Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Wood.
Hi Erin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Flowers have always had a special place in my life. As a child I would make little arrangements out of the fallen azalea and rhododendron blooms that grew around my childhood home. My sisters and I loved gathering wildflowers in the spring around our parent’s rural property and presenting them to our mother.
I also loved singing and classic musical productions. One of my favorite characters was Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. I always thought to be a lady in a flower shop would be exquisite.
One of the sweetest childhood memories that included flowers was when my dad would stop on his way home from work to pick out a large bouquet of locally grown gladiolus for my mom. I though that was the most romantic gesture. I grew up in southern Oregon, Grants Pass. Long before I was born, before my parents married and moved there, gladiolus farming was a large part of the economy.
In my teenage years my mom would occasionally bring home flowers from the store and ask me to arrange them in a vase for a family birthday.
As a young wife, my husband and I would talk about opening a shop that included both our hobbies, my side of the shop would be a florist; his would be computers/tech.
But it was all dreams at that point.
I continued to love flowers and appreciate all the amazing flower farms in the Willamette Valley – Wooden Shoe Tulip farm, Adelman’s Peony Farm, Shreiner’s Iris Farm, Swan Island Dahlias and many more.
I helped a couple of my sisters with wedding reception flowers. But nothing was official until the perfect opportunity finally came up. Our church, Queen of Peace Catholic Church, announced that they needed new volunteers for the floral ministry. I began designing flowers for our church family 1 weekend a month and then learned to create large floral installations during our Easter celebrations. I loved it! Each person on the flower ministry team was a delight. I got to play with flowers once a month and create something beautiful for Jesus. When a friend and parishioner approached me about designing her daughter’s wedding florals in the spring of 2021, my little flower business – Wildflowers & Whimsy – officially began.
I filed for my Oregon business license, started a wholesale account with a couple companies and began designing flowers in our unfinished basement.
The temperature was consistent and cool and the flowers were happy there. The first year I started out slowly, taking one wedding a month and seeing how they went. The next year I took on two weddings a month. Here we are 5 years later and sometimes we have up to 4 weddings in one week. But it isn’t always that busy. We keep faith and family first. Some things are non-negotiables. I always wanted my work to glorify God and be a blessing to our family. So, I try to keep my priorities rightly ordered and then welcome all the flower orders I can responsibly take.
We did outgrow our basement workspace a couple of years into business. So my talented husband, Jim, built me a workspace behind our house complete with a walk-in cooler. He is my #1 fan and biggest supporter. We love getting creative together and you will usually see us both delivering and setting up large events.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a smooth road. We new we wanted to keep the growth small because our children were young when Wildflowers & Whimsy began. We have 5 children and our youngest was only 6 months old at the time.
Because we have been intentional about keeping faith and family first, we are careful and thoughtful about how we choose to grow. One year into business we made ourselves discoverable on Google. The second year we built a website. Year 3 we revamped and improved our website and began taking credit card purchases. Year 4 we expanded into floral preservation. Drying flowers and then arranging them in resin or shadow boxes.
Every year we decline to be a part of large organizations like 1800 flowers and other online entities that take the orders from customers, take a cut of the money, and then pay minimums to the local florists who actually design the arrangements.
We have also kept our ordering/sourcing of blooms as local as possible. During the growing season in the Willamette Valley we love to start with farms and then supplement with wholesale orders at the Portland Flower Market.
We learn new things every day. But it hasn’t been a struggle. Just feels like we are in a constant season of growing and learning.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My flowers are a work of heart. Each arrangement is unique, one of a kind, and made to order. We aren’t a traditional florist that orders the same list of blooms every week and designs a specific menu of flowers. When taking a floral order;
I like to hear about the person receiving the flowers, the flowers they love or don’t love, the colors they prefer, if they are more of an elegant/ timeless kind of person or a whimsical free spirit or something else.
It is a gift to be able to create something that will bring joy to the recipient.
We source flowers locally as much as possible.
We look for alternatives to traditional floral foams.
I send photos of the arrangement to the buyer before orders head out for delivery.
I let the buy know when the arrangement has been delivered.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Order flowers for all life events.
Leave us a review on Google
Share our company, word of mouth
Refer friends and family to us for all life events.
Pricing:
- $35 beginning price point for wrapped bouquets
- $45-60 small to medium vase arrangement
- $65-85 medium to large vase arrangement
- $95+ large to extra large vase arrangement
- I don’t like to price any one out of flowers. Usually I ask what their budget is and I maximize blooms in their price point.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wildflowersandwhimsy.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whimsy_floristry/
