Alternative Dried Flower Products
In my last post I really dove into the expenses of making dried flower wreaths. My intention was not to discourage people from making them, but rather to encourage people to consider all of the costs that go into them and make absolutely sure that they are producing a profitable product.
If you’ve decided that maybe wreaths aren’t the best use of your dried flower products, here are some alternative ideas:
Maybe it’s worth thinking differently about what you could do with those flowers. Would your dried flowers actually be more valuable to you if you sold them as dried floral bouquets and arrangements for fall weddings? For roughly the same amount of time and product you could charge even more for a dried bridal bouquet. I’ve had 3 wedding inquiries in the last week for jobs that would be outside my fresh flower harvest window. To each prospective client I’ve said, “Your date will be outside of our window for fresh floral work, but we can make some really beautiful dried flower bouquets and arrangements for you.” Every one of them still wants to place an order. And those will be pre-paid orders, and not pre-made wreaths that we *hope* to sell. (Of course— you can make and sell wreaths to order only— this is how we offer them.)
We now offer dried floral design work for events. Here is what our most recent client had to say:
“I picked up my order yesterday and I’m completely blown away by how stunning everything is. My bridal bouquet is to die for. I can’t thank you enough for your beautiful work!” - Amanda
Have a look into my dried flower event shop. Check out my pricing. It’s always available publicly. I hope that supports our belief in a transparent process for customers and some assistance to other designers who are trying to figure out their pricing for similar products. The floral industry can be pretty tight-lipped when it comes to pricing. Obviously, our prices have to fluctuate with market changes, but hiding all of this information from each other isn’t how we grow a healthy industry. The end result of that secrecy is typically that entry level designers drastically underprice their work, feel overwhelmed, deliver a rushed product, and burn out from overwork early. We can be better than that.
Back to producing dried flowers— maybe your increased profit margin is in recapturing time. What if you spent an afternoon and curated a dried flower shop in your farm stand or on your web shop and sold your dried flowers by the bunch at retail prices. Your product is easy to assemble and long lasting, but you’re not investing lots of time into wreaths which may or may not sell. Pro platform subscribers can refer to the recent post in the Pro Library about my favorite photography technique to build a beautiful gallery shop of their goods. Unsure of what I mean about a curated dried flower shop? Check out this beautiful dried flower business: Velvet Curation Co. Gorgeous. Warning: Beauty ahead. You may start to think about going “all in” on dried flowers.