I have this little note hanging on the bulletin board in my office. I scribbled it down three years ago when I was just starting Heirloom, as I was trying to find my footing and direction for what I really did the best and how I could provide an incredible experience for Heirloom’s couples. I was brainstorming all the things I really loved about working on weddings, and how they might all fit together to make up a business.
I LOVE the couples and their families that choose to work with Heirloom each year. Every single time, I feel honored with the trust, kindness and friendship that I walk away from each wedding feeling. The people involved in each day will forever me by favorite part about the work I do.
I have a life long personal passion for design in all forms. As a 14th birthday present, I asked to redecorate my bedroom. I meticulously put together mood boards, collected fabric samples and even had my JC Penny bed skirt custom altered for just the perfect scalloped edge. I danced, painted, sang, picked lilacs in our backyard to make elaborate centerpieces for our kitchen table. The elements of design have always poured out of me in every way I could find. It was also one of the biggest reasons that wanted to make the transition to weddings from my extensive background in corporate events. I felt so strongly pulled to a more design focused career. Learning to trust my own design eye and work from a place of confidence in my designs took time, but has given me the most expansive feeling of ‘stepping into my own’ that I’ve ever known in my work.
And then there’s Logistics. For the longest time, I thought that my love for logistics stood in stark opposition to my love of design. That I had to pick or the other. I could be a zanzy, scattered creative, or a sharp, hyper-focused Type A. I thought I had to find my tribe and stick with them. Yet there I was with my heart right in the middle of both. My organized, systemized and curious brain naturally lays out large amounts of information in a clear pattern. I can easily draw out the right information from the right people to make everything run seamlessly. For me, Logistics is the solid structure that creativity leaps from.
So there I was, with my all the pieces of my brain, sketched out on my little notepad. All pulling against the seams of one and other to be the MOST important element. What I realized is that I needed them ALL. These three elements together were the container that held together the whirlwind, once in a lifetime experience that is planning a wedding.
That messy middle is where the magic happens. It’s where the visual design of your wedding day comes together seamlessly with the logistical details needed to host an event of this size and scale. All along the way caring for and working with the most important people in your life.
It takes a blending of art and detail to make all of that happen, and that is where my talents truly shine. It’s where I feel that Heirloom couples are best served because they have one trusted partner to walk with them and guide them through all of those elements.
I’ve worked hard since the day I sketched that little note to hone my process and develop an experience that approaches wedding planning differently. With a heart for the process as well as a beautiful end result (your wedding day!).
Photo by Roots of Life Photography, Invitation by Emily Rose Ink, Ring Box by The Mrs. Box,
Ring by Susie Saltzman, Featured on Style Me Pretty.
I knew that adding floral design was truly the best decision to fulfill this experience for myself and Heirloom’s couples. I set out looking for a way to do it that matched the level of intentionality and integrity I strive for in everything Heirloom stands for. I spend the better part of two years studying, reading, taking workshops and classes. I worked with other designers and florists in every capacity they would invite me in and every moment of additional time I could find. I had to build and strengthen my floral design skills to a level I was proud to offer to couples for their wedding.
I worked part time at the counter of a local floral shop. They didn’t service any weddings, but I took every opportunity I could to get hands on design time. Truly, I received so much more than the floral education I went in seeking. People came in to buy flowers for all types of occasions, and it was at that little counter that flowers took on a meaning beyond being pretty. Flowers are a physical representation of our feelings. When something wonderful happens, we bring fresh flowers to celebrate! When someone we love is suffering or ill, we bring fresh blooms to breathe life and hope into the room around them. High school dances, graduation, loosing a loved one, new baby, new job, cancer treatment, the list is endless. We mark occasions with flowers because they represent a beautiful and unique presence in our world. It fit so well with the work I was already doing to bring out the meaning a detail of a couple’s story on their wedding day.
Just to make sure I was EXTRA ready to add floral design to the business. I designed all of the flowers for my own wedding. You can see more of our wedding day here. Making my bouquet on my wedding morning, will always be one of my favorite memories of my day.
Photo by Maria Harte Photography
This season I’ve had the distinct privilege to design florals for Heirloom’s couples in addition to their planning. It’s an evolution of this business that I’m so proud and excited to be standing in, because it feels like exactly the right place. But how do you know if this method is right for you and your wedding day? Keep reading, because I’ve put together some helpful pieces to think about if you’re at the beginning of your planning journey.
Photo by Jamie and Eric Photography
Why You Benefit from Working with
A Full Service Planning and Design Studio
If you’re a newly engaged or soon-to-be engaged couple and thinking about how to bring your wedding visions to life, choosing vendors that are right for you is one of the first steps to make your wedding planning process a fun and enjoyable journey. If you’re considering working with a studio that offers planning, design AND floral services all in one (like Heirloom!), here are some reasons that I have found it to be beneficial:
Your Communication is Streamlined. Your Engagement Experience Come First!
At it’s core, your engagement is a big list of decisions to be made. Working with a wedding professional who oversees all of the logistical AND visual elements of your celebration means all of your communication is streamlined and the number of vendors you’re talking to and updating throughout the process minimal.
Photo by Ideal Impressions Photography
Here’s what Lindsey said so beautifully about our work together this summer:
”We felt a bit overwhelmed with the wedding planning process. Hiring Abby and Heirloom to help us as the best wedding decision we made! Abby helped us to set short-term and monthly goals that made our wedding planning less daunting and more manageable. Abby thought of ideas for our wedding that never crossed our mind! Even more, Abby took our hopes and dreams for our wedding and made them a reality!”
Design + Logistics Go Hand-in-Hand
This is one of the core tenets of my beliefs, and goes all the way back to the very first important step of my process, setting your wedding values. A wedding that visually represents you, stems from your values. We use those values, or most-important items, to dictate everything from budget breakdown to venue selection to design. I start formulating a design plan at the very same time that we’re formulating the big ticket items.
Flexibility + Team Support
Executing weddings at this scale is not something I can do alone. The members of Team Heirloom who make up your wedding day have the ability and flexibility to step in and fill roles wherever needed. We function as one team for all of your planning, decor and set up items. This approach means we are there and ready regardless of any unexpected items that arise.
Photo by Jamie and Eric Photography
