I have always always loved wedding design. Next to my family, the act of caring for a bride or groom has been my whole world and life. As you know, I also love flowers so the mix of nurturing people and providing flowers has been so incredibly right for my life’s work. For at least twenty years, my role in the planning of the wedding was very pertinent. I either did full event design and or I was providing a trusted pair of eyes for the families ensuring everything was just right on the wedding day. As a result, I became very close to many of my clients which made all of the work I was doing so very special and purposeful. I’m the kind of person that joyfully works to make people I love happy. While I like being paid fairly for my work, the reward of a new friendship or the potential of a future collaboration with the family or friends is priceless to me. The last five to six years have been incredibly busy in the DC market and things have significantly changed here. Over the years, I relinquished a lot of my contact with the bridal party and their families to other vendors. This happened naturally and slowly, so much so that I hardly noticed my voice was slipping away.

This weekend I received an early morning text from my bride Meg. I did full event design for her wedding last year. Because we worked so closely together last year planning her wedding, we developed a wonderful relationship. So much so, that I am doing her sister’s wedding this year and she even came to Hope Flower Farm to gather holiday designs. Meg was writing to let me know her first baby had been born. It was such an honor to receive this news. This is the very type of ongoing relationship I want with my clients. I was overjoyed that she thought to contact me and that I get to be connected to her entire family. As the day went along, I wore a constant smile on my face and then it hit me. Something incredible has been missing at work. This something has left me feeling empty and lacking and I have not been loving or enjoying my work like I used to. The missing element has been that I have lost direct contact with some of my clients. When I look back over the last 25 years,  many of the brides I got to work directly with have become lovely lifelong friends. Those brides are still in my life today. By relinquishing my relationships with the clients and taking direct orders from other wedding vendors I am missing the big pay off, the very thing that inspires me to design so beautifully, my love for my client.

It finally hit me like a ton of bricks. The only clients I have continued relationships with are the ones I was privileged enough to have contact with. For nearly 20 years that was the way it was, but over the last few years it has only been the case for the weddings I was the lead designer or contact person on. When I do full event Design or am the lead on the wedding I develop incredible relationships with my brides and grooms that lasts a lifetime. I have also noticed that these close knit relationships develop into future opportunities to design again for the same family and that is what sustains a business. Somehow I just walked away from the very part of what I love doing and started producing weddings instead of designing them. Quite frankly the work I do, and all floral designers do, is very daunting and stressful. All the LOVE perks were what were propelling me forward. Without the perk of falling in love with my brides it all seems rather mundane. I want to move my clients to tears. I want to bring them unsurpassed commitment and beauty. I want to be an important part of not only their wedding day but also a part of their future as a budding family. This is why my company has sustained 25 years in the business, because I care. Loving them and wanting the best for them is how I keep my passion alive. I am so excited about the weddings and events I have on the books for the 2018 season. I am one of the best and strongest advocates for a couple marrying and it’s an honor. Check out our Full Event Design page on the Holly Heider Chapple Flowers website. 

Images by Lisa Ziesing/ Abby Jiu