floral: budgets low to none

Beautiful events can be made from very little. Truly. Organization is the key, really. Do you have time? You can do a lot. Do you have a little money? You can do more. Neither time nor money? This is where things get interesting.

Beg, borrow, by all means. Do NOT steal. (Okay. well. except for IDEAS. Steal ALL of those!) Start an assessment:  What is the event and where? What do I have? Friends? Neighbors? Relatives? Recycle bin? Garden? Yard? Free Shed? Thrift Store?

All of these things can be called into use for low to no budget creations. Remember to plan for the time needed for amateurs to pick, process and create. It takes more time than you think to do flowers. And more room. And more space that is waterproof. Water, water, EVERYWHERE are the watchwords for floral creation. Buckets and buckets of water and stems cutting, so trash. Wet trash. Then more buckets of water and then spraying things with water. Then more buckets of heavy water…. cool rooms, water— this time for the group who is ostensibly doing arranging, but are actually chatting and looking for snacks. Coolers for finished flowers. These could be the empty coolers formerly housing wine, beer, and waters of the group you pulled together "to do flowers for free.”

Are you laughing? We are laughing. Honestly, if you plan well, hosting a floral arranging party is really super fun. But do your research about what is needed to make your sesh a success.

We do caution to think carefully about asking friends or family to do the flowers as the effort can be more trouble than it is worth. You, yourself, may not have the time to manage a group and it is usually best to leave the flowers, especially the most delicate jobs, to professionals!

If you have been in the floral biz for awhile, you probably have a collection of equipment and containers to draw upon to reuse for events. If you are just starting out, and have a place for storage, start accumulating usable items to reduce the time needed when prepping for events. Stacks of floral buckets in different sizes, sturdy plastic liners, editions of vase types (matching or similar), candle holders, risers… having a stable of these items to draw upon can cut your time and expenses considerably. For some ideas, check out our DIY on a Dollar board on Pinterest.

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If you have time and very little to no money, the recycle bin is a great friend. Paper products, string, coffee cans, glass bottles, and glassware are all great candidates for decor for events and weddings. Have you SEEN what they are doing with paper flowers these days? AH MA ZING!

Obviously, thrifting is the way to go for lots of containers and/or vases— plus, also, it is the most sustainable way to go for these items. We encourage all budgeteers to go this direction. Reusing containers saves them from entering landfills and the resources needed to create these items have already been used, so better carbon footprint.

When flowers, destined to be discarded at the conclusion of an event, are flown in from all over the world, it comes at a great environmental cost. For a deeper dive into the impacts, check out this TED Talk: The Environmental Impact of Cut Flowers? Not so Rosy

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Handmade tissue paper flowers.

everyone has a budget (even if it’s zero)

We ALMOST feel sorry for those who have a large or unlimited budget for events or flowers… They’ll never know the absolute thrill of having to pull things together in the most creative way: brains surging with bootstrap energy, having to make-do with whatever is available and pull together beautiful design from what looks like thin air!

When developing your floral budget, there are numbers thrown around on the inter webs: 10% of your overall event or wedding budget, or so much per table. However, if you have the time, whatever planning you do should start with a visit to floral designer or florist shop. A floral designer is different from a florist— though they may also be in one in the same. A florist typically is someone who maintains a brick and mortar retail location and, for our purposes, creates arrangements, bouquets etc at their shop and delivers them to a location. A floral designer, on the other tired, scarred but mobile hand, usually works from a non-retail location and creates and installs at least some of the work onsite at the event. Florist shops often double as designers, of course. Check into the situation of your preferred stylist to see what they do. Whichever floral provider you choose, we guarantee, you are not paying them enough.

Example of a bouquet before, during and done:

Flowers are perishable, delicate materials. Like sheep, they have wayward minds of their own and a thousand ways to die. Often en masse. Dealing with them is a profession and the folks who work with them have experience and knowledge of specialized techniques and materials to create that winsome “just picked” look you have requested such that it doesn’t come with footballs attached and a wilty, sad look that “just picked” would actually entail. Trust your florist or designer. Ask lots of questions. Find someone whose look complements your vision— and get ready to wipe that vision away unless you are a Rockefeller. Did we mention? Flowers are hella ex. pen. sive. Prepare yourself.

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When choosing a florist or floral designer to interview, go beyond their Instagram or other social media exemplars— these are curated looks, on small screens with uncertain color rendition. If possible, go to the shop or studio or meet for lattes or chai and peruse a portfolio with deeper looks available or search as we know you can on the socials for other pictures of that event to see non-staged images of the creations. And, dear loves? DO NOT take up too much of the time of these beautiful, busy creatives. Do some research. Have questions in order. Guides aplenty exist in the free publishing world, especially amongst the wedding-industrial complex. 

