Arches, Chargers & Vessels. Oh My!

Michael Gaddie  0:00 

Don't add more to your plate. Getting married is life changing. The last thing you need to worry about is decorating for your own wedding.

Sharon Rumsey  0:07 

Take a listen to this episode to learn how to turn your Pinterest board into your wedding reality, while still keeping in mind all of the policies and guidelines of your venue. And learn why hiring professionals will actually save you time stress

Kristina Stubblefield  0:21 

and money. You got engaged. Now what? Happy? Yes, joyful time, of course, stressed and overwhelmed. 100% Don't worry, you're in the right place. Welcome to the ring, the bling and all the things where we will get you from down on one knee to down the aisle. We'll cover all things from yes to I do's and all that happens in between. Hi, I'm Kristina Stubblefield, one of your hosts, along with my two good friends, Michael Gaddie. And Sharon Rumsey with over 50 years of wedding experience between us. We have seen it, heard it, done it and found a way around it. So buckle up and enjoy the journey. Now, let's get started with this episode.

Okay, thanks for tuning in to another episode of the ring the bleeding and all the things I'm your host, Kristina Stubblefield, along with my friends, Sharon Rumsey and Michael Gaddie. So today's topic now we're gonna try to not let Michael hold the mic the whole time. Okay, but this is really up his alley. So he's really excited to discuss this topic, Mike, share with them. What are we going to be talking about today?

Michael Gaddie  1:51 

decor

Unknown Speaker  1:53 

decor decor

Michael Gaddie  1:56 

is starting with the rehearsal.

Kristina Stubblefield  1:58 

And it's interesting that we're going to talk about this because something we were just talking about before we hit the record button. I had never thought of this. So sharing Sharon decor decor decor. Are you ready to dive in? Because Mike has, truthfully I would consider it some money savings tips when it comes to your decor on how you can use different pieces. I'm sorry, Mike, am I talking about your topic?

Michael Gaddie  2:24 

No. Go ahead.

Kristina Stubblefield  2:25 

I apologize.

Unknown Speaker  2:28 

Okay, Mike's gonna kick it off with decor. Where are we going to start Mike?

Michael Gaddie  2:31 

Okay, we're gonna start the rehearsal dinner. Okay. Normally, the groom's parents takes care of the rehearsal dinner. Is that correct, Sharon? Traditionally, that is correct. But nowadays anything goes. But usually I will work directly with the groom's mother, and she'll call and order flowers for the rehearsal. Either it'd be at a restaurant at their home, whatever it may be, they use it. But one good thing about the rehearsal dinner and I think one of our weddings have done this together. is by

Kristina Stubblefield  3:07 

the way, Mike and Sharon have done quite a few weddings together. We said

Michael Gaddie  3:11 

yes. But they will use the centerpieces that we use at the rehearsal. And then they'll either two ways we can come pick them up from the rehearsal and deliver them to the the reception The next day, or they can transport them herself. But normally, it's not a main centerpiece. It's usually like cocktail tables and stuff like that. So that would be one way that you could save money is using those pieces from the rehearsal to the reception.

Kristina Stubblefield  3:40 

Basically you're repurposing them purpose. There's still nothing wrong with

Sharon Rumsey  3:44 

rehearsal dinner florals are usually a bit smaller than than reception centerpieces, because you certainly don't want to compete with the wedding. Right? So they're perfect. As long as you coordinate colors. They're perfect to place on your bar, your buffet, maybe your guests book table.

Michael Gaddie  4:03 

So tables is really a good thing,

Sharon Rumsey  4:05 

right? So I love his idea. And he's actually he taught me that, that you make sure that they match the wedding colors, and then you repurpose them into the reception. And it just kind of makes the reception look even extra done.

Kristina Stubblefield  4:19 

Well, and I really like that because like you just mentioned, you don't want those the decor at the rehearsal dinner to overpower the wedding. The wedding is the staple.

Sharon Rumsey  4:31 

That's the main event

Kristina Stubblefield  4:32 

and most of the time, I'm guessing that people use the same florist for the rehearsal dinner

Michael Gaddie  4:38 

90% of the time they do

Kristina Stubblefield  4:40 

and that makes it nice because you can save them some money and really add on Okay,

Michael Gaddie  4:45 

now, a lot of times the bride's mom or the bride will say okay, well we want to decorate the church. Can we take the church altar arrangements and use them as buffet pieces or use them as centerpieces. A lot of times we'll get that that want to use those pieces. On the head table, I think that's all great. But I'm gonna, I'm gonna give you some tips on that. One is we do not transfer anything from the church. And most florists would not do this. Transfer anything from the church to the reception. Because you don't want those flowers on the altar to leave until after pictures are done. And your guests are already at the reception sitting down at their table. So even us, or makes us look like we're running late if we're carrying a man when everybody's already seated, or if someone else from the family is carrying them in. It's kind of like an afterthought.

Kristina Stubblefield  5:39 

It looks a little looks kind of odd. But that's a really good point. Because you might be thinking, Oh, well, I could just use it from the altar, or wherever you're getting married, and I could just transfer it, but the people would already be there.

