In the latest issue of Floral Management several florists shared how they’ve reshaped their wedding and events business models, with some putting more energy into that line of work and others abandoning it.
More than 2.6 million weddings are expected this year — the most since 1984 — according to The Knot, whose research anticipates similar numbers in 2023 and 2024. But that record-breaking demand doesn’t mean every florist has every weekend booked for the foreseeable future. In the latest issue of Floral Management, contributing author Victoria Abbott Riccardi spoke with five florists who’ve reshaped their wedding and events business models, with some putting more energy into that line of work and others abandoning it.
Mary McCarthy, of The Blooming Idea in The Woodlands, Texas, hired two full-time workers and one part-timer to take on more weddings, which account for about 25 to 30 percent of her business. “I prefer to the daily work and funeral work,” she says. “I felt if I’m going to increase the weddings and I’m going to do larger weddings, then I’d need more staff to accommodate the delivery and setup.”
To get more attention, McCarthy has started doing more styled shoots at local venues with other wedding professionals (hair and make-up artists, photographers, caterers, etc.) “The wedding photographers take all these professional photos I can use on my website,” she says. “Plus, it’s good networking getting to know different vendors.” She’s also tweaked her website to attract and serve two types of brides. One page advertises full-service weddings, for which she increased her minimum to $3,500. Another shows an à la carte menu for micro weddings so brides can immediately see the cost and style of bouquets she offers.
In New York City, Nic Faitos is taking a different approach with his business, Starbright Floral Design. “It’s not that we don’t do weddings,” he says. “We just don’t pursue them. We do them very, very selectively and only through referrals from our existing clients.”
When Faitos started Starbright in the fall of 1994, he cold called office managers around the city, eager to break into the business-to-business market. Now, his clients are primarily Fortune 500 companies. Their annual events, including galas and holiday parties, are faster to book, more lucrative, and less time consuming than weddings.
Learn more about these and other approaches to weddings in “Joining the Party?” in the May/June issue of Floral Management.
Katie Vincent is a senior contributing editor for the Society of American Florists.
