I got this crazy opportunity to work at a wedding when a local florist, Cheryl Sage of Accents by Sage, asked me if I wanted to assist her with a destination wedding in Tahoe. I thought, sure, what a great way to get first-hand experience for a service that I help market to brides. And I like flowers. Should be fun! Count me in. How hard can it be?
The date was set for a Saturday. I knew of course she’d need to buy supplies to create all the arrangements and personal flowers on Monday and Tuesday. Cheryl generally goes to San Francisco flower market for her stock. So I ask, what can I do to help. First, I have to plan to load up my truck with hard goods Wednesday. Cheryl, her assistant Carrie, and all the fresh flowers were scheduled to arrive in Tahoe on Thursday morning, to unload and start making arrangements. I would arrive Thursday night and we’d be off the wedding sites Friday to start the ceremony set-ups. Saturday was go time!
A condo was rented, and completely filled with fresh flowers and supplies – and kept at a balmy 60 degrees to ensure things didn’t wilt. Plus filling the fridge with the special-needs flowers. Then we started processing which consists of stripping leaves, dipping and cutting stems, arranging and placing in trays and vases. This takes a very long time even with three people to create the arrangements for tables, arches and aisles. And we hadn’t even gotten to the personals – bouquets, boutonnières and corsages. Cheryl and Carrie took care of those. I just got to watch and compliment them on the end product.
Friday we spent getting things into place at the two venues. One, a birch arch which has been used at many weddings, the other a couple of Pinterest projects. The birch arch is assembled from a few sturdy (i.e. heavy) pieces then draped with fabric. Fresh flowers were being added the morning of the wedding. The other – well let’s just say we were working from a photo and a lot of engineering took place as it was constructed. Between the two of us, we got a reasonable replica in place for the ceremony. Pinterest project 2, was a hanging piece, 18′ long, and required power tools. So let me tell you, when looking at your dream wedding design on Pinterest, keep in mind that things aren’t always as simple as they may look. The great part, was that Cheryl was undaunted and very determined to make hers better and she succeeded. I was just glad no one was injured in the process – like me.
Suddenly it’s Saturday. Game on! Talk about nervous – I had adrenaline flowing thru me and was ready to knock it out. We had 4 hours to complete all the day-of tasks. Ceremony arch flowers (designed on site), shepherds hooks with arrangements down the aisle, plus petals. Keep in mind though, on a warm day, that means waiting until the last possible moment to put them out, otherwise you could end up with some sad looking flowers. Then there were the 100 orchids to be cut, tubed and placed in their proper places. Tables to lay greenery on and arrangements to place with their respective vases. Then checked for any spent flowers and spruced up with fresh. Personal flowers to be presented to the bride, groom, attendants and parents. Cake flowers added. And cleaning up after yourself as you go. Then vanishing during the ceremony, to later reappear and move aisle arrangements to the bar tables, then vanishing again until it’s time to break it all down. In this case, we came back the next morning. Oftentimes, it’s later that night when the wedding is over.
Sunday, I was exhausted – and more than glad to load my truck and haul it all back to Sac. And Monday I unloaded it all again, back to the shop. So all-in-all, destination Tahoe for two weddings was a 4 1/2 day commitment for me, 7 for Accents by Sage. Now I know why flowers cost what they do. And I would never attempt to do my own and expect lasting exceptional results or as pretty a design.
The other very interesting thing about Destination Tahoe was the number of Sacramento wedding vendors who were hired for both weddings. And those vendors were more than happy to oblige. So when planning your wedding away from home, don’t expect that you have to rely on finding vendors out of area, the Sacramento Bride and Groom wedding professionals are available.
