Happy Friday everyone. This post is looooong overdue. I think partly because it's taken this long for me to digest everything that has happened with Soiree Floral and Dawn Kelly Designs since attending an amazing conference this past March in NYC. As a business owner, I am always looking for ways to grow the business, my knowledge, learn new skills, tips and tricks. I'm always pushing to be better. I stumbled upon an incredible group of people who have been kind, gracious, supportive, nurturing and encouraging when I need it most. These are my new friends the Chapel Designers.
We started with an opening reception the night before in the New York Flower District. A great mixer to introduce ourselves to each other. The next morning we jumped right in with guest speakers Abby Larson from Style Me Pretty, Anne Chertoff, Naomi de Manana from Martha Stewart and so many other wonderful designers who shared their stories and knowledge.
The next day was hands on at David Beahm's design studio. There we were designing with Karen Tran, Holly Chapple, and David Beahm himself. They were so genuine and gracious and humble. The kind of people that make you believe that being kind and grateful with get you far in whatever career path you choose to walk.
The next day had us touring the Martha Stewart offices, and let me tell you, there's a reason she's the maven of everything. The offices were immaculate! Everything had it's place. After that we headed to the rooftop of the hotel for a hands on workshop with the one and only Ariella Chezar. It was fun to hear her process and how she pulls a tablescape together from fabric to blooms and how it all relates.
It was an intense three days and it's helped me make better business decisions, let me know that I'm not 'crazy' when I'm worried the blooms won't match the menu or linens even though we painstaking chose every item for a reason. That getting up in the middle of the night to check on my flower babies in the cooler is a normal thing any designer would do. That anything is possible if you just leap. I am extremely thankful to my Chapel Designer family for the support they gave throughout this year. It was our best year yet and we're dreaming even bigger for 2014. A special thanks to Holly Chapple for for asking 'who wants to meet me in NYC'. Happy holidays everyone!
Labels: Abby Larson, Anne Chertoff, Ariella Chezar, chapel designers, david beahm, karen tran, Martha Stewart, Style Me Pretty
