The Floral CEO

 Hello, flower friends, this is Jen and I have a very big event coming up and I've actually, you know, like I, I am a magnet for this kind of thing. Um. I did this event last year and I had three weeks notice basically for everything because they kind of ditched the person they were working with from our planner perspective and brought in someone that I have worked with.

And, um, so we put this 60, I think it was like 64 table event with several like installations, like. You know, a grand entrance piece, a hallway with pedestals with big, huge arrangements on them. Um, this whole cocktail reception area that had bar a bar with flowers spilling down both sides and these flower pedestal moments.

And then a VIP lounge with a bunch of, like, it just is. Over the top. Crazy. And I have been working with the planner again, a different one this time for this event. And like, you know, just dragging, dragging, dragging. And this event is March 21st, so it is in about three weeks. And it is, I mean. Not quite as grand because we're not gonna be, I like flew orchids in like imported orchids in from Thailand and uh, found all this, you know, just craziness.

And so it's gonna be simpler this time, but I just got the contract on Friday and I am getting the deposit. 'cause I'm guessing they had to get paid 'cause it's a planning company that's paying me. And so I finally was just like, oh, we need to get this figured out. But I was taught, I, you know, talked to people in my mastermind, I talked to, um, you know, just other florists when I've done things like this and they're just like, I don't even know where to start.

Like, how do you even wrap your head around doing a, you know, I mean, a 30,000 whatever, $35,000, whatever it is, event. Period. But how do you do that with. Weeks notice, like three weeks notice. And so this month in the floral CEO Mastermind, if you are curious on event logistics, we are diving deep into event logistics.

We are going to be talking about event planning, and we are gonna be talking about event production. And then for all my retail, uh, florist friends, we're gonna be digging into Mother's Day. Um, because we have, um, actually a good handful of flower shop owners in the Mastermind right now, which is really fun.

But event production is something that when you have confidence and you have that big client come and reach out to you, I mean, you're an event baller, like when that inquiry comes in, you don't hesitate. You're like, yeah. Let's go. It's go time. I can do this. And I feel like once you really understand, you know, like how easy this can be, you can go more confidently into answering those emails.

You can go more confidently into your networking. You can just be more comp con, just confident in general because these type of events are what can make your revenue for the year. If you get like three or four of these and you're trying to get to be a, you know, pay yourself a hundred thousand dollars florist like that is going to be a lot easier task.

So what does it take to really pull off? A large scale event like this. And so the first things I look at is the design. So when I am really starting out with this whole process is the design, and especially with the timeframe, what is feasible from a design perspective in this timeframe. So I want containers, I want, you know, to make sure that I can get these rentals, I can get this, I can get that.

So I'm. Developing a concept that I feel confident in making sure that I can pull off in that timeframe. So that's like the start. And I am very transparent with who ever I'm working with. If things are tricky, you know, like if I'm worried that they don't have this volume or whatever, because. Their emergency is not my fault, but if it is a client, I always, you know, that maybe is getting married in August or something like that.

I'm always making sure that I'm leaving the window open for change in case something happens. 'cause what if you get this thing from accent to court and it's horrible? Like I am always gonna make sure that I'm putting good quality products out there, and so I just leave it open. I absolutely love this face.

I haven't seen it in person. So I will order a sample to make sure that it's a quality that I feel like is, um, you know, really, really just needed to make your wedding as beautiful as, um, I am dreaming and you are dreaming of, or whatever kind of comment just to make sure that you always have an out, because we don't want people to fall in love with things that just aren't good quality.

Then. I go into, you know, making sure that I'm pricing things out, making sure that I'm pricing for profitability, making sure I'm also pricing for the tools that I'm going to need. So making sure your delivery fee has your delivery vehicle. If you're having to rent a U-Haul or another vehicle, making sure that you, the team that you're going to need to pull that event off is ha.

You have the funds to be able to do that because everybody wants to be this midnight warrior, but with the sheer volume of that, it's very hard to do. So you can't do it all. In this case, you will need help. So then. Step two is, you know, obviously getting the client to agree and all those things. You're getting contracts and deposits on something with this short notice and with this volume that of containers and things like, I am making sure I'm collecting a very big down payment because I wanna make sure I have all of the resources to get everything that I need for this.

All right. Then we're going into, they've agreed, you've gotten contracts, you've gotten all the things. Planning out the details. So I conceptualize, you know, what budgets and things, but I'm not going to make exact recipes until I'm getting down to the wire, because then I'm looking at what's the availability out there?

What are things that are out in the marketplace, like what the timing is, you know, something potentially blooming early or whatever. So I'm going into that first, and then I'm starting to write my recipes. Then I'm like, okay. I go in and estimate like how much labor I'm going to need. So if I have. 40 centerpieces and I am estimating each centerpiece should take about 40 minutes.

I'm going in and building, okay, if I have, uh, even it is just say 45 minutes for 40 centerpieces, I'm gonna take that much time. And then to process those flowers for those 40, I'm gonna add. Like another 15 minutes. So I'm just gonna say an hour. So if I have 40, I'm gonna need 40 hours of labor for the processing of those flowers and to make the centerpiece.

