Wood Florist- From Hobby to Home Business

As a brand new bride-to-be in 2016, I began exploring all of my wedding vendor options. My criteria list was short: budget friendly, customizable package options, and high value to reasonable cost ratio. Kind of a tall order in the wedding industry.

Scrolling through floral designs on Google, I came across this beautiful arrangement created with sola wood flowers. A quick search opened my eyes up to a brand new option. Sola wood flowers are an eco-friendly and sustainable alternative to fresh flowers. They are made from the renewable wood of asconomony or shola pith. Some compare it to tapioca or cassava root.

Custom created wedding flowers? Not throwing the flowers (and money) away days after the wedding? A fraction of the cost of fresh flowers? Win, win, win!! I was sold! Trouble was, after creating all my florals for our 2017 wedding, I couldn't stop crafting! A seed was planted and I soon found a hobby growing!

As a stay-at-home Mom, finding something that cultivated my creativity while enabling me the freedom to do everything that I needed to as a mother was extremely important. I found that with these flowers. By the time 2018 rolled around, I was applying for business/tax-ID and creating a Facebook business page. Autumn Bloom’s Forever Flowers was official!

I began with craft fairs and slowly transitioned to custom commissions for weddings and home decor. As my business grew, so did the amount of tools I needed to complete projects! Different types of tape, wire cutters, glue guns, scissors, pins, ribbon holders, air brush, paints, etc....Lot's of trial and error. I cannot have enough scissors or wire cutters, the higher quality and the tougher the better! I'll let you in on a little secret we use in this industry * Use electrical tape instead of florist tape when taping off bouquet handles, and tape as you go*, you didn't hear that from me, though!

Over the past couple years I have put my creativity to the test. Combining Nightmare Before Christmas and Batman for a wedding? Check. Hand painting Asian lilies? Check. Recreating fresh flower wedding bouquets? Check. Even the flowers I paint involves me hand blending colors to match custom requests!

With every business, challenges exist. A home based small business holds its own type of challenges. It's a juggling act to balance work and home life. Not to mention ensuring you're charging the correct amount (cost of doing business and still making some sort of income). Replying to emails after washing dishes, painting flowers after taking the dog for a walk, turning the glue gun off to make dinner, having a bridal consultation before grocery shopping, etc....However, going from being a stay-at-home Mom to a Mom with a home business was one of the most rewarding decisions that I could have made. Working out of our home has enabled me to be available to our son and his partial remote learning (current 2020-2021 school year). Family comes first, so making memories with our son while still creating amazing items for my brides is something I pride myself on!

My ultimate goal has been a dream of mine since high school. Owning a brick and mortar. The retail aspect changed over the years, but the business owner status has stayed the same. I imagine someone coming in to purchase a bouquet for Mother's Day. They choose flowers from off the "wall of flowers" and they pick up their completed bouquet later that day. or they come in just to grab an already made item available in the retail space. Better yet, booking the crafting area for a party! A few drinks, appetizers, and creating front door wreaths with some friends? Or booking the space with your bridal party to hand make all the bridesmaid bouquets?! Best part, would be having an actual professional space to hold consultations or offer a pick-up location for completed wedding flowers.

Until that times comes around, I will happily work out of our Upstate New York home. Taking weekends off to go camping, delaying a trip to Michael's in order to tie-dye with our son, and setting my own hours to what fit's me and my little family <3