Just returned from the Society Of American Florist' Annual Convention in Phoenix. SAF packed the agenda with a lot of great seminars , but as usual the best part of the show were the attendees.

I left with that familar feeling of depression and inspiration I get when I'm around awesome people. Depression that I'm not doing some of the things they're doing, inspiration because I know we will. We have a great thing going at Tiger Lily, and I realize I'm comparing us with the best florists in the country . I'm not ready to jump off a cliff or anything, but still....I want to get better.

I could go on and on about who I met and what they're doing, but let's just say I have a lot of items on the "to do" list. I am happy to say that those awesome people are focusing on solid business practice like quality and service. We can all get better at those critical items, everyday. Sure, social networking was the topic du jour, and Twitter and Facebook is important. They are not a foundation for a successful business, however, more like crown moulding.

Above is a shot of the New Varieties floral room. There were some killer flowers in that ballroom, and our purchaser DD Parks is already tracking them down. We hope to have them in starting next week.

I also pictured the motorcycle I rented instead of a car. Renting a compact car was almost $600 for three days! The bike was less than half that and ten times the fun. Nothing like cruising through the Arizona desert at 80 mph with the sun setting behind the mountains! I saw two wild mustangs, two jack rabbits and a coyote.

I know some other florists read this blog. I want to HIGHLY recommend going to the SAF Conference next year in Orlando. I've attended five conferences so far, and have even spoken at two of them. I have never met anyone else from Charleston. It really gives a big advantage to see and hear firsthand the latest trends, ideas, flowers and designs. Now more than ever we have to be at our best. I'm excited about 2010, because I know Tiger Lily will be better than ever.

Labels: arizona, events, flowers, motorcycle, phoenix, SAF, society of american florists, weddings

Labels: charelston, field trip, flowers, Holy Communion Church, kids, summer

One of my favorite aspects of what we do is where we do it. We're lucky to live in a town that has ancient plantations, beaches, historic churches, mansions, 5-star hotels and more. Between daily flower deliveries, wedding set-ups and event pick-ups we get to be in some pretty unique places.

Above is a photo of a wedding we recently did on a working shrimp boat. Designer Hayley Crislip set it up. It wasn't an extensive wedding flower-wise, but it sure was cool. The ship was moored at the famous Shem Creek in Mt Pleasant. While we were setting up, all kind of boats were cruising past giving us shout-outs. From 80 foot+ (and multi-million dollar) sportfishing yachts to paddlers in kayaks, they were all enjoying the water on a beautiful Friday afternoon.

The bride knew the shrimping family, and they thought the idea of hosting the wedding on the shrimp boat was brilliant. In typical lowcountry hospitality fashion, the shrimpers painted the entire boat just for the occassion! In fact the entire vessel was spotless and shrimp odor free. For outsiders, hosting a shrimp boat wedding may seem strange, but down here it is the ultimate local luxury. Call it "old school", "keeping it real", "on the down low" or whatever you want, you have to be real lucky to have the opportunity.

Other different places I've been: under a haunted oak tree on a plantation at midnight, behind the altar at just about every famous church in Charleston, wading in the surf under a full moon looking for a chuppa frame (lost it to the tide), several roof tops, cemeteries, restaurant kitchens, and crematoriums. Last month I was in the Injured Sea Turtle Rehab Center at the SC Aquarium...that was awesome.

After I took these photos, I stopped at the shrimp shack, bought two pounds large-"heads off", and grilled them up for my famous shrimp tacos family feast. Lowcountry Living indeed.

Labels: lowcountry, lowcountry food bank, shem creek wedding, shrimp, weddings

Bride's Magazine gave us a national "shout out" for a bouquet inspired by a wedding we did last fall for a wedding at The Sanctuary. Click on the pic for a closer look. It's in the current issue (May/June 2009), where they featured "Inspired by Sea Shells" as a theme. Our bride wanted an all sea shell bouquet, which we were happy to design. I featured it in an earlier blog ( I think if you type "Sea Shell" in this blog's search box it pops right up). She loved it and somehow the photo got on the internet.

