Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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Florists Need Different Things

Your business needs something different than other floral design businesses.

You may need a course to learn to price, or you may benefit most from an in-person training like the Floralpreneur® Workshop, and you might need more personal support that only a coaching call can provide.

No matter where you are on your path, there is a class, a workshop or a coach to help walk you through your next steps.

Maybe it’s a class with me, like Flower Math or Website Bootcamp, and maybe you have another mentor that you trust to share helpful, honest insights!

The most important thing is that you choose to learn from people who have a business similar to the type of business you want to have or some other set of skills that you aspire towards!

Why learn tips and techniques you’ll never practically use? (Are you flowering an entire castle in real life? If not, maybe pick another class.)

If you want to learn finer details and foam free techniques, learn from people who use them and test them on weddings and events. How do you repurpose the designs to make it even more profitable and impactful for the customers at the same time?

Part of the job of a designer/business owner is to keep your creative energy flowing by experimenting and trying new things! Try new techniques in a group learning setting, or look for a YouTube video to try on your own, but make time to keep learning and expanding your skills. And don’t forget to just play sometimes! Make something impractical or temporary, just because you can! (We played with tulips on the bulb from von Trapp Flowers at our workshop!)

Even though so many floral designers work mostly alone, you don’t have to grow your business all alone! Collaboration is part of growing your business. That’s why every month I meet with floral designers in my Patreon membership and if you want to join us, Click Here to become a Flourishing Floralpreneur® for $29.

There isn’t “one right way” to run your business, so make sure to set your own course and run your business, your way! Followers, fans and likes can’t be the goal–keep doing beautiful work and stay profitable!

If you need any help along the way, reach out to get in touch.

xo. -Alison Ellis

Special thanks to The Goose Chase Cake Design for collaborating on our cake display and Isora Lithgow Creations for the photos from our workshop!

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Rules and Boundaries for Your Floral Business

What guidelines do you follow in your business?

As a floral business grows and matures, certain boundaries and rules are required to maintain a profit and feel proud of the work you do.

Saying “yes” to every request is not feasible in a small business, so how do you decide when to say “no”?

Oftentimes, we learn through circumstance and bad experiences, but rules and boundaries provide a path for success and clear expectations.

First, let me clarify the difference between a boundary and a rule:

A boundary is something that you do to hold yourself accountable, however, a rule is something that you expect others to do.

Photo from The Floralpreneur® Workshop 2023 by Isora Lithgow Creations.

When you establish a rule in your business, it’s up to you to communicate that rule to customers.

This communication happens on your website, in-person conversations and e-mail correspondence as well.

How can your customers follow the rules if you don’t explain what they are?

The same is true for establishing your own boundaries!

 

Hold yourself accountable by setting a boundary and make it a new guideline in your process.

 

For example, here are a few questions you can ask to help set boundaries as a business owner:

  • What is your minimum order? How much do you require to go out the door with an arrangement and turn a profit?
  • What are your operating hours? When are you closed, away from your desk, or on vacation?
  • What is your profit goal so you can pay yourself and all of your business expenses?

Here are some rules your business could establish:

  • When final payment on a wedding or event is due and what happens if payment is late.
  • Whether your delivery driver leaves flowers if no one is home or calls ahead to arrange a delivery time.
  • Refusing to send “secret admirer” or other “anonymous sender” enclosure cards for the recipients’ safety.
Photo from The Floralpreneur® Workshop 2025 by Isora Lithgow Creations.

The boundaries you set in your business may differ from others and that’s OK.

In fact, it’s a good thing to be different!

Here’s a boundary in my home-studio business:

I stopped doing Valentine’s Day flowers about 20 years ago.

Now, this may sound bonkers bananas based on the traditional retail florist model, but there are a few really good reasons why I don’t do Valentine’s Day and most of them are related to the freezing cold temperatures and snowy conditions in Vermont!

  • My garage studio is unheated so I have to bring flowers up and down the stairs of my basement to work.
  • Every single arrangement has to be wrapped in plastic to protect from the winter cold. This is time consuming and a hassle!
  • There are sometimes many inches of snow the week of Valentine’s Day here in New England and I’d always worry about deliveries.

After a few years of soliciting Valentine’s Day orders, I decided this holiday hustle wasn’t for me! There are flower shops that can do this work and I can send people to them. And this gives me time to focus on the things I do better than Valentine’s Day flowers!

Now, here’s an example of a rule in my business:

Final payment is due at least 3 weeks in advance of any event so that I can order flowers. If payment is not received, flowers will not be ordered.

  • I communicate this rule upfront when clients are booking so there’s no confusion.
  • I reiterate the terms before the due date to help guide the clients.

