by Diana Warner | Feb 17, 2018 | Vendor Love
Jessica and I have been brought together to work on a couple’s wedding this coming fall. We met for the first time as we did a walkthrough of the venue together. Now I have seen some of her work and follow her on Instagram, but it’s even better to see her work in person. I cannot wait to see everything she pulls together.
Photo by: Frank Graziano Photography
What is it that you do?
Blush is a wedding and event only floral studio. We design flowers for the ceremony such as Bridal bouquet, Bridesmaids, Groom, Groomsmen, Family, Hair pieces, Altar decor, Aisle decor and have rentals including an arch, urns and pillars. For Reception we design centerpieces, head table, bar, cake and all accent tables. We offer rentals for centerpieces to keep costs down for our couples along with votives, assorted pillar candles, lanterns, vases and so much more! We also deliver and set up at both locations and come back that night to clean up our rentals! So no need to worry about returning items to us.
Tell my readers a little about yourself and your history as a florist.
I was graduating high school and had no idea what I wanted to do. My mother asked me if I would be interested in going to floral school with her. She wanted to buy a flower shop. We have been designing ever since!! She closed her shop 5 years later and I went to a shop owned by a funeral home. We focused on funeral work and everyday work and I was just not happy. I started Blush in 2009 to focus on what I loved to do, WEDDINGS!! Mom now works with me as my second designer. It is so nice to work together and be creative together!
Why did you choose to do what you do within the wedding industry?
Weddings just make me smile, plain and simple! I get goosebumps when my couples tell me how they met and their stories. I just love love. It is so rewarding to bring someone flowers, especially on the biggest day of their lives.
What trends in the wedding industry are you loving right now?
LOVING the natural garden look. Lots of mixed greenery, love the different textures. Soft, romantic blush and golds, mixed metals.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
When the bride sees her bouquet! All the stress of ordering, making sure it is perfect when I get the product in, design time and everything else melts away when you see how happy you just made someone!
What would be the most common mistake couples make when it comes to your business? (i.e. booking late,etc.)
Booking late. In the past it was common to book your florist last, 3-6 months was typical. Now we are booking 2 years out! Nothing is worse then telling a couple we are already booked for their date.
What is your ideal day at work?
All of my flowers come in fresh and beautiful! Exactly what my couple wanted!!
What is your ideal day off?
Walking on the beach!
Describe yourself in 3 words.
Fun, Creative, Driven
Who inspires you and why?
My mother. She is the most supportive and creative person I know. She has gone through her own battles and came through with flying colors. She is the reason I am a floral designer and has supported me in my career every step of the way. She is an incredible artist, painting, drawing, floral!, upholstery, clothing design…she does it all!!!
What are three things you cannot live without? (Not including humans and pets)
The beach!!!! Fast cars and Pepsi. Ha Ha.
What are you reading, listening to or binge watching right now?
Flash back to the 80s! I’m on an 80s music kick lately.
What is your favorite thing to do, or place to go, in the Northeast Ohio area?
I love the outdoors. Finding new trails to walk, new beaches and beach glass and fishing
What would you tell your 16 year old self if you could?
Stay a kid as long as possible. Heck, I still watch cartoons though haha
What is your favorite dessert?
Spanish Flan
What is your favorite drink (alcoholic or non)?
Pepsi!
Thank you so much to Jessica for taking the time to answer some questions. I look forward to being able to work hand in hand with her in the future, and hopefully you are able to use her services for your wedding day. She really does beautiful work!
If you would like to reach out to Jessica to talk about her floral services, please do so at:
www.blushcustomweddings.com
Phone: 440-319-9002
Email: blushweddings@hotmail.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/blushcustomweddings
Facebook: www.facebook.com/blushcustomweddings
by Diana Warner | Feb 9, 2018 | Etiquette, Wedding Planning Tips
Communicating to your guests that you are having an adults only wedding is not so much about how the wedding invitation is worded, but more so how the actual invite is addressed.
First let’s talk about ways that you can include the information within your invitation. The more elaborate your wording the better. Most people know that a “luxury hotel” or “famous art museum” are not child friendly. That being said you can also place the words “adults only”, or something similar on the reception cards.
Please join us at an adults-only reception at…….
Children are welcome at the ceremony but the reception will be adults only.
The best when you feel you will get a lot of pushback is to place the blame on your venue choice:
Due to restrictions (or space, etc.) at the venue, children under the age of 16 will not be permitted.
One more way to get the information to your guests is to include it on your wedding website. That way it’s not on your invitations but the information is available for people to see. Also making sure your immediate family and wedding party are aware so that they can field those questions from guests as they come up.
Really the item you should be focusing on is the envelopes. When addressing your wedding invitations they should be addressed specifically to the people that are invited.
