may want to think about when your friend or neighbor offers to help by doing your flowers. Your wedding day is much too important to trust with anyone other than a professional. In future posts I'll talk about what to look for when choosing a florist and what information you need when going into your consultations.

From the ashes

2009-11-04T11:02:00.002-05:00

Just got the word from Joe Lasher about plans to rebuild the barn at Claxton Farm. His message follows...
"We are all saddened by the loss of our historic Barn at Claxton Farm. As you may or may not know, M7 Event Solutions was essentially formed on that Flat Top lawn in front of that old barn in February of 1996 when Martha Ann Claxton and I met to discuss possibilities. Over the last 14 years, we’ve grown into the company that we are today. The barn evolved with our company over the years with the addition of lights, then restrooms, then stage and bar area modifications. After that came beverage equipment, refrigeration equipment and more storage. A new roof was added and more electricity to accommodate the growing demand. We modified and modified the old barn, always trying to keep the rustic simplicity and charm. It is tragic to lose all of the history and effort that went into making the barn what it was in the end.

I was out of town when the fire occurred Monday evening and cut my trip short. As I drove across NC, I thought of all the personal events that have happened for me in that old barn. My son’s first birthday party; my grandparents 50th anniversary; my sister’s wedding; my tenth anniversary celebration; and countless other personal moments. I did not know what emotions would flow when I saw the charred remains of the building. As I rounded the curve and turned into the gravel drive leading up the barn site, my spirits were lifted. Yes, the barn was gone, but the view and setting were more clear and more majestic than I’d ever seen. I realized that I was experiencing Claxton Farm like I did the FIRST time I met Martha Ann in the winter of 2006. My heart and mind were flooded with possibility!

Shortly after I arrived at the site and had spoken with the investigators, I moved to the side of the Flat Top to reflect on the situation. Porter Claxton drove up and exited his vehicle. We met on the Flat Top lawn like we have 1000 times before, but in this new setting. His first comment was “Joe, this has opportunity written all over it”. He doesn’t know it, but he got the words out before I could.

Folks, I want you to know that the plan is DEFINITELY to regroup and rebuild. And, although the old barn is a tragic loss, we have the opportunity to recreate all that was GREAT about the barn….the charm and simplicity of design….and put it into a fully functional event venue that will allow us to introduce even more people to our mountains and the majesty of Claxton Farm through events held well into the future. We are meeting and discussing this immediately and regularly and will continue to do so until the plans are in place and construction has begun.

Please forward this letter to all past, present and future Claxton Farm Clients. The need to know that we have set up a BLOG at www.claxtonfarm.blogspot.com that they can visit for updates and to share their comments and stories. I strongly encourage anyone that is considering their event at Claxton Farm in 2010 to go forward with securing their date now. Plans will be unveiled over the coming weeks. If they are dissatisfied with the direction we are going, then deposits will be refunded. I truly believe that we are taking a huge step to reassure the community and our industry partners that Claxton Farm will REMAIN a premier event destination long into the future.

Thank you so much for your work and efforts during this time!

With much appreciation,
Joe
Joe Lasher, President

M7 Event Solutions & Catering

Claxton Farm burns

2009-11-03T10:28:00.004-05:00

In shock this morning upon hearing of the overnight fire that totally destroyed the barn at Claxton Farm. Feels like an old friend has died. We were among the firsts to provide florals for weddings up there. I think it's been about 12 years now...

Claxton was one of our favorite venues with its beautiful hilltop setting, aged wood tobacco barn and glorious vistas. It provided a unique venue to brides want to immerse themselves and their guests in the mountain experience.

Claxton farm was/is a favorite venue of weddings with families and children. The Llamas, goats and miniature ponies as well as the pond for fishing provided hours of entertainment for little-ones.

I spoke to Amy Dewey with M-7 and she thinks they will probably rebuild, hopefully this winter to be ready for next season's events. Can't wait to see the new structure that will arise form the ashes...reckon we'll have to call it Phoenix Farm!

Time to Relax, ahhhhhhhh.....

2009-10-31T12:37:00.000-04:00

Ah, oh blessed day! As much as I dearly love weddings and enjoy my work with brides, I always look forward to this day each season. Today is the first day since April that I don't have another wedding or event immediately upcoming. I have a whole 5 weeks before my next round of winter holiday parties & weddings begins.

So what do I plan for this break you may ask? One thing is to get out and cut small trees to decorate the Crest Pavilion for the "Winter Wonderland" theme they're offering bride's this winter. Beautiful bare branched trees covered with twinkle lights with votive candles suspended from the branches. Should be so pretty with all the natural rock-work in the Pavilion.

I bet you thought I was going to say I planned on putting my feet up and doing nothing for a month or so, now didn't you?