Starbright Floral Design in New York City has started pitching floral design bars as a fun activity at events.
Corporate work comes in all shapes and sizes, be it lobby pieces, arrangements for employees or clients, décor for company parties or staging for a catalogue shoot.
Recently, Starbright Floral Design, a New York City shop deeply entrenched in the corporate world, discovered a new strategy to wow business clients—and encourage them to spend more money on flowers.
When A2 Events, a party planning company based in South Florida, contacted Starbright about providing décor for a June 9 soiree at The Andaz 5th Avenue (a boutique hotel belonging to the Hyatt Family), owner Nic Faitos and his staff suggested going a step further by making floral design an active part of the festivities. The Andaz, Faitos knew, boasted a spacious private courtyard—the perfect setting for a flower bar where guests could design their own bouquets.
The client bit. Starbright sent over 10 different varieties of flowers representing about 25 different colors, as well as a designer and an assistant to orchestrate the process. Each guest selected five stems, fillers and greens, which the Starbright employees tied with twine, then wrapped in tissue and white butcher paper. “We put a pick in the flowers with the guest’s name in calligraphy,” Faitos said.
Starbright charged $1,800 plus tax and delivery for the service. “Our budget formula was $20 per person, with a $1,500 minimum,” Faitos said. The guests loved it, ergo, so did the client. And The Andaz posted a photo of the flower bar on Instagram, prompting a fan (incidentally, the CEO of a concierge beauty company who has 19,000 followers) to ask how she can get in on the flower bar action. There’s also no telling how many guests caught the “flower bug,” and will become regular Starbright customers.
“It was highly profitable and we intend to frequently sell this as a fun thing to do at events,” Faitos said. “It sure beats sending guests home with gift bags!”