Michael Gaddie  5:52 

Exactly. And people don't realize that. That's why your

Kristina Stubblefield  5:56 

professional right, that's

Michael Gaddie  5:56 

exactly right.

Sharon Rumsey  5:57 

Right. I get asked a lot of times as a planner, because the florist, most florists will tell you no. I get asked, Well, can you just grab the altar pieces and take them with you to the reception space. And when I very first started, I did that a couple of times. The first thing I noticed was, I am not a florist. So transporting those big arrangements is not something my Volkswagen Jetta is made to do. did not go over well.

Kristina Stubblefield  6:24 

And today's episode, we're going to be including information on automobiles.

Sharon Rumsey  6:29 

That did not shower well.

Kristina Stubblefield  6:30 

And the second thing is exactly you don't recommend that she trains for those of you all have a van that you drive.

Sharon Rumsey  6:37 

The second thing is exactly what Mike said, I found that I was running in while I'm trying to check the the reception space. And I've got a million other things I'm trying to do. And I'm dodging guests to try to carry this huge flower arrangement through

Kristina Stubblefield  6:50 

why everyone's looking at you like oh, wow, did somebody forget to bring some flowers?

Sharon Rumsey  6:54 

Like, you know, somebody doesn't have their act together. I

Michael Gaddie  6:56 

have to tell you a little story. We did a wedding in an outdoor venue, Whitehall. And they got married in the garden. And they did exactly that. So here they had this beautiful head table. We had bases down the center, we had Garland's We had lots of flowers, we had to go bases, like four foot tall bases and those arrangements. She wanted to take from the, from the ceremony and bring them over and put them on those bases. I get there at 11 o'clock that night. Walk in, everything's beautiful. And there's two empty vases sitting on the head, oh

Kristina Stubblefield  7:30 

my gosh. So they never may never moved because

Michael Gaddie  7:33 

they don't

Kristina Stubblefield  7:34 

think about it. Well, then there's so much going on. Most people it may be their first marriage, you know, it's not like they've been down this road before. There's so much happening and people pulling at the couple, the family, the parents, it's not just as easy to add things to your plate being part of that event. And even

Sharon Rumsey  7:52 

if you have a wedding planner, to task her with that, you know, there's so much going on with that wedding planner.

Kristina Stubblefield  7:59 

They're not a normal florist well, and together either. We

Sharon Rumsey  8:02 

are also with the couple we're trying to get pictures done. We're trying to make sure that the apps are being served and drinks are being served. And there's no line at the bar. So that you know, that's just not something I would want on my task list for wedding day for

Michael Gaddie  8:15 

that is bad thing about it is here. I was there the one picking it up that night. And the dad, the dad of the bride comes up and says why don't we shoot that flowers in those vices. But what's that make me look like? Yeah,

Kristina Stubblefield  8:28 

maybe you didn't do your job Exactly.

Michael Gaddie  8:31 

But I did exactly what I was told to do.

Kristina Stubblefield  8:33 

Well, and that goes to also these venues when someone says oh Lloyd's florist did the flowers. But they have no idea that part of your contract was, look, you're taking these flowers from the ceremony and they're gonna go in these vases. It's not your responsibility, and you didn't leave something else. I'm not doing it. But now but people don't know that. It's just the

Sharon Rumsey  8:56 

business. It's one thing if it's a small arrangement that you can carry, you know, with one hand, but when you start talking about those great big floral arrangements, that that requires somebody that knows what they're doing.

Kristina Stubblefield  9:07 

Okay, we're talking about, we were talking about rehearsal, dinner rehearsal, dinner flowers, and then we hopped over to ceremony flowers. Tell us a little bit about what do you see people with the churches like that's what you just mentioned, is the churches do they have some restrictions on what you can and cannot do? The biggest

Michael Gaddie  9:28 

restriction that we see, especially in Catholic churches, we cannot put anything on the altar itself. Normally nowadays, I mean used to and years ago, we would use to decorate the church massively. You don't see that much anymore. Usually there's two columns into arrangements. Unless it's a Jewish wedding, we'll do a hoop on that kind of thing. So that's totally separate. But traditionally, for Catholics and Christians that usually does something on the altar, and then we also put Pew markers On to mark off where the family sets?

Kristina Stubblefield  10:02 

Well, you know, Sharon, we were just at a meeting together recently. And it was at a Catholic church. And that was one of the very first things they said, when we you talk about the space you're allowed to move around in. And the person that we were meeting with said, Will this from this point forward is considered the altar. And nothing goes other than me. Nothing else goes on up here. So that recently stood out. So that makes sense why you're saying, Yeah,

Michael Gaddie  10:31 

I mean, you would be surprised what all rules for the churches are.

Sharon Rumsey  10:36 

I mean, as a planner, when I go to a meeting at a church, and like Christina said, we were just at one together cuz she's live streaming one of my ceremonies for me. The first thing I do is say, I want to be very respectful of the church, please tell me the the guidelines. And then

Kristina Stubblefield  10:51 

that was the that was the first question you ask. But I bet there's a lot of people that take that, Oh, well, this is where I want my people to stay. And they have that vision, not realizing nobody can go Yeah,

Sharon Rumsey  11:00 

it happens a lot with videographers and photographers that aren't familiar with Catholic churches, you know, they want of course, to get the best picture. So they'll hop up on the altar or something like that. But that's always the first question I asked. And they're usually appreciative that you want to know, and they're very good about telling you and then Christina, I'll tell you that meeting. Every other Pew is blocked off due to COVID. So I was literally going through saying, So Michael, place flowers here. And Michael place flowers here. And Michael place flowers here, because I wanted to sketch that out. So I can give it to him later.