If you want to see exactly how I explain the rules in my business, you’ll find them inside my Wedding Templates here! Including my E-mail Templates, Wedding Workflow, Proposal and Contract for Florists!

Photo from The Floralpreneur® Workshop 2025 by Isora Lithgow Creations.

We learn by doing in business, but you don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to client communication and healthy boundaries and rules. That’s why I created these templates for florists to make it easier!

If you need any help from here, let me know.

Upcoming Workshops:

You can join me for a free training this month in the Marathon Mindset Summit Feb. 23-24th!

Meet me at the Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Florist Association Annual Convention March 20-22nd!

Come to Vermont for the 2026 Floralpreneur® Workshop, April 19-21st! Seats are extremely limited.

And if you’d like to inquire about individual coaching calls, click here for details and we can set up a time to talk.

Keep doing beautiful work!

xo. -Alison Ellis

Photo from The Floralpreneur® Workshop 2023 by Isora Lithgow Creations.

 

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What I Bring To Every Wedding

What tools should a floral designer have on hand for a wedding day set-up?

For my entire career as a wedding florist, I’ve been working to streamline my day-of delivery and set-up process. I don’t want to lug around anything I don’t need, but I was brought up with the saying, “better to have and not need than to need and not have.” So I’ve definitely been guilty of bringing things that I don’t really need! (And I almost always have an umbrella.)

One thing that hasn’t changed much over the last 24 wedding seasons is my bag, which I lovingly refer to as my “bag of tricks” (because let’s face it, we are making some magic on the wedding day after all!).

While you won’t see me pull a rabbit outta there, I do have a few key tricks to share with you if you’d like to see what’s in my bag. Take a few moments to watch now!

After you watch, I’d love to hear from you, so feel free to share a comment on this video to let me know what you bring to your wedding set up and installations as well.

And if you’d like to come deeper behind the scenes of my business and join me for monthly Q&A calls to ask me anything, you’ll find a ton of my best tips and trainings as a member of my Patreon Community.

In fact, last month on Patreon, I recorded my wedding design workflow for 2 events and broke that down into 4 videos that are a little over an hour in total. Everyone who joins at the Flourishing Floralpreneur® membership level has access to all 4 parts.

Membership on Patreon ranges from totally free to $29 per month and there is no commitment! So if your business needs a boost, you can hop into my vault of trainings specifically for floral designers, take any tips that you need and edit or cancel your membership anytime.

As always, if you have a question, don’t hesitate to ask. We can even book a one-on-one call if you’d like to talk about your specific business goals or struggles. You can learn more about booking a 1:1 call with me HERE.

Keep doing beautiful work!

xo. -Alison Ellis

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Wedding Florist Design Prep Tips

How do florists pull off a big event weekend?

Well, it starts with some serious planning and preparation. Because poor time management, staying up all night to get the job done, or designing just about everything on-site is not really an option when you’re promising to deliver professional work on time.

So to show you how I’ve learned to manage my time to stay on task, I spent the week filming my workflow for a busy weekend with 2 weddings to bring you inside my planning schedule and design process!

You can see here how I get started, but the full week of design work is over on Patreon inside my Flourishing Floralpreneur® Tier.

 

I decided to document my workflow because this was a busy week as a solo designer, but I also knew it could be a great one! And I’m glad to say that it was. I had happy clients, everything was delivered on time, and even the forecasted rain didn’t appear!

If you want to take a closer look, I break everything down for you inside my Patreon Community–including the sales and profits on the two events! Click here to join me on Patreon with no long term commitment at all. Take the tips and training you need, leave anytime.

And as always, if you have any questions for me, don’t be shy! I’m here to help.

xo. -Alison Ellis

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3 Things To Do When Sales Are Slow

When sales are slow, what should florists do?

Lately, as I talk with floral designers–either in my free Facebook group or in 1:1 Coaching Calls–there’s a common theme that keeps reoccurring and it’s the simple fact that sales are down so far this year.

It is understandably concerning when sales are slow, but what should you actually do about it?

Since complaining won’t help and worrying isn’t pro-active, what steps can florists take today to face the financial reality of a slower season?

Take a few minutes to tune in as I share some real steps you can take in a down season to try to get yourself back on track.

 

Remember: I’m a real florist, too. I am passionate about teaching practical, proven business strategies, but I don’t just teach! I’ve been running my home-studio business for 22 years and I experience the same ebb & flow of the wedding market just like you. That’s why I always share real, honest advice to help you improve your own sales systems. (And I don’t just show up when I’m selling something! I’m here to support you along the way.)

Keep doing beautiful work and let me know if you enjoyed this video or have any questions for me!

xo. -Alison Ellis

 

Learn More About Alison Here

 

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