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Now you have decided on a possible look and color theme, answer the question: Can I/we afford it?

No. No you cannot. Almost everything you see in gorgeous photo shoots is to get you in to spend a bit more like casinos in Vegas. Not to mention it has been photographed or presented in video by talented professional who make us all drool for these looks that, in real world terms, are costly. Don’t feel badly, ol’ darling, we are all susceptible. Just put on your “I see what you are doing there” lenses and take a harder look. Concentrate on what you most want from your flowers and go from there!

Yikes! you say? Who knew? 

We got you.

We are delighted when clients come in with a healthy budget to match their vision. They are the lucky ones!! However, mostly we see people come in with a photo shoot from a high-end book, magazine or website showing a mass of arranged, out of season blooms, and they have, like, $300. Time to get creative. If you want to tackle some things yourself, our DIY on a Dollar board may help. And don’t forget to look at Nope for what to avoid.

first aid kit list & worker bee care basket

Day of Event First Aid Kit

• Clearly marked kit or tub

• First Aid manual

• Water bottle

• Masks

• Hand Sanitizer

• Non latex gloves

• Ziplock bags

• Trash bags (barf bags)

• Gatorade or Pedialyte

• Bleach Spray

• Alcohol

• Magnifying glass

• Tweezers

• Matches

• Thermometer

• Benadryl

• OTC Pain killers

• White towels sealed in plastic ziplock bags

• Pepto Bismal

• Diarrhea med

• Tums or Rolaids

• Azo/Uristat

• Arnica gel

• Aloe gel

• Sunblock

• Antiseptic spray

• Antiseptic cream

• Cortisone cream

• Cotton pads in a sealed ziplock bag

• Cotton swabs in a sealed ziplock bag

• Tissues

• Scissors

• Tape for bandages

• Bandage roll

• Ace bandage

• Cups

Commercially available first aid kit.

Home-gathered kit.

Event Worker Bee Care Basket— set up in a central location

Take care of your helpers, people!

• Hand sanitizer

• Hand wipes

• Toilet paper

• Coolers with water, bottled drinks, ice

• Thermos of Coffee

• Cups

• Non-peanut protein snacks or trail mix, individually packaged

• Fruit

• Towels

• Masks

Worker bee care basket

staging kit: layering a cake

It’s a cake. Start with great tasty basics and then add on the pretty finishes. Pillows are sprinkles. That is all.

Staging a property for purchase or rent is designed to set that all important positive first impression. True to its name, staging is the craft of setting a scene for an audience and differs form interior design meant for long term use. The staged property tells a story of comfort and livability, allowing a buyer or client to see the best cast of the basics of the space and literally asking them to project their own lives into the script. Clean, orderly rooms are a must. The good foundations of this cake should show, but the added icing of thoughtful detail create a delicious vision of potential happiness! Who’s hungry now? We are, that’s who! And we want our clients to pine for the spaces on which we design. We’ve got a magic bag —okay, tubs. We arrive with tubs full of goodies— but same, same. Some of our staging has been so successful, the buyers wanted everything in the the property!
Lots of factors figure into successful stagecraft. We’ll start to break it down for you. The main point is creating settings to help a potential buyer see themselves contentedly at HOME.

Staging Kit

Start with the basic ingredients, combine and then add layers to this cake!

First visit to site or home to stage

• Eyeballs. Use ‘em.

• All senses— note your impressions.

• Measuring tape

• Notebook or log in phone

• Video from first view to end

• Photos of individual rooms

• Photos of areas needing extra attention
  

Back at the Workshop

• Write down first impressions

• Review video

• Review photos

• Use sticky notes for reminders

• Note where a professional contractor is needed: large repairs, wiring, large painting jobs, large landscaping jobs
  

Day(s) of Installation (Assuming major work has been completed)

To bring:

• First Aid Kit

• Worker Bee Care Basket

• Measuring tape

• Push pins

• Painter’s tape

• Sticky notes

Go through entire project site first and mark each place possible that needs attention

 Keep in your vehicle:

• Drywall Repair kit

• Paint touch up kit

• Cleaning kit

• Tool kit including clamps and glue

• Furniture/wood scratch kit

• Attachment issues kit including clamps, clips, laundry pins, magnets, wire, twine and safety pins

Follow the painter’s tape or sticky notes with small repairs or amendments— change colors if further work is needed.