Kristina Stubblefield  11:36 

Well, and Mike, and I want to get off the decor subject. But while you're talking about that, is one thing that stood out to me at that meeting that I overheard you all talking about is the change that with COVID going on, and it being every other Pew, that's putting the wedding party in the first Pew, and the parents potentially in the third Pew,

Sharon Rumsey  11:59 

the third open Pew, which is really Pew six,

Kristina Stubblefield  12:02 

correct. So in some instances, they're switching that which makes sense. That's the appearance of of the couple, you know, they should probably be up front. But I remember that standing out because I was thinking to myself before you said anything, I was thinking how the parents are going to be several feet back for seeing the ceremony.

Sharon Rumsey  12:23 

And in a Catholic Church, that's completely up to the officiant, the priest or the deacon performing that ceremony, whether they are okay with allowing the the parents to be upfront in the bridal party in the next row.

Kristina Stubblefield  12:35 

Right. So anything else at all obviously, like Sharon mentioned, you want to be respectful of each church. But there's a lot of times people doing ceremonies, other places, outdoors, things like that. So what else do you see at first ceremony decor?

Michael Gaddie  12:52 

Well, I mean, the thing, the big thing now is, you know, arches, a frame arches, circle, arches, octagon, arches. Those are all things specially if it's in an outdoor ceremony or a barn ceremony. Those pieces can be taken off of the arch and taken inside too. But again, they need to designate someone to do that.

Kristina Stubblefield  13:18 

Well. And also, you want to make sure you make it through your pictures.

Michael Gaddie  13:20 

Exactly that

Sharon Rumsey  13:21 

someone should be a florist.

Kristina Stubblefield  13:24 

Well, we've already talked about professionals. There's a reason why you use them. Yep.

Michael Gaddie  13:30 

Well, and a lot of times like you mentioned earlier, they'll use bridesmaids bouquets for centerpieces. Normally, we will use the bride my bridesmaids bouquets on the head table. Well, we supply bases for all the bouquets. And that's just a good way to decorate the head table. I mean, even if you have three or four or five, or whatever it may be, we usually have a medium base for all the bridesmaids. And then we have a larger base for the bridal bouquet to sit in. But that's a good way to decorate that. dresses. Yeah. And going back to like we were talking earlier is if you use it as a centerpiece, again, there's going to be an empty base on that table until the bridal party is introduced. And then they'll walk over and put that in there may I don't think that's a good idea. But you know, people do it all the time. Don't want

Kristina Stubblefield  14:16 

and also meeting with you to go over things. If they need to make adjustments with their budget, there are things they can do. But you're also explaining to them, you don't want to do this, you want to have a designated person unless they're going to pay you to be there. But you don't want to do this until your pictures are taken. You could have some pictures that are fully decorated. And then some pictures that don't have stuff.

Michael Gaddie  14:38 

Well, you're talking about t when you mentioned budget, our main thing is we want to work within your budget. But a lot of times people will think Oh, I can't afford to put flowers on every table. So we'll use the bridesmaids bouquets or whatever and that's perfectly fine. But there are lots more options that we can provide you where they'd be only flowers. On a third of the tables, then we do candles on a third of a table, or we can do half and half, there's a lot of things that we can do to fit your budget.

Kristina Stubblefield  15:07 

Well, and you just mentioned something else, candles, love candles, do places let you do lit candles,

Michael Gaddie  15:15 

all venues that I work with, they do not have to have a policy where you can have an open flame. Now, if they are in a closed face, or cylinder or something like that, they're a okay, but you cannot use tapered candles. Now we use taper candles, but they're illuminators and luminaires are a candle that is realistic looking, you cannot tell the difference. Unless you stick your finger in it, you would never know it was not a flame or real flame. So I mean, they're they are more expensive. But it still gives you that look, if that's the look you're looking for.

Kristina Stubblefield  15:47 

and Sharon, I'm assuming if you're not using a wedding planner, that needs to be questions that you ask the place that you're having whatever your rehearsal, dinner ceremony or reception.

Sharon Rumsey  15:58 

Yes. My partial planning clients, the ones that I don't attend all the appointments with. I have a list of questions to ask each venue and each vendor. And that's on my venue questions is, you know, what's the rule for candles? And am I allowed to have an open flame? But like Mike said, that's been my experience everywhere that I go

Kristina Stubblefield  16:19 

well, and you need to know that there's an you don't want to. You don't want your vendors coming in the day of and they say we don't allow that.

Michael Gaddie  16:27 

And that does happen. I mean, not just the thing that I have found that's more popular or more restricted, is not so much candlelight that's being enclosed and must be enclosed. But like rose petals on tables, people think that's that's the inexpensive way to do it. And yes, it is. But a lot of venues will not let you put red rose petals or pink hot pink rose petals on a table because it stains the tablecloth, the bride and groom or mom doesn't think about that kind of stuff. But I mean it's rules

Kristina Stubblefield  17:00 

well in that would maybe even go to the rental company that you're getting your table linens from maybe not even in most rental contracts for linen.

