Same here in Connecticut, I don't know, we have sold several weddings so far around these local parts, I have been able to get 2 to 5 for low budgets. However we are having better luck finding the upscale planners, like Tracy Romano, and we are starting to see results with some great leads. She has invited us to a cocktail party down in southern CT tonight, sort of a meet and greet of wed industry people.
The planners are the way to go in my opinion. Any bride with money usually hires a planner. Marcy has been courting several NY planners as well as DC planners to hire us as destination New England complete decor services. We are trying to capitalize on the fact that not only do we have a great reputation, but we have had almost 2 years to prove that even though we are located in northern CT, we still deliver in DC and NYC.
Sometimes the way to go is to broaden your capabilities.
I would rather do 10 events per year than 30 small ones. But trust me, I feel for what you are going through. If I were your marketing director, I would start in the New England ISES crowd. I would focus mainly on the wedding planners. It takes a lot of courting and diligence and time.
The best thing we ever did for Dragonfly was to create a minimum. It raised or standard and exposed us to larger events, by that I mean every event we did we had the budget to show of our talents. When guests, planners, vendors, and venues see what you can do, the word gets around.
Even though the economy is bad for most, there is still great wealth in the US. Though they may be cutting down on the platinum look, they don't want to appear to astentatious, they still seek out professionals, because they want quality and service.
I believe, and I still preach that Flower Shops can capture this market and maintain it. I believe that mass marketers have cheapened the value of flowers, and that has destroyed the value of decorating services. I saw this when I first moved to DC. Up to that point I never really understood that Special Event Florist actually were so profitable. I quickly changed my goals of opening a Flower Shop. I think for certain that if any shop chooses to go high value, set standards, and actively pursue this type of social event work, they can start now at this moment. It doesn't mean quiting your day to day operations, or the occasional budget bride, it means that they have to polish up and expose them selves to this type of market. And this is hard to visualize and do if you are confined to four walls. It may require hoping on a plane in a days notice to meet with a new client, and TONS of emailing and looking for opportunities. And you will need to sharpen your consultation and presenting skills. When your hard up for a buck, it's hard to comfortably ask for 20,000. People with money can smell the fear and uncertainty.
The reason I am not jaded by low budget high expecting brides is because I have a certain look, full and lush, and thats expensive. Are my events as expensive as Preston, Tutura, or David Beame's? No, I am not of that level. Do I deal with that caliber of family money? probably so and more so. Can I do what they do? Not any more because I have chosen to scale back and raise a family and have a life.
So my goal is to have a medium in life. A certain goal of events and a certain goal for personal life.
Sorry for rambling, I hope I don't sound to big headed, cause I don't mean to be, I just really want to help. I think if the value of flowers go up through the flower shops, than it trickles upward and we all win.
Ok I'm finished.
