Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Susie Young. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Susie , appreciate you joining us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?
I love seeing the trends from each wedding season evolve. If there wasn’t a change then as an artist, life would become boring and predictable! I like to be kept on my toes and to be looking forward to new color concepts with unlimited possibilities.
All white was everything in 2021 and will of course always be a classic statement. In 2022, we were seeing lots of weddings in the orange color palette showcasing terracotta, dusty persimmon and cinnamon color tones and boho was still making its appearance. As an artist I adore designing with orange tones and it was a, passionately, fun season! At the middle to end of 2022 were seeing lots of mid-century modern color tones that still included orange tones, but we started to see forest greens, darker dusty blues, etc.
Retro and retro vintage decor became a design trend that I was interested in and started to use. I have always loved retro vintage decor and was implementing mirrors, art deco containers, etc. in our beautiful tablescapes.
In November of 2022, I attended a business conference in Las Vegas and the predicted trends were retro and retro vintage with lots of bold color hues. I shouted for joy because we had already begun this trend in our floral studio, were loving it and already a head of the trends. The prediction that large scale and impactful floral designs will be a big deal for weddings, and I am so excited to create and be surrounded by gorgeous florals in 2023!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
TONE of Design
MEANINGFUL • WHIMSICAL • LUXURIOUS • EFFORTLESS DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
About Susie –
My story isn’t glamorous but real and it began when I was a little girl! As a child, I had a knack with flowers, gardening and crafts. From the time I was a little girl, I was obsessed with flowers, gardening and creating. I loved color and still do!
My mother would take my siblings and I out hiking and teach us all the names of the wildflowers, and I soaked it up like a sponge. It came naturally to catalog names, identify the flowers and I loved it! We would walk all over the hills of our beautiful ranch in Wyoming. I would forage for wildflowers and make magical gifts for others. Then, when I was a young designer with a fistful of dreams, I saved all my money to buy flowers to dry and create.
Now as a professional floral artist, I feel as if I share a part of myself with those that I design for, capturing their ideas to create something uniquely their own and going beyond. I love when a bride’s eyes glow with happiness and tears, because of the beauty of their bouquet and decor. Wishes are granted, dreams are created, and memories are made. I love to create lush, romantic designs with movement and texture and have been referred to as “the texture queen”!
I have 25 years of experience and a personally trained staff that shares a passion for flowers and color design.
As an artist, I have been published many times and it’s an honor but for me it’s not being published that really matters, it’s the pleasure of presenting gorgeous flowers to my brides or clients that gives me the most joy and satisfaction. The overall feeling of elation and happiness makes my heart sing!
BRAND ESSENCE/MISSION
Our mission is to create beautiful, meaningful, and luxurious designs for our clients to cherish on their special day; by building authentic relationships, cultivating a personal experience, and designing one-of-a-kind arrangements that perfectly suit each bride’s unique personality and taste.
Wish Blossom Flowers serves brides who treasure all the details of their special wedding day, especially the flowers.
Every aspect is meaningful, beautiful, and fulfilling. Our focus is on the individual, building lifetime relationships and meaningful design considerations. We want to fulfill the desire of the bride to host an event that is beautiful, luxurious, memorable, meaningful, elegant, and timeless.
Our core values: Community Over Competition, Integrity, Building Authentic Relationships, Trust, Sharing Joy, Surprise & Delight
Vision Statement: Wish Blossom Flowers is a kind and trusted contributor in the wedding industry, and is well-known for providing exceptional service, high-quality flowers, and beautiful florals that surprise and delight their clients in every interaction.
Have you ever had to pivot?
The way I was raised instilled a value of hard work, tenacity, integrity and a strength of purpose and this all helped with building a wedding clientele and in the Fall of 2019, I was prompted to make a change in my life. I had four teenage daughters and a little son. My family was struggling because of the many years of health problems that my husband, David, had been suffering from. After praying and pondering, I decided to reopen my wedding and event business, which had been established in 2000. I reopened my studio on November 1, 2019, and had my first two weddings in December 2019. I kept networking, working on my website, my brand and initially cold calling for business. Everything just kept working in the right direction and I was super blessed. I had cultivated so many relationships within the amazing wedding community that I found professionals sending clients to my business and wanting to lend their talents to showcase mine. Because of these amazing creative partners, I was able to shoot and re-establish a new winning portfolio. My business was all established and ready for 2020.
A little
backstory….December 31, 2019 my husband was urgently admitted for emergency surgery where he received a partial foot amputation. Because of my new business, and having a small studio, I was able to stay in the hospital, work out of my studio behind my home and take care of him as he had to be homebound for many months. I was able to continue working and preparing for the 2020 wedding season. I was able to take care of my husband and provide for my family by bidding and retaining weddings and event work. Unfortunately, we could not foresee the trials of 2020 as shortly after in March, Covid struck its terrible threat in our world. Everyone was shut down and so were schools. I soon became a wife of a recovering husband, business owner and teacher to my 3 teenagers and son. My eldest daughter’s life changed because she was jobless. I had fortunately been prepared and wasn’t laid off because of my prompting to start my business. I had weddings scheduled out, retainers paid, and we were so blessed during this terrible time.
Wish Blossom flourished during this time of great struggle as we worked to survive when the world shut down by providing flowers to lift others during a time of severe anxiety and depression of the unknown.
We diversified by designing everyday flowers because weddings were on hold. People needed fresh flowers in their home more than ever before! That being said, June 2020 hit, and we never stopped running as the world woke up to micro-weddings, elopements, in 2021 every wedding guest who was invited attended and it has evolved each year since!
Wish Blossom was a shop who thrived where others shut down and I express gratitude every day that we succeeded and have blossomed into what we are today!
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
In the Fall of 2019, I began with $300 to begin my business journey. This was because a local business owner (Nicole Thomas of Moments Made Bridal) and a past client of mine, reached out to me to design flowers for her marketing shoot for the upcoming year. That $300 was used to begin Wish Blossom Flowers and I will be forever grateful to her! From that time forward everything that was earned was put back into the business and I paid myself small increments to survive. My business was started with $300 and a prayer! I never got a loan as I am not into credit cards but value hard work and tenacity. It worked and I am beyond blessed!
I can say that there were many wonderful women in the wedding industry who reached out a willing hand to help in creating a winning portfolio to showcase my floral work as I had to leave behind my past work of photos and begin again!
No words can express my gratitude to each of them and I thank them from the bottom of my heart! You know who you are, and I love, appreciate and adore you!!
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