Sharon Rumsey  17:08 

And a lot of places outside. brides think that they'll say by using soap. You know it's fall, some brides want to throw silk leaves instead of throwing real flower petals. But most outside venues won't allow that. Because it has to be something that's biodegradable, and will you know, something that doesn't have to be cleaned.

Kristina Stubblefield  17:30 

That's a really good tip because I bet they're thinking, again, you're better off to ask the questions. And if you're dealing with professionals, you know, going in and having a clear picture of what you are and are not allowed to do saves you some headache, especially your vendors from they're going to have if you don't have a planner, they're going to have to come ask you that day trek down a parent somebody to make the decision.

Sharon Rumsey  17:54 

And most venues now, they don't allow confetti. A lot of brides want to do the confetti poppers. That's a big thing. If you really read your venue contract, it's not allowed. Because when you step on confetti, paper confetti, if you're on a wood floor, if that confetti gets wet or stepped on, it's going to stay in that floor. There's all kinds of rules with decor. So if you just get a professional that's been to that venue 100 times and knows all of those rules, you can avoid all that headache.

Kristina Stubblefield  18:24 

And before you sign your venue contract, make sure if some of that stuff is really important to you, like you're dead set on having confetti, that you that's one of your questions, right?

Michael Gaddie  18:35 

Well the thing too is, you know, I've had brides say, well it wouldn't do it and you know it's better to say sorry then you know, ask forgiveness instead of permission chocolate and the thing about it is we work with these vendors every weekend or this these venues. So it's not if I know the rule that we can't do it we're not going to do it right. So I mean because it just it makes us look bad because next week we're gonna be doing somebody else's wedding and we're not gonna be cleaning up your mess

Kristina Stubblefield  19:06 

right? It's a respect issue. Exactly. If that's if their guidelines to respect it. It's just going to make your event better all the way around. Okay, so we were talking about ask about the candles. What other centerpieces What do you see right now that's a trend.

Michael Gaddie  19:28 

trendy right now is tall centerpieces, but the thing about it is when they hear the budget for the tall centerpieces, they present a kind of frown, but they say oh mama, that's what I want, though. But what I always come back with is you don't have to have 30 tall ones. You don't have to have 10 tall ones. You could do five tall ones and spread those five tall ones around the whole room

Kristina Stubblefield  19:50 

because they're such a statement because they're a statement piece

Michael Gaddie  19:53 

because you're going to walk in the room. If you've had 30 tall wins and five tall wins, you're still going to grab their attention. Soon as they walk in depends, I honestly

Sharon Rumsey  20:01 

don't like it when they're all tall. I like to mix. And when you look across that room, those are those tall ones are going to draw your eye. But then there's other ones that are different heights that kind of even everything out. I don't like them all to match. That's just my personal matter.

Rather, might have been taught that by a florist. I

Kristina Stubblefield  20:21 

know. You might have I think you are. I think I might have been I think he's here. Oh, yeah, he's here.

Michael Gaddie  20:27 

He is here while we're talking about flowers. The one thing too That is real pot, bro. Important is budget. And when people try to come up with a budget, and they have no clue what budget to even spend on flowers, and 99% of the time, I'll ask them. So when I get done doing my contract, I'll say So did you have a budget? And it's always a yes or no question. And they I don't want them to say yes, I've got $3,000 Yes, you have a budget or no, you have a budget. Because usually what it is, is eight to eight to 10% of your total budget, I think we've talked about this a few times. And that just helps them get a realistic price. If you've got $30,000 to spend for your wedding or $10,000, you want to take eight to 10% of that. And that's usually what the average is that you spend on flowers.

Kristina Stubblefield  21:17 

And I think that's a good starting point for them. You know, it's not always that, but that's an average point.

Sharon Rumsey  21:24 

Well, and another thing too, one of my first appointments with my, with my couples, I always try to identify what's most important to them. And I do that by going through a series of I call it getting to know you questions. But when you identify what's most important to the couple, almost always in their top five is going to be the look of their reception. So when when they let me know flowers are a priority. Then we're going to go to Mike and he's going to somehow make that budget work. And it's going to be gorgeous. Now I have had some brides that are like it's not important to me, it just isn't. And if that just isn't important, then get really, really nice bouquets and boutonnieres and a couple of nice statement pieces and that's okay. But for most Brides, it's very important.

Kristina Stubblefield  22:09 

Well, so you're walking me into what I was going to talk about next. Let's talk about Mike's favorite subject. Do you know what this one is? Pinterest?

Sharon Rumsey  22:18 

He does love it. Actually, I

Michael Gaddie  22:20 

when it first came out, it made me mad. I know it really pissed me off actually.

Kristina Stubblefield  22:25 

Just be honest with you. I

Michael Gaddie  22:27 

really did. But I'll be honest with you now is if they bring their Pinterest page to me, it does make my job so much easier.

Kristina Stubblefield  22:34 

Technically speaking, it's their Pinterest board, but you go right ahead.

