Spreading her wings

Erin (my intern from last summer) is spreading her florist wings.  Today she took a container, a list of flowers to use and an inspiration photo and no further instruction. She stepped right up, created a design and whipped out 25 centerpieces.

Lots and lots of GINGER

Erin making the armatures.

Table full of finished pieces.

Staying within a client's budget and design requests can sometimes be a challenge.  You can't always add a bit here or there.  You just have to make it work . . . and make it look beautiful!  Erin is definitely on her way to being a great florist.  I'm so proud of her!

  

Three Years Running!

  

About Bride’s Choice Awards™

The WeddingWire Bride's Choice Awards™ 2013 recognizes the top local Wedding Professionals that demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the organization, the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ are awarded solely based on the reviews from over 1.2 million newlyweds. Awards are determined by a combination of four factors: overall rating (quality), total number of reviews (quantity), review performance from 2012 (recency), and consistency of reviews from year to year (consistency). This year's recipients represent the top 5% of WeddingWire's vendor community, across all service categories and all regions throughout the US, Canada and abroad.

Check us out on WeddingWire.com!

New Year - New Space!!

Happy Post-Holiday Season! Like our readers, our staff was pulled all across the state to celebrate the holidays and the New Year with family and friends. As we are all getting back into the flow of events, we have another announcement -- WE MOVED!!! It has been a long time coming and after months of searching and debating we finally found a new home for our shop. Our move will allow us to be more accessible to our clients, and make it much easier for our clients to drop in for a consultation. It has also doubled our amount of space allowing us to have more room to work, store amazing containers, and design even larger events.

Our new space and our personally designed work station. Didn't Althea do great?!

We will be open for business at our new location on Monday January 14th, but we are still available by phone and email prior to that. Between January 7th and 13th, we will be available on a limited basis as we organize after the move. Please call or email us during these times and come see us after the 14th!

We are so excited about our move, and will be posting more pictures of our new space soon. Be sure to keep an eye out!

**Our new mailing address:

2015 C Main Dr.

Fayetteville, AR 72704

(Located in Johnson)

For directions click here: MAP

 See you soon!!

Before

Boxes. Boxes. Boxes. We are slowly beginning to fill up all our shelves and are already talking about needing more!



After

There is so much more to a flower shop than designing arrangements

Hey, this is Althea's "Personal assistant (I like to call myself that),"  Hannah.  The busy wedding season is upon us and the shop has turned into a maze of flower, vases, ribbons, and buckets.  The black and white checkered floors are just a distant memory to us as we weave our way through the items.  From my work at the computer I hear the usual "ugh" as somebody cuts themselves with a wire, or a nice "ooo" as Althea is please with a bouquet that she has prepared for a bride.  As I look up I see hydrangeas, daisies, football mums, and delphinium.  I often wonder if I am in a flower shop or in a wild garden where the flowers are strangely planted in white plastic buckets.  The phone rings, and email blinks in, or I am awaken from my wonderment and realize that I have a ton of work to complete myself.  You see, there is much more to a flower shop than creating flowers.

Four weeks ago I had knee surgery and well, it is hard to carry flowers, stand on your feet for hours, and create arrangements while on crutches.  I have been given the assignment of office assistant.  Until I was "placed" in this position I guess I never realized how much work goes into a floral business besides the lovely arrangements that the clients and public see.  There are hundreds of emails to answers, flowers to order, contracts to write, contracts to rewrite, phone calls to answer, and consultations with prospective glowing brides.  Not to mention the thousands, okay maybe that was an exaggeration, of letters to write!  Every client that orders flowers from us, bride and groom that selects us for their wedding, recipient of our arrangements, and couple with a one year anniversary receives either a handwritten letter or an email thanking them for their service.  I will be going out of the country in five weeks to Lithuania and have been catching up on the letters for the months of May, June, and July.  That's a lot of writing!  There are bills to be paid, invoices to be entered, contact lists to be updated.  Don't even get me started on filing.  I am often reminded of those cartoons that you see where there are people pushing piles of paper all over the office.  Yes, believe it or not, this is a floral shop behind the scenes.