Bride's Magazine found it, and called us to see if we could re-create it and ship it to them. We were real busy, but when Bride's calls, you don't refuse. Each shell is hand selected, cleaned, glued to a heavy gauge wire, then arranged. The mechanics aren't difficult, just time consuming. Each shell takes about 5 minutes, and there were over 150 shells in the bouquet so you can figure out the design time. Also, you'd be surprised how few shells make the quality cut. We went through at least a thousand shells to find these. Some were too small, cracked, too big, or just too plain.

So we were working on it, when Bride's call back to say they needed it a week earlier due to a change in the shooting schedule. We put three folks on it and finished it that afternoon. At the last minute we added a seashell arm bouquet I had been kicking around in mind. It was made of larger shells presented in a palmetto tree frond husk. I loved it but I was the only one in the shop who did. Oh well. We shipped it to Manhattan overnight Fed Ex, and waited. There was no guarantee they were even going to use it, so all we could do was hope they liked it.

About a week later, Bride's called and said it was perfect, but they needed more Spanish Moss overnighted to them. I guess it got kicked around a little in shipping and a couple small gaps developed. We grabbed a couple handfuls of moss, stuffed it into a legal size envelope and shipped it. It cost $49 to ship $2 worth of moss! That was a bummer. I mean we could have called a florist in Manhattan and had it delivered for much less. Live and learn.

We didn't know it made the magazine until we started getting emails from folks around the country wanting more info on it. Three brides wanted us to make and ship it them, but we recommended they use a local florist due to the shipping damage that might occur. Funny, those bride's weren't near the coast at all. I really liked the seashell boutonniere in the photo next to our pic. We create those too, but Rosenow Floral got it just right.

So that was a fun experience. Last week while waiting at the grocery check-out line I picked up a copy of the magazine, flipped it to page 154 and felt like a big shot. Until my kids starting arguing over a pack of gum. Then I just felt like a regular guy again.

Labels: beachside, bridal bouquet, Bride's magazine, kiawah, seashell bouquet, the sanctuary, wedding arch, weddings

Clara's been busy teaching Floral Design Classes by request for special groups. Lately she presented for the Seabrook Island Garden Club and Wine Savvy Women. Both groups had a blast, as Clara wowed 'em with early spring arrangements. The classes are a way for us to show our stuff, meet new people, and feel like a rock star.

Here's a little irony for you. Before we started Tiger Lily, Clara took a floral design class at our local technical college. No credits or anything, just an evening "fun" class taught by a local florist. She had never made a single arrangement before then, and didn't even know the names of the flowers. She enjoyed the lessons, and took a picture of her very first arrangement. She was so proud of it she put the photo on our home refrigerator for all to see. Alas, the instructor wasn't too impressed and told Clara to "stick to her day job." He shouldn't have said that. It was kind of like when Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. There was going to be a reckoning.

So 14 years later, Clara now owns the largest florist in South Carolina, voted the City's Best for a decade and won Charleston's Business of the Year award. She's been in Southern Living, televison, radio and all that. She also teaches the class that started her on the floral path. So there.

Actually, Clara and our staff teach 4 classes throughout the week for Trident Technical College. The classes are Floral Design I, Floral Design II, Wedding Design and Sympathy Designs. All are sold out every session, and people always call trying to sneak in. Several florists send their designers to the class for training. We also hold the special classes for various organizations.

Honestly, we get as much out of the classes as the students. After a long day of designing and processing flowers, consultations and ringing phones, we're often exhausted. We may have just finished processing 500 roses, making 40 centerpieces and and a bunch of large event focal arrangements. We're wiped out. At 6pm the students roll in all stoked about flowers they see, it reminds us what a great job we have. We know it's the highlight of their day, and we feed off of that and get re-energized too. All good stuff.

Once in a while our staff will come across the photo of Clara's first arrangement. The design is way out of date and there were some serious flaws with it. It would never leave the shop now. We'll smirk and poke fun out of it to her. She's still proud of it though, and we're proud of her.

Labels: classes, design class, floral design classes, Seabrook Island Garden Club, teaching, Trident Technical College, Wine Savvy Women