Or you can also flat rate out, okay, I'm gonna be ordering, you know, a thousand hydrangeas, 2000 roses, you know, whatever. Uh, I can just because I've been doing this so much, I can figure out, okay, I'm going to need. Probably a day and a half of processing, and I am going to need, let's just say probably like three to four people to do that.

And so then I'm backing into overall processing help to pull things off. So I've gone through, I've figured out my recipes, I've figured out my labor for that. I've backed into, and this is something we're gonna go into in the floral CEO MA Mastermind, just really diving into like how you figure out these formulas.

It's really hard to do that in around 10 minutes. Um. But from there, we're going into and figuring out, um, our flour order from all of our recipes. Then I'm going out and trying to source with the best vendors, with the, you know, best pricing that's out there. And then from there I'm figuring out a production schedule, production timeline, a delivery timeline.

I'm getting all my containers ordered, I'm getting, um, all my foam. That I need or any products for production. And then from there, I am literally getting all of those containers, all of the candles, all of those things. I'm getting those ready well in advance, uh, with the adv, the event being on the 21st, like I will have in the next week, week and a half, because we have the Floral Rockstar Workshop on March 10th and 11th.

Um, you know. That eats up the week before this event. So I need to have all of these candles and everything pulled. So I've already ordered all my tea lights, my long burning tea lights that I use, um, I've ordered my floating candles that I'm going to need, and then I'm late. You know, during my process of laying out my, what I need from a supply standpoint, I figured out what I need pulled out of my rental.

Inventory. And so then I have a rental pull list, so going into that rental pull list, I can go, okay, I am going to need, let's just say 80 various size VAEs. That I'm going to use for floating candles and then elevated like, um, flowers spilling out of tall, cylinder based type arrangements. I'm gonna need, uh, let's just say like 300 lavender votives.

I'm gonna need whatever. So I'm going through and I'm figuring out my polis. So either I can pull those items or I can have my staff pull those items and make sure that we are ready when it is go time. Then from there I'm figuring out, okay, we're gonna have flowers here. And then I'm booking the according labor that I'm going to need and I'm booking, um, you know, my deliveries.

So this truck now that especially I live not where daily deliveries are available, you know, this wholesaler has deliveries on Sundays and Thursdays, and then this wholesaler has it on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and this wholesaler has it on Tuesdays and Fridays. Like I have that kind of mapped out so that I know when delivery schedules are.

And then from there, I just make sure that I'm getting buckets. Make sure that, um, I soak all of my foam products like in big target totes. Honestly, since we've moved and we've used a bunch of those totes, um, I'm gonna need to go buy some more target totes. So then just putting that on my list of like, these are the things that I, I need and I need to buy target totes, um, because I just.

When these items are made, I literally am going to put the container into the target tote and put the lid on them and I'm gonna stack. And so when it is time for us to soak any of that foam, or if you are chicken wiring something, you can do the same thing and you can just put all these containers already ready, already made.

Into these, uh, you know, tubs and they're like, I usually get like the $7, you know, kind of plastic totes from Target because that when I'm done, I can shrink them down into just a big stack of containers with the lids on top of each other. Super easy. Then I make sure that I have, you know, any final, like figuring out actual day of production timeline and going in and going, okay, when can we get in, when will linens be on?

When are any room flips or changes? And then when are, when it's tear down, all the things. So I figure out all those details and then it is event time and we are producing and we are like really kicking ass and taking names. That sounds really simple. In 13 minutes I just explained like how to execute a 35,000 event.

So. If you want more confidence in figuring this out, please, please, please go check out the Floral CEO mastermind@floralceo.com slash mastermind or in the show notes because we have two sessions this month dedicated to event production. You also in the Mastermind, and I don't think I talk about this enough, you guys, the, the Mastermind is filled with so much value.

Not only do you get. Voxer access to our amazing group of, you know, florist. But you also get, like My Florist Foundations course is included and you get access to over 90 modules. Then you also get access to, um, like all of our, our calls that we've had before, all of my templates and contracts. Everything is in there that you need to be successful.

So if you are looking to uplevel your business in 2026 and you want some kickass women to lock arms and do that with, go check out floral ceo.com/mastermind. There is no container out there like this because I, I have made huge impact in these girls' lives. I've helped people. Sell out their year or book out their year of weddings.

I've helped them increase their wedding revenue by 40%. I've, there are so many things, like I have helped people quit their day jobs. I have helped people create boundaries so that they're not working seven days a week and like running themself, ragged, and then. So they're working less and making the same amount of money, if not in some cases even more, because they've also increased their wedding revenue.

So there is so much possibility out there and I wanna help you lock in and kick ass and take names in 2025. So, uh, thanks so much for listening, flower friends, I appreciate you and appreciate you following along. And thank you so much for listening, flower Friend. And you have an amazing flower filled week.