How Can The Wedding Industry Be More LGBTQ+ Inclusive

Are you a wedding professional who’s inclusive of LGBTQ+ couples?

If you’re in the wedding industry and consider yourself and your business to be welcoming to all couples, there are some initial steps we must take to show our love and support.

What steps are you taking to ensure clients feel truly safe and welcome?

I’m happy to introduce you to Michelle Lane today. She’s a recent newly wed and in this conversation she shares what it was like to plan her wedding and some of the vendor missteps she experienced along the way. Michelle has had a long career as a singer, actor and dancer, and now, she teaches, too! When she lost her creative outlet during the pandemic, she turned to flowers and is now part of my floralpreneur community!

We sat down today to talk about how the wedding industry can be more inclusive of LGBTQ+ couples when planning a wedding and I hope you will enjoy the conversation and take some small steps today to be even more welcoming and celebrate all people.

Click to watch:

Some of the things we talked about include:

Assumptions-We have to stop making them!
Pronouns-We have to share them and ask for them!
Fix your Contact Forms if you have gendered language that’s not inclusive.
Clients look at your website and ask, “Am I represented?”
If you’re not considering LGBTQ+ couples in your marketing, clients won’t feel safe & welcome.

When wedding vendors prioritize inclusivity and diversity, we begin to align our beliefs with our business practices to help create a more equitable world.

Thank you for tuning into our Inclusion Conversation today. Let’s keep the conversation going and keep striving to create safe and welcoming event spaces for all people!

xo. -Alison

A couple of links:

In this conversation Alison mentioned the Wedding and Event Vendor Alliance (WEVAVT.org). WEVA helps wedding professionals become better allies by creating safe, inclusive and anti-racist event spaces through self-education and community development. We are always welcoming new members. Learn more about joining WEVA as an ally here!

Michelle mentioned in our initial conversation that she had a hard time finding templates for LGBTQ+ wedding invitations and I asked if she heard about Dash of Pride. Dash of Pride believes that wedding planning should be fun, which is why they provide easy, judgement-free shopping so you can celebrate your love, your way. Click Here to see the products available at dashofpride.com

Note: I had the opportunity to meet Jenna Szyluk, owner of Dash of Pride, along with my colleague, Maricela Ehmann, for a discussion during Pride Month which you can find HERE.

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Marketing Workshop for Florists and Wedding Pros

Do you want to attract better customers to your business?

If you’re unsure how to “get yourself out there” so customers can find you OR you’re getting inquiries from clients who aren’t a good fit and simply can’t afford you, what are you going to do to change that? How will you level-up?

The truth is, the more intentional you are in your marketing strategy, the more ideal customers you’ll attract.

If your current marketing plan is focused on beating an algorithm, instead of speaking directly to your ideal clients, that’s a big mistake! That’s why I’m inviting you to join me for a FREE Marketing Workshop on Tuesday, Oct. 26th at 12pm EDT/9am PDT.

Click Here to Sign Up

When you sign up, you’ll get some of my BEST marketing and branding tips, plus you’ll be the first to know when my Marketing Minicourse is on sale!

In this free workshop I’ll share:

Marketing mistakes small businesses make
How to attract better clients to your business
Why you need a more intentional marketing strategy
AND I’ll address your questions LIVE!

Click Here to register!

An intentional marketing strategy is the first step to booking better clients!

An Intentional Marketing Strategy Needs To:

Eliminate Confusion & Establish Trust
Communicate Your Brand Story
Help You Get Found Without Paying For Ads
Add Clarity and Purpose to Your Website & Social Media So Customers Are Excited to Book You!

Does your current marketing plan do all that? If not, this workshop is for you!

Click Here to Sign Up

Make sure to join me live so I can answer YOUR specific questions! I look forward to seeing you there!

xo. -Alison

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Take Control Of Your Business

Every florist I know has been “way too busy” for months now and the stress and burnout is palpable.

If you’re feeling like you’re on a hamster wheel lately and you know it’s time for a conscious shift so you can reset, I’m here to help!

Watch the replay below of my Live Chat on How To Shift From “Way Too Busy” to “Back In Control” of Your Business. In this video I’ll walk you through 6 Questions to Answer so that you can make a plan to move out of overwhelm and become the leader your business needs you to be NOW!

Grab a pen and paper (or you can watch while you’re designing). At the 20 minute mark I share some mistakes I see florists making lately–don’t miss those!

One of the questions I asked in the live chat is: When’s your next day off?