Michael Gaddie  22:39 

Pinterest, whatever Pinterest page board

Sharon Rumsey  22:41 

planner does.

Michael Gaddie  22:43 

long as they bring it to me it makes my job is

Kristina Stubblefield  22:45 

almost that you said Picture Pages. Oh, let's not talk about that. That'll or Ah, but so Pinterest. So what Sharon was talking about this look and feel. It's kind of like the vibe of the event. And that board can kind of it tells you the direction of their thinking do they want in here? I'm going to talk about some I have no idea. Are they wanting something very formal, or are they wanting something rustic? Seems to be the new thing these days. But it really lets you see what their vision is a little bit with pictures.

Sharon Rumsey  23:24 

So I have a great story. I'm sorry. No, no, I have a great story about that. I just had an appointment with Michael,

Kristina Stubblefield  23:30 

I guess last month. And Sharon that's really not how you say his name but that's what

Sharon Rumsey  23:36 

I did with you my calling Michael. You do but tonight I'm not irritated with him. Okay,

Kristina Stubblefield  23:42 

thank goodness.

Sharon Rumsey  23:43 

But I just took a bride in and she had told me throughout the planning process. We worked together for months she wanted jewel tones. So I told Mike she wants jewel tones. And we we get to Mike shop. She tells him I'm thinking jewel tones. And he says okay, do you have some pictures for me? Do you have Pinterest? And she played he asked if she had Pinterest.

Michael Gaddie  24:09 

Yeah, I usually do have

Unknown Speaker  24:11 

come along.

Sharon Rumsey  24:13 

I'm so proud that she pulls out her Pinterest board and he and I look at each other because what she pinned was not jewel tones is as we've envisioned jewel tones to be her vocabulary for it

Kristina Stubblefield  24:27 

was completely different.

Sharon Rumsey  24:28 

So thank goodness totally different thank goodness that she had those in spray we I call them inspiration pictures. But thank goodness that she had them because she and Mike were instantly able to be on the same page. Because she then she said oh well I didn't really know what jewel tones meant. I thought that was jewel tones.

Kristina Stubblefield  24:49 

So why meetings are also and yes so you can get on

Michael Gaddie  24:52 

and honestly most most of the time when it comes to flowers. brides don't know anything about it. They just look at their Pinterest page. You know when they love words and then Know what they like and what they don't like. And I encourage My Brides to to bring me pictures of what they don't like. Because just because you're showing me a bouquet that you like, it doesn't mean it's gonna be that photocopy. Yes, sometimes I do photocopy of them. But as you know, I will say, okay, you like that style, you like that shape. But we're going to use these colors over these colors.

Sharon Rumsey  25:22 

The floral appointment is honestly my favorite appointment of all the wedding planning appointments. Because I always learn something. I'm not someone who knows a whole lot about flowers. So I always learn something. And I just love to go and look at all the pretty things. If you love walking around target going to Mike shop upstairs is like Target on crack. There's all the pretties. But there's other pretties to me, they can pick their vases, and they can pick their chargers, and they can just pick pick, pick all the pretty things.

Kristina Stubblefield  25:50 

Well, and that's something to so when we're talking about decor. So you for example, you do a lot more with centerpieces and things like that maybe more than other florists do.

Michael Gaddie  26:02 

I mean, we have a whole showroom of different types of containers, that different vessels that you can put things on.

Kristina Stubblefield  26:12 

Okay, let's talk in layman's terms here. Well, bases, no, well, it

Michael Gaddie  26:17 

could be a vase. But when I say vessels, they that usually means like your structure that's going to hold a tall base, it's going to be a base that lights up, it's going to be a stain, a gold stand a silver stand a stain with crystals on it. I mean, there's lots of little, lots of different things that you can choose from.

Kristina Stubblefield  26:34 

Okay, I just wanted to clarify, because our audience probably isn't versed in the floral language. So when you said vessels, that's definitely not what I thought. But he might share a note because she's been in how many? We won't even say how many meetings with you. I heard she just comes over there. And you you just run with it. You prefer it that way. Right? Because you're the expert. Yeah, that's what I thought. Okay, so anyways, back to vessels and containers and all that stuff. So go ahead, but

Michael Gaddie  27:02 

we supply a lot of stuff. And the thing about it is a lot of times brides will say, Well, can I supply my own bass? Or can I supply this centerpiece over this centerpiece? Yes, you can. But as much for a rental charge that we would charge, for example, like a cluster of cylinders and votives, you're gonna pay $15. Okay. They'll want to go over to Michaels and Hobby Lobby and a different craft store. And they said, well, we're just going to buy all that ourselves, I can guarantee you, you're going to purchase that twice the amount. And you're going to be running to about five or six different hobby lobbies to make sure you get as many as you need.

Kristina Stubblefield  27:41 

But the other point that you make what happens at the end of the night,

Michael Gaddie  27:44 

they have to pick it up. They have

Kristina Stubblefield  27:47 

boxes or whatever,

Sharon Rumsey  27:48 

it's good, then what do you then sorry, but what do you what do you do with it after? You know what you do with it after you put it in your mom's basement where 100 bases live for the next 10 years?

