"With a growing network of event designers and wedding florists, US-based Corrine Heck plans to strengthen the luxury floral market with Details Flowers Software in the UK, too! We asked her to share her thoughts on event floristry."
By Corrine Heck
I grew up in Florida, where my family had a flower nursery business. I was constantly around plants and flowers and studied at the University of Florida, where my interest in event planning evolved. After university, I began working in a retail florist shop, looking after incoming e-commerce orders. I always wanted to become a designer, so in 2001 I moved to a high-volume retail florist. I then worked for an import flower broker, selling flowers to wholesalers, and we eventually moved to the northeast coast of Florida, where I opened my first floral boutique.
I discovered that the business side of wedding flowers was hugely complex. In my previous jobs, there had always been technology in place to assist, but not in floral design – nothing beat my personal Excel templates. In 2007, I set out to build and develop an online application that would help my business and fellow florists and Details Flowers Software was born.
Over the years, I’ve seen the industry shift from retail-focused to event-driven. Supermarkets providing more floral elements have changed the industry's landscape. If you’re not in the events business, like weddings, corporate events, or funerals, you’ll likely have taken a hit over the last ten years. We’ve found that the florists who have evolved to incorporate events into their weekly routines have managed to carve a unique niche to excel.
The main challenge facing the florist industry is communication. There needs to be more transparency and understanding between customers, suppliers, teammates, and growers. At Details, we connect the many dots in the supply chain to help florists sell more flowers and enable wholesalers to waste less.
Proposals are the main selling feature for an event florist. This is why it’s so important that they’re visually pleasing. The faster florists can create their vision for the client, the faster sales will come. Brides love imagery; Pinterest is proof of that. A good proposal presentation makes florists appear professional, with a ‘wow-worthy’ package to impress. Details Software allows you to add images, designs, and recipes to your event contracts and all the blooms you will use for the entire order in a few clicks.
It’s a big problem that florists are not adequately pricing designs and products. The economic impact of adding a few extra flowers to a few hundred centerpieces can be a massive loss for a florist. With adequate preparation, proper planning, and an appropriate expectation level, the financial part of the floral design can become less frustrating and more easily anticipated. We encourage florists to work at least 300% profit or costs times four for all arrangements.
We recommend florists send their orders to wholesale and supply partners promptly. This might mean three to four weeks in advance to ensure they can acquire the blooms they want. If we give our supply partners a proper quantity and budget, they can make the best buying decisions to help us produce fabulous events. Developing good relationships with our partners is essential to successful event planners and florists.
Luxury wedding florist Paula Rooney, who has recently launched her flower school, was one of the first UK florists to discover Details Flowers Software. “I found it when looking for florist CRM systems,” she explains. “We love it because it creates good-looking proposals, and it includes flower recipes and costs to quickly print worksheets, stem planners, job lists, and delivery sheets, which saves time when preparing quotes and helps us florists to make a profit – allowing more time for training and growing our businesses.” Enroll in one of Paula’s upcoming courses at www.paularooney.co.uk.
As seen in Florist Business December 2018 Edition
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