Welcome back to another installment of Real Weddings Magazine’s Partner Profiles!
This week we highlight do-it-yourself guru Angie Zimmerman from Heavenly Flowers & Events! Not only does Angie run a successful business, she also shares all of her valuable knowledge with brides through her own do-it-yourself videos, workbooks, classes and Internet TV channel! Wow.. how cool is that? Take it away Angie!
Heavenly Flowers & Events
Tell us a little about your company? My company is a reflection of my love of flowers, weddings, parties and being of service to my wonderful clients. Since I was a young girl I have loved flowers, and in 1991 decided to take the plunge to see if I could make a living doing what I love.
I’m still here doing what I love and expanding the way I do that to include flower arranging classes on my own Internet site, flowerarranging101.tv. I also wrote a Do-It-Yourself Wedding Flower Guide and made five DVDs that go with the workbook showing exactly how to do your own flowers and save a ton of money if you have the time and desire to do so.
When did you establish your business? I started Heavenly Flowers & Events when I moved to El Dorado Hills in 2000. I sold my shop in San Ramon at the same time.
What sets you apart from your competition? I think that as people, in general, we all have slightly different styles and my style is reflected in my work. While I can do anything you ask me to do, my natural design style is kind of a French Country Garden theme.
My personal favorite flowers include peony, hydrangea, calla lilies, hybrid lilies, garden roses, bearded iris, cymbidium orchids, delphinium, gardenias, ranunculus and lisianthus. I also love many of the tropical flowers including ginger, heliconias, all types of orchids, antherium and fern curls. But, I have to say one of my favorite things to do is mix flowers with fruits and vegetables like artichokes, lemons, peppers, eggplant and kale.
Where do you find inspiration? I keep up with trade magazines, attend workshops and, of course, check out the bridal magazines like Real Weddings Magazine. (Editor’s note: Why, thank you Angie! We’re blushing!)
When you opened shop, what was your promise to your customers? I want my brides to feel confident in me and my ability to deliver what they want so that they don’t have to worry about one more thing to make their wedding day unfold exactly the way they envisioned it.
I love when my brides see their flowers for the first time. My favorite compliment came from a bride who called the day after her wedding, her voice was hoarse and I could barely understand her, but she said, “I wanted to call you before I left on my honeymoon to tell you how much I LOVED my flowers. The food was good and the day was great, but the thing I loved the most were the flowers.”
Do you have any hidden talents? People tell me all the time that I have a unique ability to cut through the BS and get right to the heart of things. I also thought I wanted to be an attorney early on and started taking legal courses in college until I realized that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life with my face in books keeping up with legal changes…however, I am a stickler for details which I attribute to those early legal courses.
What trend do you see coming for weddings in the next year? I’m seeing my brides really personalize their wedding day, which I love. I am also still seeing brides wearing colored shoes to match the accent colors of their wedding like sapphire blue, red, yellow and purple. I’m also seeing a lot of blues and purples being used again this year.
Do you regularly blog? If so, what’s your blog site? I blog on two of my sites: flowerarranging101.tv and doityourselfweddingflowerguide.com/blog
Do you Facebook? Well, yes I do: facebook.com/angie.zimmerman1
What’s your favorite local restaurant? I’m from San Francisco and still drive there for a really good meal…my favorite place is The House of Prime Rib. I really like the Mexican food at La Fiesta Taqueria in Folsom and Sienna in El Dorado Hills is pretty good.
What’s your favorite local charity? Any charity that helps animals or kids.
What is your favorite fun thing to do locally? I love the summer concerts at the local wineries.
Do you have secret vice or indulgence? What is it? I LOVE CHOCOLATE!
What are you most grateful for in life? That I can make a living doing what I love to do and that I have a great husband, family and friends.
If you were to plan your own wedding, or re-do your wedding, what elements would be most important to you? When I got married in 1984 I wasn’t too concerned about anything, including the flowers. In fact, I let my mother pick everything. If I were to do this again, the flowers would be of great importance to me. The one thing I asked for was stargazer lilies…my mother told me they were not available, so I got my second choice which was gardenias.
On my honeymoon, everywhere we went I saw stargazer lilies. I finally went into a flower shop and asked about the stargazers being out of season and the florist told me that this was the season for stargazers (September)…the moral of the story is, my mother didn’t like stargazers so she told me they were not available…if done again, I would have all the flowers I love.
What advice would you give to brides and grooms getting married today? Make the day something you really want and turn off the chatter from everyone else. If you are on a budget, cut back on the ceremony because it is where you spend the least amount of your time and focus on the reception where you spend the abundance of your time.
Anything else you’d like to share with Real Weddings Magazine’s brides? Where there is a will there is a way…make it happen.
Find out more about Angie and Heavenly Flowers & Events by visiting her Web site, blog and Facebook!
Photos courtesy of Heavenly Flowers & Events.