Kristina Stubblefield  27:58 

Are you listed on Facebook marketplace?

Michael Gaddie  28:00 

Well, that that's a whole nother show.

Kristina Stubblefield  28:03 

Right? That takes time. And it's another step at the end of the day that could have been done with it because

Michael Gaddie  28:10 

because we're gonna come back and pick it up and you don't have to worry about it.

Kristina Stubblefield  28:13 

Right. Okay, so we talked about centerpieces, trends, sharing what else comes to mind when you think of decor?

Sharon Rumsey  28:24 

Honestly, as a wedding planner, and this might be shooting myself in the foot. Once again, my job is to put together that team that a team of vendors is going to take care of my bride. It's not my job to know every flower, or how to put a centerpiece together. It's my job to take you to the expert that I think will do the best job for your wedding. So I will tell the bride flat out when they asked me a question. I'll say, Let's ask Mike, if you're going to ask me a question about food, let's ask the cater because it's I don't profess to be an expert in everything.

Kristina Stubblefield  28:59 

But you know how to get them the correct answers from I will

Sharon Rumsey  29:01 

get the correct answer from the correct person. And I know what I think is ridiculous. And I know what I think is fair.

Kristina Stubblefield  29:09 

Well, the other thing too is these professionals do this day in and day out just like you do with wedding planning. And when you're talking about pulling together a room, so to speak, and making it all come together. You want it to be with an expert, because if you're using what

Sharon Rumsey  29:26 

he's trained to do exactly just like I'm trying to create your timeline and handle all of your logistics. He's he's trying to put that design together. One of the things I will say that I have learned, again, from Mike is when you go to look at flowers. I have a great story about this. I have a bride who was getting married in January. She had a florist It was not Lloyd's florist and she loved what's the flower I can't say an enemy's anatomies Yeah, I said it right that time. It's a it's a really pretty white flower with a black center. And she was getting married in January. Went to the floral meeting. I was new I didn't really know a lot at the time. She told the floor she wanted her bouquet to be mostly an enemy's florist never said a word. We went with it. day of the wedding bouquets come in. There's not any. There's none no one enemies in the bouquet. Well, mother, the bride, her head spun around. She was not happy with that. And then it's Sharon fix this. Well, come to find out those flowers aren't available in January. They're off season.

Kristina Stubblefield  30:43 

And you didn't know about this? No, I didn't. I mean, well, I meant they didn't tell you

Sharon Rumsey  30:50 

know, the florist just took the order and

Unknown Speaker  30:52 

and it's not the floors that's on here with us. No,

Sharon Rumsey  30:55 

okay. It was a different floors.

Kristina Stubblefield  30:56 

Just clarifying it is not Myers

Sharon Rumsey  30:58 

took the order took the deposit.

Kristina Stubblefield  31:01 

Never said in enemies are not easy. This was really,

Sharon Rumsey  31:04 

really important to this bride this was, you know, so I think talking about what's in season and being honest about what you can and can't do. It is as important to tell a bride what you cannot do. As to tell her what you can

Michael Gaddie  31:20 

actually I'll have a almost I won't say a dictionary of every flower there is. And as they pick them out on the back of that card or on the back of that page. It tells me when they're available when they're not. I would rather say you know if she comes bouncing in and say I want ponies and I want nothing but ponies, but she's getting married in December. That's not going to happen. I would rather be at front with her that day. buffed her bubble right then then tell her Oh, it'll be fine and then come that day because I just screwed up a customer. One thing with that too when you a lot of brides asked me when should come and talk to you. Usually about a year out. Actually this week and next week I'm all my appointments are for October and December of next year. So usually about a year out that's when you want to contact your florist,

Sharon Rumsey  32:13 

something Mike has taught me is because he does booked up so, so quickly. I always want to make sure that we get in but something he has taught me too is you want to make sure that you have your dress your wedding dress because you don't want to take a stark white dress and do beige flowers. You might be able to explain that more but what do you want to have their

Michael Gaddie  32:38 

dress and you want to have your dress because of exactly what you say usually if it's an ivory dress will use more white flour as if it's a white dress will usually use more average flowers because it fades into it and that's what I was talking about on color on another episode. Color is real important. And also

Kristina Stubblefield  32:58 

didn't you mention about having the bridesmaids colors picked out the

Michael Gaddie  33:03 

dresses that I was gonna say is you want to bring your bridesmaids colors to me

Sharon Rumsey  33:07 

they don't have to have the actual dress but they need their color palette.

Michael Gaddie  33:10 

Yeah, and the best thing is after you say you came to me today and talk to me and we've picked out everything when we get done with that appointment and you've booked me put put your Pinterest page away Don't keep looking because I mean you know you can change your mind you can change your color and and now this year it's been it's been a challenge because we've had seas March April May and June drop brides not getting married so we postponed it to now So yeah, that's a little different because we are going you don't want to use pink I have a

Sharon Rumsey  33:42 

bride going into see Mike next week and she was supposed to get married April 3 and now it's December 23. So of course her floral order is going to change because she's not spring anymore she's winter

Kristina Stubblefield  33:53 

but normally you're saying right Put that away because you're gonna put that away

Michael Gaddie  33:57 

because you're gonna you're gonna get all bent out of shape and when overwhelmed by Oh I like this I like this and

Sharon Rumsey  34:05 

Did I make a mistake? Should I change something? Yeah,

Michael Gaddie  34:07 

but color is is real important. And talking about color. Like I said another time is a you don't want your flower to be the same color as any dress. If you have three or four different shades that's perfect because you're going to have three or four different shades in your bouquet to I don't think it has to match perfectly. Is it a blend in and the pictures will be so much better if they don't match

Kristina Stubblefield  34:32 

and I'm assuming that this carries over to the centerpieces oh yeah and stuff like that with your decor.