Although it can be stressful at time and very busy for us all, when Austin brings in one of his delicious peanut butter pies or I break into song along with the radio, I am reminded that we are a family and it is this family that makes Rose of Sharon, Event Florist a wonderful place to work.

 

Administrative Professionals Conference 2011

CONFERENCE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday we participated in the vendor fair at the local IAAP conference.  This is the third year we've been a part of this conference and we've made some wonderful contacts each time.

A few photos of our booth...

 The booth after the everyone visited.

 We made these small floral posies for the attendees.  They are a hit every year!

The favorite of 3 bouquets created for door prizes.  We had a yellow one, a pink one and this purple one.  These deep purple carnations were definitely the most commented on!

Design Workshops

The Do-It-Yourself wedding trend seems to be here to stay...or at least for a good loooong visit.  There are mixed feelings about this trend in the wedding industry.  Some vendors hate it; some don't care one way or the other.  And some (like me) are all for it.  Well, I'm all for it with reservations.  If it adds stress to your wedding day, I think you should avoid DIY at all costs.  Talk to your vendors. You may be surprised at what you can actually afford.  

But if you love the idea of making your wedding even more personal, do-it-yourself projects are a great way to go.  

Flowers as a DIY project can be tricky.  With fresh flowers, you really are on a tight time schedule.  This isn't something that can be done months or even weeks ahead of time.  You are pretty much limited to the two days before the wedding.  

To help with the planning of a successful DIY floral project, we suggest practice! Learn what it takes in materials and time to create the designs you want.  Take class--or two. Buy the materials and practice at home.  But DON'T wait until two days before the wedding to try for the first time.  This path can easily lead to tears, frustration and STRESS.

Still interested in floral DIY?  Did you know that you can schedule a Bridal / Large Event Workshops for you and up to 11 of your closest friends/helpers/wedding slaves?  The Workshops are designed to help the Do-It-Yourself bride or host. We will meet with you to decide on the style of arrangement and the flowers you want to use for the event, then schedule a class where we will show you how to create that design, using the flowers you've chosen. This allows you to plan enough time to create multiple arrangements for the event. Oh, and you get to keep the arrangements you make!

If interested in booking one or more classes, please click here to complete the CONTACT FORM.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comments? Questions? See below...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shown in Celebrate Magazine

See full article here: (pg 46-48) CELEBRATE APRIL 2011

Celebrate April 2011

Our first time at "Exclusively Yours Bridal Expo"

Bridal show # 2 for the year.  My favorite both set-up EVER!  Even though the weather was chilly, our booth was full of spring...can you tell which flowers are fresh and which are permanent?

Cherokee Casino in West Siloam Springs, hosted the 2nd annual 'Exclusively Yours Bridal Expo' this past Saturday.  I'm glad to have been a part of this show and hope to work more with Cherokee Casino in the future!

Arts Live Theatre and Rose of Sharon

This past weekend we started a new program with Arts Live Theatre, Northwest Arkansas' children and youth theatre company.  Small bouquets will be available for purchase before each show, and a portion of the profits from each sale will be donated to ALT.  




ALT just finished 'Anne Frank and Me.'  My stepdaughter's best friend was in this play, and it was riveting!  We went on Thursday night (the 2nd performance of five).  It really is amazing what these kids can do with just a few props and a stage.  


I had a great time watching the cast and crew prepare before each show.  I could see how much fun they were having and how close the group had become.  And these kids really put a lot of effort into the productions!   By Sunday, you could see that everyone was tired--5 performances in 4 days is tough!  And they do it on top of school and other obligations as well.  