If furniture is in the location, bring Furniture Moving kit.

Once small repairs/amendments are complete and major cleaning is complete: Block in large pieces.

Add accents, decorative pieces and lighting, bed covers, towels etc.

Add top dec: storytelling elements, faux fruit and other food, coffee in cabinet, boxes, baskets, books, humorous or homely small details.

Finish with final cleaning and dusting.

Fresh Smells kit to add citrus in kitchen, lavender in closets and bedrooms, etc.

Homemade lavender sachets.

In the mood to “Ooh” and “Aah”? Have a gander at our Stagecraft and Winning Entry boards on Pinterest.

staging basics

Who, What, Where, How

Events start with the who, staging starts with the where. Not that you aren’t thinking about your audience! Understanding the impact of your design appeal on your target certainly narrows what you can or will do.

Staging occurs on small levels: mantels, coffee or dining tables, and larger levels: interior and exterior of homes or buildings, city streets, whole towns, lighting, the very air, the sky is the literal limit!!! Whoa. Sorry. We got a little excited there! But, aren’t you? You should be. Staging is fun!

First thing:
Zen your mind clear or do some yoga or eat a doughnut… whatever takes you to a content, nonjudgmental mind zone. When you are in that state, you are ready to be helpful to someone in need of good, possibly life-changing, advice.
Ready?

It Is Not About You.

Okay. Onwards.

At the Property to Stage:
Walk through
With a cleared mind, approach, view throughout, and exit. Easy peasy, right?
Photographs
Photos tell you more than your eyes
Walk Away

Go and have a think. Preferably in the area of the property. Absorb the feeling of surrounding properties, neighborhood and businesses.

If at all possible, remove 50-90% of furnishings in the space to be staged.

Clean. Clean like you are the lost child of a torrid affair between Mr Clean and the White Tornado — and whatever gene pool he/him and they/them created is full to the brim with clean.

If you are one of those “it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that bling” kind of designers, move along. We get you. But we are on the side of natural, probs neutral and not shiny… unless it is clean-shiny, then we are all about that gleam.

Staging a Space for Sale or Rental

Home Staging
Design for the brochure photo op versus the real life home tour of a home for sale— two very different design opportunities.

Breakfast three ways:

1. The charming inveiglement of staging for tour. 2. Real life - we all know this - but we want to see our lives improved in a new space. 3. Staging for a photo op.

Photographing or Video Tours of homes for sale are essential. Staging decor and for photographs calls for more attention to perspective and arrangement in rooms. Stagers work with photographers and real agent to get the best angles of features in homes, working to accentuate the positive and de-emphasize any negatives. Design for videography of a space to be shown can be more like the open house or tours of the actual space by prospective buyers.
When staging for photography, furnishings can be placed in ways not normally conducive to actual living — all with the mind of displaying a welcoming space rendered into a still picture in essentially two dimensions.Cheat clustering your decor is absolutely okay for that brochure or website photo! However, staging for buyers in the actual space to be shown should always consider how the home would function in real life. It should engage ALL the senses to charm and seduce, but never outright lie about a property’s features. We, as buyers, are actually okay with this. It says you, as a seller, want to engage with us.

According to the National Association of Realtors, staged homes sell faster and at a higher price.

Staging is a process that helps a seller disengage and move on from their home as it depersonalizes what has been home. For potential purchasers, staging should give hints to the ways a property COULD be and invite them to see it as their own. A well-staged property is an engaging and welcoming host and anyone viewing the property is a guest to be beguiled into extending their stay — with an offer!

before & afters

Check out our Stagecraft and Spend Little, Sell Fast Staging boards for more hints.

styling & staging

Staging is a concept best applied to temporary design opportunities wherein some theatricality is encouraged: property sales or rentals, holiday decor. Styling is the everyday aesthetic of balanced beauty. Styling is part of staging. Taking the skills used to create warm, comfortable living spaces can be amped up for staging rooms to be presented in sale properties. We can show you how.

Styled mantel. Balanced beauty, but not symmetrical.

We style things all the time in our lives everyday. It is a choice that brings more calm and a harmonious atmosphere which promotes a more settled headspace. This past year? Well, we did not have Calgon, so SOMETHING had to take us away…We were home All. The. Damn. Time.