Michael Gaddie  34:38 

Well and usually to be honest with you the first thing on my list is a brought up okay. We pick out the trend today or now is the bridal bouquet and all the bridesmaids bouquets and everything matches. The bridal bouquet is a lot more extravagant. The bridesmaids are a lot smaller, but everything is matching all the way through. So basically the hardest thing in our consultation is and Sharon can tell you this is picking out the flowers for the broad of Okay, then everything else falls into place. So it's really simple. And when it comes to budget on flowers, I'm going to pick out everything or show you everything that you like and what you want this kind of getting off the budget part, but we put everything on paper that you want. And then at the end of the consultation, we turn around and say, Okay, this is what your budget is, or this is what your total, it's gonna, this is how much it's gonna cost. A lot of times, they'll say, Oh, it's not as much as I thought. Or if it is too much, then we'll go back and we'll redo something or we'll take something off. But that's why I always tell my Brides, let's put everything on here that you want. Because I don't want to cramp what you don't want, you know what I mean? We want to give you what you want. And sometimes the bride's mom will say, oh, gosh, we can't we can't do this, we need to take this off. But then the throttle, say, But mom, I want it. And we keep it there.

Sharon Rumsey  36:01 

So sometimes, too. I've been I just recently had an appointment, that arch was really, really important to the bride, that was the most important thing. And it was it was expensive, because she wanted the practically the whole thing covered in flowers. But what when they said, oh, we're over budget, what we're able to do then is to sit down and look at what wasn't as important. So maybe you have two less of the big tall centerpieces, and you go with a more medium centerpiece, but you're able to keep that arch. For that price difference. We're back to the reason about using a professional which is not what our episodes about. But it always seems to circle back to that because that's where you can get the most for your money. Because they can you can help maneuver. The logic. My job as their planner is to walk into that floral appointment or catering appointment or whatever appointment we're going into knowing that client inside and out and knowing what matters the most to that client. I had a bride. She no joke. She wanted rocks. She wanted MOS. She wanted to remember her. She wanted a very, very natural look. And I text Mike before and I said here we come. This is what's important. And he was able to make that happen. And she was she was thrilled when she left because she felt heard she felt understood and her budget was respected.

Kristina Stubblefield  37:29 

Well that's really good.

Michael Gaddie  37:31 

Yeah, budgets The most important thing and we always work with it. He does. We tried to

Kristina Stubblefield  37:37 

is So is there anything else you would share out in regards to decor that we didn't touch on because that's really what we wanted to stick to in this episode and I know that's a big topic and we'll probably dive down deeper into different segments of it. But I know you've touched on a lot honestly and things I had never thought

Michael Gaddie  37:57 

1. Well I did a big wedding here about three weeks ago. At and it was out of town. It was that and Ashley in beautiful even though we did it i mean i mean it was very nice. The only thing that I can if I can say anything to discard courage abroad and her mom to doing is trying to cut cost and do extra things over what they have hired me to do. For an example this one had a photo booth. They had a pipe and drape which was made out of PVC pipe that they made their self and hung sheer fabric on it and rent some cheap RV around it. I'm thinking is everything else was a plated dinner, beautiful centerpieces, tall centerpieces and this thing over in the corner. The wind was blowing when it was outside kept falling over they kept going over picking it up. I'm thinking who they rent that thing from

Kristina Stubblefield  38:54 

well in what you're saying is that was a pretty formal,

Michael Gaddie  38:58 

there was a formal event and they had something like that

Kristina Stubblefield  39:01 

when cheap, cheap or tight. Right? really took away for took

Michael Gaddie  39:06 

away from it. And the bride's mom even came up to me after it was over and said, this is the only thing that we got ourselves and we only spent $35 on it. I'm thinking that was $35 you could have kept in your pocket because it ruined the whole.

Sharon Rumsey  39:20 

Mike and I did a wedding together. where everything was gorgeous. Again, a beautiful arch just everything was gorgeous. And the venue had a staircase and the bride or her mom I don't I don't even remember for sure who but they didn't. They wanted that staircase decorated and they didn't want to spend the money to put real floral on it. So they wrapped it in a fake eiv from Walmart from Walmart. And even the venue owner asked that it not be put in any of the pictures from the professional photographer.

Unknown Speaker  40:01 

Oh my Really?

Michael Gaddie  40:03 

Yeah, and the thing about it is

Sharon Rumsey  40:05 

and that they're trying to do, they don't understand how it's not going to blend in

Kristina Stubblefield  40:13 

with it probably stuck out like a sore thumb.

