Hi!
First of all, congratulations on your engagement! As a bride, you have probably been dreaming of your wedding for many years, and I hope it is everything you dream it can be!
A little introduction: my name is Liz and I am the owner of Sunny Mary Meadow Flower Farm just 5 miles from Rolling Ridge. I am in year 4 of a successful and reputable flower farm and business. We are teaming up with Rolling Ridge to provide flowers for a handful of brides for the 2023 season and are taking reservations for 2024.
We offer DIY buckets of flowers or full service table centerpieces.
A typical Sunny Mary Meadow bride experience (if the wedding takes place during our flower season):
You send an email to liz@sunnymarymeadow.com telling me your wedding date and that you’re a Rolling Ridge bride. You can send over your Pinterest vision for the table decor and any details you are wanting for your wedding. Color, vase style, number of stems, budget, and rough number of tables (number of centerpieces).
We have an initial zoom or facetime meeting where we will discuss the flowers and style you’re looking for that should be blooming on the date of your wedding. We also discuss what wholesale flowers I would recommend supplementing with to get your vision. I may not have the exact specific blooms, but often offer similar style flowers and can suggest affordable substitutions.
1-2 weeks before the wedding, you will come to the farm and walk the fields and choose your exact specific blooms. We will supplement with wholesale flowers to round out your vision if you choose to.
You can pick up the flowers 1-2 days before the wedding (your choice) or I can bring them directly to Rolling Ridge to be assembled or set up there (if you are doing DIY buckets or having us make the centerpieces).
The more flexible you are, the more enjoyable this will be. I can’t control when things will be blooming, but I have a pretty good idea of predicting what your blooms will look like (colors, etc) based on your wedding date. The wholesale license is a wonderful backup plan in case mother nature decides to throw in a hail storm. For example, if you really want eucalyptus in early August, I won’t be able to sell you the stems I grow, but I can order it in for you.
The Options:
YouPick Event
Picture this: You and your bridesmaids can come out to pick your own flowers the week of your wedding and spend a morning or evening picking flowers. You have more control over the stems and colors you get, and it’s an experience you spend together. Sure, getting pedicures together is relaxing, but not everyone wants to do this. Imagine the memories you’ll make and photos you’ll have to last a lifetime of you and your bridesmaids in a flower field. I even have a list of professional photographers in mind that may come out for an hour session of you and your girls. Limited availability and typically done 2-3 days before the wedding. There is a minimum cost “per hour” to rent the field this way, but will likely be met based on the quantity you would be purchasing.
DIY Buckets
This is for the bride that wants to DIY it but doesn’t have the time or desire to pick their own. You will pick up buckets of flowers on the arranged date before the wedding. For both the DIY and YouPick, you then assemble your bridal entourage and start making your centerpieces. Have an aunt that used to work in a floral shop? You’re definitely going to want to recruit her. That Pinteresty Personal attendant? Yep, she’s participating. There are a ton of YouTube and TikTok videos out there for arranging your own flowers, and starting with the freshest and finest ingredients is the first step.
Full Service option
Bugs. Sun. Uneven terrain. This is a great option for the avid indoors-woman (see: I’m “outdoorsy” in that I like to drink on patios) that would love the idea of locally grown and sourced flowers but would rather pay someone else to do it all. We can make and deliver and set up the centerpieces ourselves. There is a % charge on the arrangements above and beyond the cost of the actual flowers.
Quantity
The venue at Rolling Ridge fits 25 tables. I personally love grouping a Quart size mason jar and two pints together, but larger/taller vases spread out are never a bad option. Another option is 6-10 bud size vases with 3-4 stems in each. Most brides will want anywhere between 8 to 20 five gallon buckets of flowers.
Pricing:
Because of the seasonal variations of stem availability and every bride’s taste being different, it is difficult to estimate pricing. A typical mason jar includes 10-15 stems and most stems will be priced at $1-5 per stem with most being $2 but premium stems being in the higher range (dahlias, peonies, lisianthus, ranunculus). It really will depend on your vision and how many flowers you are wanting, but $1000-1500 is a good range to plan on if you want some of the above mentioned options for each of the 25 tables.
If interested in details of using Sunny Mary Meadow for your wedding: email liz@sunnymarymeadow.com with the subject “wedding flowers at Rolling Ridge”
I would love to help with your flowers if what I offer fits your vision, but more importantly I just want you to have the dream wedding you want. If that means going through a traditional florist to plan every detail and pick out exactly what flowers you want, I certainly encourage you to do that.
For hand held bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages I am having brides go to a traditional florist. Typically brides want every detail of their bouquet to exactly fit their vision, and the seasonal nature of locally grown flowers doesn’t always fit that vision. However, many brides find the price point and general look of the flowers we offer for your table decor is exactly what you’re looking for. For your bouquets and other specifics, I highly recommend my friend Taylor, the floral artist behind Wild Thyme Floral. She will work with me to use the same flowers you’re purchasing for your centerpieces for your bouquets. https://www.wildthymefloral.com/contact