TEAMBUILDING TUESDAY: BLOG EDITION (Volume 1)

Welcome to the newest edition of Teambuilding Tuesday!  

If you’ve been following my Instagram for the past year, you’ve watched Teambuilding Tuesday grow from a weekly story shout-out to a post where I introduced one of my favourite local wedding pros (or venues) on my feed and talked about their work.  I’m so excited to now be able to grow this into a monthly blog to help you really get to know your local wedding vendors!”

“Community over competition” has always been a phrase that’s near and dear to my heart, and I am so very lucky to have built such an amazing network of local wedding professionals over my many years working in this industry!  And so, without further ado, please allow me to introduce you to Kate Jones, owner and lead floral designer of Juniper Floral Studio!

Kate and I met over Instagram. She popped up in my “suggestions for you” sidebar, and the name of her studio immediately caught my eye… because I’m actually very allergic to juniper!  Needless to say, I was totally intrigued, I decided to click on her, and I just completely fell in love with her floral design style. Luckily, not long after that, I happened to have a couple who was in the market for their wedding flowers, and they were a perfect match for her.  After exchanging a few DMs, we hopped on a call to discuss the details; the time just flew right by as we chit-chatted away like old friends, and the rest, as they say, is history!  

Excited to learn more about Kate and Juniper Floral Studio? I know I would be!  Read on to see what she had to say when I asked her ten get-to-know-you questions!

I’m so excited to have you as my first Teambuilding Tuesday blog feature, Kate!  Tell me…how did you get started in floral design?

Alongside my full-time job in corporate marketing, I spent a year working on evenings and weekends with one of the top ten florists in Canada. This internship opportunity gave me the chance to learn about the industry and perfect my technical skills.  I learned a lot by doing this and realized I had a passion for floral design in the process.

What made you decide that weddings were what you mainly wanted to focus on?

I launched my business with pop-up shops and quickly realized that the model wasn’t going to be sustainable in the long term.  I took a step back and realized the wedding side of my business did the best, so I should focus my efforts on that area of my business instead. With a passion for wedding planning and design, I figured it was the best niche for our company to be in.

Would you say that you have a signature style?  How would you describe it?

Our signature style is perfectly imperfect garden-style arrangements. We LOVE greenery and use it a lot in our designs. Lots of lush foliage is our go-to!

What would you say is your favourite floral item to create… and why?

I have a love-hate relationship with bridal bouquets!  I love them because they are such a special piece in the wedding flowers and the bouquets truly set the tone for everything else we do for the wedding.  They are also a piece that lives on in photos for years to come.  But I also sort of hate them because there is just so much pressure to make them perfect!!  I do love some pressure in my job, but sometimes we have to re-create a bridal bouquet several times before we nail it!

You also own a hand-dyed silk ribbon company, Spun Textiles!  What made you decide to branch out into making your own textiles?

I was actually looking for silk textiles for our floral bouquets and boutonnieres and realized it was really hard to find.  It was then that I decided to try making my own. I tested many types of fabrics, many types of dyes and eventually came up with the best combination. I figured since I was looking for this, it was likely that other businesses were looking for the same thing. I actually had the idea for almost a year before I took action on starting it.  It wasn’t until COVID hit that I decided to put some wheels in motion and launch the new business venture.  I did this during COVID, as it gave me a way of selling products into other markets when the floral side of our business slowed down.

What is something you wish clients knew before coming to you for floral design services?

How much work and planning goes into each couple’s day. From planning the couple’s vision for the day to ordering and pulling the stock, cleaning pails, prepping the flowers (i.e. trimming, cutting, removal of guard petals, the opening of packaging…), to actually making everything for the day, delivery and set-up, there are a LOT of pieces and moving parts to make our couples’ days absolutely perfect!

What do you find to be the most challenging part of a wedding day?

Set-ups are always the most challenging part of the wedding day. We have to plan for every scenario possible when we do installations.  For outdoor installations, we have to plan for different types of weather and be prepared for anything that might pop up on the wedding day.  When it’s indoors, we also have to plan for installations on various surfaces and what we will use to adhere our designs to them, without ruining the surface or compromising style.

What is one of your top tips for clients looking for a floral designer?

Always be sure to ask about your floral designer’s process when choosing a designer. The important details you would want to know about are how the designs are chosen, when payments are due, next meetings, and delivery for the day of the wedding.

Tell our readers a secret that not a lot of people know about wedding floral design – it can be anything you’d like to share!

When booking a floral designer for your day, you get the designer’s undivided attention to your wedding florals.  Designing a wedding takes a lot of work and coordination and you’re getting an expert when you book your day with your floral designer – not just flowers!

Last but not least… how do you like to spend your time when you aren’t creating beautiful floral designs?

When I’m not working in my business, I like to be working on it. I enjoy spending my time working on our digital marketing strategy.  I also enjoy taking our dog on hikes and rock climbing.

Juniper Floral Studio is based in Hamilton, Ontario.  Known for their “perfectly imperfect” garden-style arrangements, Kate and her team like to encourage everyone they meet to live life in full bloom.  

Looking for a way to brighten someone’s day?  Check out their new monthly floral subscription!  And don’t forget to follow both Juniper Floral Studio and Spun Textiles on Instagram!