Michael Gaddie  40:15 

Well, and the thing about it is that the vendor asked me, you know, if I was the florist, I wouldn't allow that. I'm not going to take that step and telling them what they can and can't do. But it does make us it is a reflection on a professional that does things really pretty. And then they got something from Walmart hanging on the staircase,

Sharon Rumsey  40:36 

there are florists that I have worked with that do have it in their contract that any floral displayed has to come from that florist. And it's in the contract. And it's something you agree to. I had an incident where I was with a florist that had that in their contract. And the caterer, one of the things she offered was that she provided florals for the buffet. And I didn't realize that that was a problem. And when my florist came in, she refused to set up unless the caterer took her florals down. So that's the kind of things that you need a wedding planner for because those two women in that catfight would have been dealing with the bride that day, had they not had a wedding planner to referee.

Kristina Stubblefield  41:20 

So and we come back to knowing what all the do's and don'ts are with your different vendors, those contracts are there for a rewrite. And you have to No, and I think that's a really good point of having a planner, not a day of coordinator, but a planner to really navigate through that.

Sharon Rumsey  41:40 

And then I will say that a lot. I was this brides at the time I offered day of which I don't even offer anymore, but I was hurt I have. And so I had not had a chance to look at all those contracts. So I just had to go out and say, ladies, this, this is my bad. I didn't understand this was a problem. Can we just call a truce for today? And let's, you know, be team bride. Because at the end of the day, the only vote that counts to me is the one in the white dress. I don't care about anybody else's vote. So we were able to work it out for that day. But boy, do I remember now that both of those ladies have that in their contracts.

Kristina Stubblefield  42:18 

But that was something that wasn't the engaged couple parents, whoever was doing that event, it was on them. But you were there to try to make the best of it that day. Right. And we did. Yeah. Okay, so did we talk about all things decor that we can get to today in this episode? Thanks. So

Sharon Rumsey  42:36 

one thing that we didn't mention that I really appreciate. And, again, something I've learned,

Kristina Stubblefield  42:41 

I should have asked Sharon first,

Sharon Rumsey  42:43 

I mean, of course. But anyway, the incident I was talking about where the bride got her bouquet, and it didn't have her flower of choice in it. One thing that Mike does, that I really appreciate for that I think really helps my girls is that he lets the bride come the day before the wedding, and preview all of their florals. So that wouldn't have happened to me that day. Because she would have already seen her bouquet. And they would have already had that discussion. I wouldn't have had a bride in tears on wedding day. Because she had she had flowers that she didn't want in her bouquet.

Michael Gaddie  43:20 

Well, I'll be honest with you about 25 years ago, that happened to me, you know, we delivered the flowers to the church and the bride literally freaked out. Says I hate this. This is not what we've talked about. It is what it is what we floor. Yeah, it is what we talked about. But her vision and her brain and my vision and my brain wasn't the same. And from that day forward, I said, What have what am I going to do to make sure that this never happens again. And I've done that, and that has never happened again. But you know what, usually when they come in, they get a kick out of it. Because I'm going to take their picture I love I posted on Facebook and Instagram. They love that. And even if I don't take the picture, they said are you taking my picture? So I mean, it's kind of like a routine that all My Brides know when

Sharon Rumsey  44:06 

I'll get a text and they'll say, I'm at my ex, I love my flowers, or I can't wait for you to see my flowers. They're so excited. But to me it's a level of protection because I know that we're good to go.

Michael Gaddie  44:19 

And 99.9% of the time, we never have any problem with the flowers. When it comes to their bouquets and stuff. And you know, I'll have that 1% say, oh my god trust you just I can't I don't have time I'm getting my nails done. And I understand that we schedule an appointment for them to come in and in. We don't make the bouquets until that morning. But we schedule a time for them to come in. So we can work around their schedule if they've got other things going on. But I still even though they trust me and say all my control, you still would rather them come in and look at when

Sharon Rumsey  44:53 

I create my timeline for wedding weekend. It's always on the day before. I'll schedule it. I'll write a time for her to go look at her flowers at the florist. And then, you know, on the rehearsal dinner or whatever else we have to do.

Kristina Stubblefield  45:07 

All right. Well, I think that was great as far as decor goes. And I think there's so much there that I think we can dive deeper into some of the different things we talked about, because I think this is good information. Unless this is something you do all the time. This is really important for you to know, ahead of time. Now, we talked before, there are no reduce. That's right.

Sharon Rumsey  45:31 

There are no redo. There's so much with decor, there's draping and lighting and all kinds of things that we could talk about.

Kristina Stubblefield  45:36 

Yes, we could. But we're going to stop sharing right there. Right? That's correct. We are going to

Sharon Rumsey  45:41 

not talk too much. No,

Kristina Stubblefield  45:43 

no, I told you. We were going to try to keep Mike from hogging this.

Michael Gaddie  45:48 

She took over pretty good.

Kristina Stubblefield  45:51 

And now Michael, Michael. Oh, on that note, we better close out this episode. So thank you for tuning in to the ring, the bling and all the things on behalf of Sharon and Mike. We really appreciate it. Follow us on social media, make sure to follow or subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform. podcast platform. So until next time, everyone Stay safe, and we'll talk to you soon.

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