To be honest, once you get going, it is a bit of an addiction. Seeking a balanced composition in the small affects the large. Then everything exists in a “better” relationship to each other. Except people. People don’t always get it. Our partners are not on board with the “perfect” arrangement of plastic bottles on the vitamin carrel, (with labels, with their shrieking fonts, turned to the back, and tallest at the rear, ‘natch, ) but it LITERALLY causes us pain when the bottles are out of “order”…
Stretching…
Envisioning the perfect calm of Velazquez Las Meninas or Degas’ dancers.

Aaaaaand we’re back.

Styling should fall within the realm of actual living conditions. Objects not on Broadway, but in mostly permanent exhibition behind the museum glass? Well, not really, but you know what we mean! Umbrellas are great to have by the front door, says all dog walkers everywhere but especially in Seattle, but they can be corralled in an attractive container rather will-aye nill-aye all over the floor.

We get asked all the time by folks who are searching for better decor and more peace in their lives if “calm” is equivalent to empty or they ask us while holding an armful of objects while absentmindedly stroking great aunt pearl’s button back chair like an old collie. You know that chair is not going to “live on a farm” if you take it to the share shed, right?
The question we asked, long before decluttering became the hottest new hobby, was “Do you love your things?” — if you love your things, do you want to make your space work for YOU.

Here’s the big thing? It’s not the clutter. It’s how the clutter occupies the space.

Styled “We love our things” vs. Real Life “We love ALL our things”:

Styling outfits— finding the right balance of pieces and accessories to highlight the positive and elide over perceived deficits with the goal of feeling sharp. Check that. Before we stayed home for a year and all we wore were pajamas.

A styled outfit.

Here are some of our styling & staging boards for more ideas:

Stagecraft

Table That For Later

Spend Little, Sell Fast Staging

floral design

Who, What, Where, When, and How

Floral Design is about the What.
What are we using today? You’ve gone out to your expansive cutting gardens and have an array of fragrant, colorful materials with which to work… what’s that you say? No? You bought a bunch of Costco flowers and are hoping for the best? All good, our friends. Either way works. Trust.

But did you know that floral design does not START with the flowers? Nope. Just as a cake doesn’t start with the icing, floral arranging begins way before the flowers themselves.

Your cake is made up in layers in careful composition. (Our cake is slumped in the kitchen, eaten with a spoon, but that is another story). Baking a good cake begins with ingredients in careful measures such that each layer complements and supports the other. To start you have the layers, right? Nope. (Have you been reading this? If you have been reading thus far, you know these are set up questions, non?) Anyway, to make a good cake (or flower arrangement — we are talking about flowers here) you begin with the ingredients… and pans. A pan and a plan, that’s what we say, with only the cat listening. We are not going to go so far back as Lil Red Hen and harvest the wheat to get going, but urge you to consider where you get your materials.

1. In progress 2. Locally picked and sourced flowers in a Hogarth curve arrangement.

We try to keep sustainability in mind throughout the planning and execution phases of all projects. In floral work, there are environmental considerations you may not be aware of. We recommend this TED Talk for an introduction: The Environmental Impact of Cut Flowers? Not so Rosy

Start plan
Location and purpose of flowers
Short term v longer life
Fresh v dried
Color theory (coming your way soon — watch this space)

Flower Prep
Choosing a container
Designed to hold infinite possibilities but mar the furniture nor tip over on the way to the party
Balance, structure, material
Floral foam v vase

Container prep
Greening up
Now put in a flower

For more ideas, take a look at our Floral Design and Floral Arranging DIY boards on Pinterest.

event planning

It’s happened. Somebody somewhere is having a thing: a marriage, a party, a (word needed). And they need you! An EVENT has hit you in the forehead like a big ol’ wet fish. Now what?

Vision — Organization — Plan — Prep

Who, What, Where, and How
Events are one of the few places where you start, not at the beginning, but at the ending.

Envision the ending as a beautiful setting overflowing with gorgeous flowers where contented guests converse, glasses softly clink while enjoying delectable food to a backdrop of wonderful music…

Stop. Just Stop.

Roll that glowing Hollywood footage right back. (Maybe even hop over to our Nope board before you get too carried away.)

We are here to tell you that ending is HAPPINESS. Happy clients, happy guests, and (likely exhausted) but well compensated purveyors of events. This might include all the golden hour bits described above— or it might look completely different. The time period from 6-11pm on that invitation? Oh, it is prime. But the concept and process that lead to that celebration or dinner or ceremony are actually more important. We are here to tell you, as event people, our jobs are to suss out what will really make our clients happy and to inject some well softened reality into all that gauzily lit, super stiff, Influenced, party plan.