All About Florals.....

The DFW Event Planning Meetup is happy to announce Barbara Richardson as our gust speaker. She will be discussing upcoming trends, the importance of color, the meaning of many Western and Eastern wedding traditions, and the symbolism of many popular flowers. All of these to help you as the wedding coordinator guide your bride toward the most spectacular wedding imaginable!

Barbara's Story......

I started designing years ago in my Mom's clothing stores in Houston. She would let me play around in the display cases after hours, dressing mannequins, arranging, scarves, jewelry, etc. Then one day, the store got in a new line of party dresses and that's when I fell in love with design! The colors, fabrics, textures, lighting, shadows... wow! I was lucky enough to help design windows including the special occasions such as Valentines, Easter, prom, Christmas, etc. I loved the freedom of being able to express my creativity and was soon receiving compliments from passers-by. I was hooked. From there, I began dabbling in clothing and costume design, catering and wedding cakes, party and event planning, and finally wound up in floral design. Interestingly, as many other Type A's, all of this while raising a family and holding a full-time job in a totally different profession!
What I found over the years is that color, flowers and lighting are my favorite mediums. Well, I'm not into full time lighting yet, but what better way to be around color and flowers all the time than to own your own florist? Barbara Jean's began when I moved from Austin to Fort Worth, but we quickly moved our location to Dallas this last year. Since then, I've been busy designing weddings, conferences, and of course anniversaries, birthdays, and other special events.
One of my favorite small events to do design a couple's special anniversary celebration. The husband is typically in charge of planning the event and they very often have no clue what to do. They want something different, but still traditional and romantic. What better idea than for them to relive their wedding! I use their wedding pictures to recreate their theme and colors, and be sure to include special items or pictures. I even transform the bride's bouquet into the table centerpiece. If she had any bouquet jewelry, I make sure to include that in the arrangement.
The tablescape is all prepared ahead of time at 'their' table in 'their' special restaurant before they even arrive. Sometimes, the groom will even bring along their wedding album so they can reminisce while enjoying dinner. The bride is always so surprised and thrilled because she has no idea that he has gone to so much trouble for their anniversary!
Location to come soon!!!!

Nadine Reeder, CWS