Cielo's Garden Open House

Calling all 2016 and 2017 couples getting married at or interested in Cielo's Garden! 

OPEN HOUSE: Wednesday, May 18
5-8 pm
Appointments available but not required

Cielo's Garden is one of my absolutely FAVOURITE wedding venues in Manitoba. The clear topped tent is so unique and really allows for the beauty of our summers to take centre stage, and the stone chapel in the woods is SUCH a dreamy place for a ceremony. Seriously, this place is just amazing, and I'm so excited to have quite a handful of amazing weddings there this year. I can't wait to show you everything that I've dreamed up with my brides! 

On Wednesday, I'll be there at Cielo's with some floral tablescapes and ceremony decor, showing you different ideas for the room to be worked with at different budget points. I'll also be available to schedule flower consultations for your 2017 weddings, and I'll be hanging out with my pal Amanda of Amanda Douglas Events, who is one of Winnipeg's very TOP wedding planners and coordinators. She offers both day-of coordination and full wedding planning, and she also loves working at Cielo's (and FYI, we love working together!). 

And now, here are a few pretty pics from a wedding I did at Cielo's last summer with Amanda and with Simply Rosie Photography!

OUTDOOR GARDEN WEDDING VIDEO

It's so wonderful to see photos (and video!) from my summer weddings. Ashley and Scott were married at her parents' stunning property in the the country, and then a tented reception in their garden. Check out my bouquets and a few peeks of the decor in this video from Prairie Film Co!
(and PS, I just LOVE the couple behind the camera - Jordan and Lauren a sweet, sweet engaged couple, and I'm actually going to do their own wedding flowers this coming summer! Be sure to check out their availability for your own wedding!)

Mother's Day Flowers - Orders Now Open!

Treat your momma right this year! Mother's Day is May 8 - are you ready yet?

I'm really excited to be offering Mother's Day flowers this year, to help you show your mom how special she is. On offer this year are fresh, springy cut bouquets, in 3 sizes:

Mini ($15 each) - 1 stem of garden rose or peony with pretty touches
Standard ($25 each) - standard cut bouquet with springy mix of flowers
Premium ($75 each) - medium size bouquet with the addition of premium flowers (peony or garden rose)

Pick up available from our North Kildonan studio on FRIDAY, MAY 6 between 12-7 pm.
Delivery available to specified neighbourhoods on SATURDAY, MAY 7 starting at 11 am.*

*Delivery is available to: North Kildonan (free of charge!), East Kildonan, West Kildonan, Bird's Hill, and North Main.
$7 delivery charge plus applicable taxes. 

WE'LL ALSO BE POPPING UP AT JENNA RAE CAKES ON SATURDAY, MAY 7! BOUQUETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE BAKERY FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED.

ALL MOTHER'S DAY ORDERS NEED TO BE PRE-PAID AND PLACED BY FRIDAY, APRIL 29.
PLEASE NOTE THAT AS EACH BOUQUET WILL BE MADE FRESH, THEY MAY NOT BE EXACTLY AS PICTURED. 

Flower Friend Day - Winnipeg Wedding Florist Design Day!

One of my favourite days of 2015 was when I got together with a bunch of my Winnipeg flower friends, and we had a design day out at Lily Stone Gardens, cutting our own flowers and designing just for fun. So this year, I thought it would be fun to have another design day but do it a little differently. 

It's always fun to design for ourselves, but I wanted to add a twist: surprise flowers! We gave our wholesaler a colour palette and a budget, and asked them to surprise us with the flowers. We ended up with some amazing product, and it was really fun to see how each of us interpreted the flowers differently. Some of these flowers were varieties I've never worked with before, or wouldn't normally order, so it was a cool learning experience for me.

So, here are some photos from our day with Victoria Anne Photography!

I love these new copper bowls that I brought in as a centrepiece rental. Aren't they gorgeous? You can see them in action here, in my latest Budget Friendly Wedding Centrepiece post!

I love these new copper bowls that I brought in as a centrepiece rental. Aren't they gorgeous? You can see them in action here, in my latest Budget Friendly Wedding Centrepiece post!

Why I Will Always Keep Learning

It is so important to keep learning.

As a business owner, it can be incredibly easy to find yourself stuck in the day-to-day, working through invoices, wholesale orders, timelines, vase shipments, and so on. Sometimes, when you're stuck in those things, it can be hard to remember to dream. And if I never started to dream in the first place, then I certainly wouldn't be where I am now--so why would I allow myself to stop dreaming for the future? 

Becoming stagnant is one of the worst things that a company can do. Take the taxi industry, for example. Every taxi company did all the same things for how many years...until Uber came along. And with one little app, the company is changing the entire industry. Perhaps, if one of those other taxi companies had dreamed a little more along the way, they wouldn't be suffering so much now.

As a business owner, the last thing that I want to do is become stagnant--the idea of offering my brides the same things as every other floral designer, or the same style and offerings that have been available to Winnipeg brides for the last how many years--well, that thought just doesn't interest me at all.

So, how do I keep learning and growing? Well, I'm going to be out of the studio next week, heading down to Dallas to learn from one of my flower idols, Bows & Arrows! I love the opportunity to attend workshops and aim to do so once a year. For the last two years, I've gone down to North Carolina to attend Team Flower Workshop where I've expanded my design skills, studied business applications, and grown my mind in wonderful ways. I've taken online courses on bouquet design, centrepiece design, ceremony design along with wedding styling and the less-exciting topics of taxes and finances. And I've loved ALL of it. 

So, with that, I'll leave you all the promise that I will keep learning and growing, investing in my craft, always with the goal of providing my brides with the best possible wedding experience I can give them. 

Photos by Holly Carlisle Photography from my time at Team Flower Workshop last spring.