If today’s NOT your day off and there’s no “day off” in sight, I want to nudge you to schedule your time off now! Take 3 minutes to look at your calendar and write down which days you are NOT working between now and the end of the year. Then, it’s up to you to stick to it and actually take the time off.

Is finding time to post on Instagram one of the things that’s stressing you out?

Do you have your social media posts planned out for the rest of the year? What about for the month of October?

If you’re posting content without a marketing strategy, you may be posting content that doesn’t attract the right customers! That’s why you need a plan for your posts for thru the end of the year. If you want a blueprint for your Instagram and blog posts, I share 5 Prompts every month and you can grab them on my Patreon Creator Page: Click here to become a Marketing Maven today.

Members in the Marketing Mavens Tier have access to several months worth of social media prompts right now, PLUS a ton of other behind-the-scenes lessons including The 3 Keys To Booking Great Clients, so you can reach more ideal customers and book clients more quickly.

If you’re ready to simplify your posts so that your branding message actually speaks to your ideal clients, click here to become a Marketing Maven.

There’s no commitment and you can unsubscribe any time.

As always, thanks for taking the time to watch and read my “stuff”.

Keep doing beautiful work.

With love from me to you,

Alison

Click Here to Learn More About Alison!

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What Do Florists Bring To a Wedding?

How do florists set up a wedding?

When I was first starting my home-studio floral business almost 20 years ago, I often felt like I was pulling a rabbit out of my hat on the day-of a wedding. I was passionate about weddings and flowers and running my own business, but I was still “new enough” that I was making a lot of it up as I went along. Sometimes, I didn’t know if I’d even finish setting up on time. Luckily I always did, but the pressure is real when you’re a wedding pro because there are no do-overs (and we are expected to make magic)!

As I gained experience, I developed systems to streamline my wedding-day set-up, as well as my entire week-of-the-wedding prep, and I know that whether you’ve been a wedding florist for 1 year or 20 years, you’re always learning something new! For example, over the last several years I’ve been working to cut out floral foam in my weddings and that’s changed my day-of and week-of prep!

FYI I’ll be sharing my recent #foamfree wedding mechanics and week-of tips inside my Patreon Creator Page this month. Patreon members get access to my best tips for booking weddings and you can ask me anything so if you have questions, I’ll answer them here! I’ll be taking members inside my week-of prep for an $11,000 wedding including the foam free mechanics I used (and then reused the next weekend, too!). Click here to access my Patreon page!

Today, I want to share this behind-the-scenes look at my “bag of tricks” so you can see what I bring with me to every wedding day set-up. It’s so important to have the right tools for the job–click to see what’s in my bag!

Remember: I’m continuing to answer the question: “how do you actually do a wedding” for the florists on my Patreon Creator Page, and you’re invited to join me there! Access starts at just $3 and you’ll unlock a ton of tips and lessons on how to book better clients, build a strong brand, and design beautiful weddings! Click to join me.

Patreon is a place where artists and teachers create content for their Patrons. There is no obligation–you can cancel your subscription any time. Hop in to grab the tips you need, hop out any time.

Do you have questions for me? I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. You can learn more about me here.

xo. -Alison

Additional Resources for Florists:

Find more tips on Wedding Day Prep HERE.

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Wedding Day Prep

What do florists do on the morning-of a wedding?

A florist asked me recently, “How do you actually do a wedding?” She knows how to price it. She knows how to book it. But how do you actually “do the wedding”?

After 19 years of designing weddings in my home-studio, I shared my Morning-of Wedding Prep with my Patreon membership* and you can see a small sample of how I get started below.

*Patreon members can ask me anything and get access to a ton of tips and training videos to help you book clients consistently, build a solid brand and create high quality work year after year. Membership starts at just $3, but you can unlock more “stuff” with each membership tier.

Click to watch this short 2 minute clip:

In the full video on Patreon you’ll see:

How I tie and box bouquets
How I present bouquets to clients
How I pack centerpieces for delivery
How I prep a #foamfree arbor
Pictures of my work and the full ceremony set-up

Now, I know that no one wants another “membership”, but if you want to book clients with more ease and ask me anything about how I run my business and execute events, Patreon is the perfect place for you! (click here to join me!) There’s no commitment and you can cancel anytime.

What else would you like to know more about?

Ask me and I’ll turn it into a video lesson you can access any time as a Patreon supporter.

Thanks for making time to watch today’s clip of my wedding day prep.

Keep doing beautiful work!

xo. -Alison