The next performance will be 'Oliver Twist' with performances March 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th.  'The Secret Garden'  will be April 14-17, 2011.  We'll be there with flowers and support...hope you will be, too!

1st night: buckets of flowers and materials.

Sweet Words!

After a long weekend that began with cancellations and rescheduling due to snow, we've completed the first wedding of the year and made it through Valentine's Day.

I woke up this morning this in my inbox:
      "Thanks so much! I heard they were beautiful! They stayed at the office.  I guess the receptionist thought so too since she had the arrangement alone on her desk away from the table full of others and the card was facing her.  It took my wife a little long to find it because it looked like it was hers!"


Words like this make it all worthwhile!

A few designs from yesterday...

  

  

  

WeddingWire Bride's Choice Awards 2011

Fayetteville, AR– January 26, 2011} - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, is thrilled to announce Rose of Sharon, Event Florist has been selected to receive the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for Flowers and Décor!

Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.

Rose of Sharon stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is honored to celebrate the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire community,” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program, WeddingWire has the unique opportunity to recognize the best wedding professionals across the US and Canada. We applaud Rose of Sharon for their professionalism and dedication to enhancing the wedding planning experience last year.”

We are happy to announce that Rose of Sharon, Event Florist is among the very best in Flowers and Decor within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for nominating us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at Rose of Sharon WeddingWire Storefront.

For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com. 

Featured in CitiScapes

The January issue of CitiScapes includes their annual Wedding Planning section.  This January, one of our bouquets was featured...  

River Valley Bridal Extravaganza 2011

For the first time, we will be exhibiting at the River Valley Bridal Extravaganza.  The Extravaganza will be held this Sunday, January 23 from 1pm to 4pm at the Kay Rogers Park Expo Center in Fort Smith.  (MAP)

Bridal Fairs can be overwhelming.  As a bride, you'll be on the receiving end of tons of wedding information.  You'll be asked over and over, 'When's your wedding?'  And you'll be asked to sign up for prizes, drawings, and mailing lists. 

So, to help you enjoy the day a bit more, here are a few tips...

"...you'll be on the receiving end of tons of wedding information...":  Think about who you want to visit with.  If you already have a florist, let us know when you arrive in our booth. We still want you to look around (Hopefully, you'll change your mind and choose us instead!), but if you're sure about your current florist (or other vendor), don't feel like you HAVE to take our information.  It will also save you time, if you know ahead of time which vendors you want to visit.    

If you want more information about a vendor than is provided at the show, ask to schedule a consultation.  We're inundated with brides during this limited amount of time.  It's hard to remember that you wanted pink roses to go with your honeysuckle (the 2011 color, by the way) dresses, while another bride wanted white hydrangeas and absolutely no pink roses!  In a consultation, you'll have our undivided attention! 

Realize it will be crowded.  If you don't like crowds, avoid arriving when the show starts (1pm).  But don't wait too long.  Most vendors start leaving when the fashion show starts.  

"...You'll be asked over and over, 'When's your wedding?' And you'll be asked to sign up for prizes, drawings, and mailing lists...":  Bring address labels with your name, wedding date and contact information.  You can order pre-printed labels, make your own, or get a self-inking stamp.  Just bring something so you don't have to fill out the same information at each booth.  (We ask for this information because we want to know who visited us during the show.  We also want to stay in contact with you after the show.  So, if you prefer NOT to get further info from a vendor, be sure to make that known.)  

Bring your camera. There's no better way to remember an idea you liked or a vendor you want to work with.   

"... to help you enjoy the day a bit more..."  Visit our booth! During all the craziness, take a few minutes to relax and 'smell the roses.'  We hope to see you on Sunday!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 Words

Last week I sent an email to friends, clients and colleagues asking for 3 words describing the Rose of Sharon.  With the responses I created this word cloud.

Off Beat Bride

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We're now listed as a vendor on OffBeatBride!

http://vendors.offbeatbride.com/2010/rose-of-sharon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~