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

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

What Do New Florists Need To Know?

What do new florists need to know?

Well, frankly, a lot! And after over 25 years in the floral industry I am amazed at some of the basic flower care fundamentals that are missed along the way.

How are these floral fundamentals missed? Because there isn’t 1 straight line into floral design. I trained in traditional flower shops for 9 years and earned a B.S. in Plant & Soil Science before staring my own floral business, but florists often fall into flowers (hence the name of my book, Falling Into Flowers!), which means there’s a lack of uniformity around specific flower care knowledge and industry standard protocols, in addition to all the “business stuff” I’m always teaching in my courses and my Facebook group.

One of the biggest issues new florists face is a fear of asking embarrassing questions–I hear it all the time, “I’m too embarrassed to ask in your Facebook group, but….”

I’ve learned though if one florist has a question, that means that most likely many others have a similar question, so I am dedicating the month of April to Newbies!

What questions do you want to ask?
What basic flower care issues do you have?
What are you too afraid to ask out loud that you’re really eager to get an answer to?

Click here to ask me anything anonymously (or include your name and e-mail if you’re interested in talking further with me). I have a lot of wonderful floral friends I can reach out to to answer your questions, too, so if I don’t have an answer for you, I will get one! Now’s your chance to ask anything!

Florists must dedicate ourselves to continued learning (and unlearning) to develop strong roots that allow us to create long-lasting fruitful floral businesses. Never stop learning.

FYI I share “Everything I Wish I Knew Before Starting My Business” in my free eBook and you can grab it HERE.

Keep doing beautiful work, Floralpreneur®!

xo. -Alison

Learn more about Alison HERE!

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Should Florists Charge for Proposals?

A question I’ve seen florists ask more often than usual this year is: Should I charge for proposals?

This is a BIG question and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer, but in today’s livestream I tackle some of the things you’ll want to consider before implementing a new proposal fee. Click to watch!

A few key points to consider:

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Who Is Your Ideal Customer?

How do you define an Ideal Customer?

People talk about finding “ideal clients”, but it’s rarely defined.

The simplest definition of an ideal customer is: someone you want to work with over and over and over again.

You may have more than 1 ideal customer (multiple income streams sometimes have multiple customer avatars).

Click to watch this super short video on Why you want to get to know YOUR Ideal Clients!

We dive into this very topic in Week 1 of The Art of Good Business, which starts LIVE Jan. 8th.

You don’t have to join me live, but I will be here every Friday in January to walk you through the course.

Learn More HERE!

Ideal customers choose your brand easily.

They are willing to pay what you charge.

They love your website.

They love you/your personality and/or your sales staff.

They get to yes, easily.

In short…

In order to make your social media attract the right customers, you need a clear idea of who you’re actually taking to!

Ideal customers say, “this is for me…she’s saying what I’m thinking!”

You want your ideal customers to read your sales copy and think “yes, this is for me”.

Does your website and social media reach your clients like this?

If not, I can help!

Click here to learn more about The Art of Good Business!

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog and watch my tips.

Keep doing beautiful work, Floralpreneur®.

With love from me to you,

Alison

P.S. If you have any questions for me about the course or whether it’s a good fit for you, request a free 20-minute call here! I’m happy to hop on a call if you have questions for me.

This is truly one of the most valuable and in-depth courses I teach and I would be honored to have you join me if it sounds like a good fit!

By Alison Ellis Leave a Comment

How do you handle cancellations?

should you cancel your 2021 wedding or event

Will weddings and events happen in 2021?

That’s the question that a lot of vendors and couples are starting to ask as new mandates are announced in many states—including my home state of Vermont.

I’m starting to see scenarios repeated in my Facebook group regarding how to handle the new cancelation or postponement requests. This is a really important question for everyone to answer because we are ALL going to get these requests. They are coming soon.

I am in this with you–I know how it feels to anticipate what lies ahead for us in the wedding industry.

One florist wrote:

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