For instance: Mr. and Mrs. Mike Jones.
To back that up you can add special wording to your response cards:
We look forward to celebrating with you!
____Adults will attend
____Sorry to miss it
Or something that I always recommend to all of my couples to do, is to call out how many seats are reserved for each invitation:
We look forward to celebrating with you!
___Seats have been reserved in your honor
___Adults will attend
___Sorry to miss it
Then when you are assembling your wedding invitations you fill in the number of seats that are reserved.
The options I touched on above are the most common ways for people to make sure that their wedding day is for only their adult friends and family. They may not work for you, and that’s ok. There are quite a few other ways to address this situation and I highly suggest talking to your designer so that they can help direct you as to what would work best for you.
In the end, when you do everything you can on your wedding invitations, wedding website, and have had extensive conversations with parents that want to bring their kids. You may still have someone that shows up with their child in tow. It happened to me at my wedding, so I know how it goes. First thing, take a breath. It is not the end of the world, it will not ruin this special day. You picked an awesome caterer that is prepared with extra meals and you have nothing to worry about. Enjoy your wedding day!
ON A PERSONAL NOTE: As a wedding planner I have ran into the occasional couple that absolutely refuses to budge on the no children rule for their wedding day. I ask those people to take a look at a few things before they make a decision. One, is the person wanting to bring their child extremely important to you? If so, you need to be prepared for one of two things. One, you bend the rules and let them come. Two, they don’t come to the wedding. If you’re ok with them not attending the wedding then stick to your guns.
The other thing I ask them to look at is if this person is a new mother (aka under one year old). I implore you to bend the rules in this situation. As a new parent, it is EXTREMELY difficult for some to leave their child in the first year, even more so under 6 months, 100% so if the mother is nursing. A child under one will not need their own food and most parents are aware to remove their child if it is crying or causing a scene. If you’re that worried, you can have an usher take them to specific seats and explain it is for their convenience to be able to remove themselves to care for their child if necessary. That can get the point across very sweetly. OK, off my soapbox now. Thank you.
by Diana Warner | Feb 2, 2018 | Vendor Love
The first time I talked to Jessica was through a local Facebook wedding resale group. She had commented on someones post about cutting boards that she created for a client. I reached out to get more information and to see some examples and I was floored at the beauty of the wood creations that is created through Wood Thingamajigs.
What is it that you do?
We are a local woodworking company. We specialize in custom work. We make everything from wedding signs, cake stands, bride/groom/wedding party gifts and so much more.
Tell my readers a little about yourself.
I was born and raised in Norwood, Massachusetts. In 7th grade, I took wood shop and found a love for woodworking! After high school I went to and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. After finishing active duty I moved to Northeast Ohio and started this company.
Why did you choose to do what you do within the wedding industry?
I have long had a passion for weddings. It’s a true pleasure to use my passion for woodworking to make a mark in the wedding industry.
What trends in the wedding industry are you loving right now?
We love that we are seeing more modern trends. From clean lines to bold colors.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
The fact that I love what I do and love going to work every day!
What would be the most common mistake couples make when it comes to your business? (i.e. booking late,etc.)
The more information the better for us. Most customers come to us with a vision in their minds. They support that with pictures. If you can show us pictures and say I like this but not that we can definitely recreate what’s in your minds eye.
What is your ideal day at work?
A busy one with a full order list. 🙂
What is your ideal day off?
Time relaxing at the beach. But I haven’t had a day off since I started the company. And I couldn’t be happier about that fact!
Describe yourself in 3 words.
Creative. Organized. Goal-oriented.
Who inspires you and why?
I’m inspired by the idea of setting a good example for my children. I want them to go on in life and see how hard mom and dad worked and see what we got out of life because of our efforts.
What are three things you cannot live without? (Not including humans and pets)
Tough question! Considering all of my business is run with my phone, that is one of them. Next would be great tools to work with. Finally, our loyal customers that come back again and again.
What are you reading, listening to or binge watching right now?
I am reading a book called “Purple Cow”.
What is your favorite thing to do, or place to go, in the Northeast Ohio area?
The beach!!!
What would you tell your 16-year-old self if you could?
Don’t give up on your dreams! Work hard and they will come true.
What is your favorite dessert?
Strawberry Shortcake
What is your favorite drink (alcoholic or non)?
Jack Daniels with Diet Coke and a lemon.
Thank you so much to Jessica for taking the time to answer some questions.
If you would like to reach out to Jessica to talk about what she could create for you, please do so at:
www.woodthingamajigs.com
Phone: 440-525-0848
Email: Jessica@woodthingamajigs.com
Instagram: @woodthingamajigs
Facebook: @woodthingamajigs
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