Several months ago Nancy Liu Chin wrote an incredible article about the state of affairs for floral designers in the wedding industry. That article was called Bear, Bear, Bear and can be seen here on Nancy's wonderful blog The Brown Bag.  Due to social media, the article flew across the country causing all of us, as event and wedding designers to reflect on the state of our industry. It was like the shot heard around the world. After many comments, from many different businesses across the country, myself included, Nancy suggested that we all meet at Wedding 360 for a flower summit.  Jean and Jubilee of wedding 360,  teamed with Nancy and Sean Low to create the Flower Summit. 

 

Sean Low is the founder of The Business Of Being Creative.  As his tag line mentions he offers practical advice for those in the business of being creative.  I had heard  Sean speak before in Washington DC, but found his knowledge a lot easier to swallow on this trip. I primarily did not relate to him because I thought he was all business. I wondered where is the love, the passion?  I am all heart, soul,and passion, and I don't understand chatter about business. What I realized is, he has the same passion and drive I do, it is simply about business. When I am spouting off the flowers I love,  no one but a florist could possibly decipher what I am saying. When he talks about business, it sounds to me like he is speaking Greek. In this smaller setting we were able to ask him questions and the pace slowed enough that I could begin to grasp the concepts or new language. It can be embarrassing to own and operate a fairly large business and admit you do not know the business lingo. Asking questions in this very comfortable setting at Wedding 360 was awesome.  

 

20 different businesses in the floral and or event design industry met with Sean at the Summit.  As you can tell from the pictures we were all glued to our seats.  It became very clear, in a very short time that this was something that needed to keep on happening. Open dialogue with those in our industry is a huge benefit to our businesses.  Many of you have written me and told me how sorry you were that you missed this opportunity. Lucky for you, Wedding 360 has announced another event in November, this time on the East Coast.  I stand behind this event 100  percent, this was the best investment in my business I could have ever made. One that I also believe will contribute hugely to my family life as well. If I can manage my business better, I can spend more time with my family. 

 

Here I am with Jean one of the co-founders of Wedding 360. I am beyond grateful to Jean and Jubilee for their efforts on this whole event.  I would be happy to discuss this trip and my experience with anyone who has questions, so feel free to call me up. I learned so much I could never share it all in a few blog posts.

 

I made so many friends at Wedding 360.  I need a lot of help right now, and I am not ashamed to admit that, finding the help and advice was the issue. I now have endless resources and friends I can reach out to. We have been sharing information non-stop since the event, ideas on websites, blogs, spreadsheets, software, products,  and staffing. I am so excited about having all of this information available to me.  Thankful for Wedding 360 would be a huge under statement.  I LOVED IT!!