What a week!!! The COVID-19 has definitely rocked our world and yours, too.
Nearly all of our weddings from now until early May have been postponed or modified in some way. This week should have been spent designing for a busy wedding weekend filled with lots of flowers for four fabulous couples. Instead, I’ve spent all of my time this week with these heartbroken brides to come up with solutions for their postponed dates.
Fortunately, most of these weddings have been postponed to our slow season in July-September. If there is a silver lining, this is it. Our slow summer season will now be our busy season and our busy spring season will now be our slow season. Hurricane season better chill out.
Unfortunately for those brides with weddings this weekend, I was unable to cancel their fresh flower order. Everything had already arrived on Monday. We worked together and came up with a game plan so that they could still enjoy their flowers this week.
Additionally, all in-person consultations have been canceled from now until mid-April. To replace in-person consultations, I am offering phone consultations. If you’d like to schedule a phone consultation, please click HERE and follow the prompts.
Personally, I was struggling a bit earlier in the week. My dog of 13 years passed away on Tuesday and my kids are now home 24/7. It’s hard going through personal grief and a crisis all in a couple of days. However, I’m a strong, driven person and I allowed myself to grieve for a little while and now I’m back to problem solving and getting the job done.
Professionally, I am surviving with ease. Sadly, my employees had to be temporarily laid off and my contract employees are not getting any work. Remember that silver lining I mentioned? My employees will get hours and work they would not normally get during the slow season to make up for the loss we are experiencing. I have a great support system from my husband and family…. that’s the plus side to a family business in my mom’s backyard that’s been going strong for 20+ years!
During this time, I will be working from home and filling small orders here and there. I will also be the primary caregiver and teacher to my daughters while my husband works. No rest for pharmacists or mommas! A few hours of each week day will be dedicated to assisting customers, creating proposals and all that other boring business stuff. The rest of my time will be spent teaching kids and trying to stick to a routine to salvage all of our sanity.
If your in-person consultation was canceled and you would like to book our services, please let me know as soon as possible. We will have limited availability during the fall season and into the spring of 2021 as some of our events are being postponed to these dates. This applies to those that would like to book our services and haven’t met with me yet.
If you need anything, please email me at randeethefloralcottage@gmail.com or thefloralcottageflorist@gmail.com. For immediate assistance, please text me at 225-366-7415. I will get back to you as soon as possible.
My apologies in advance for the sound of screaming kids in the background of any phone call!
Be sure you are following us on Instagram @thefloralcottageflorist for daily flower photos and stories to brighten your day!
My team and I are here to help you! We will get through all of this together and come out of it even stronger.
Lots of love and gratitude,
Randee
Owner & Head Designer
The Floral Cottage Florist
