Time for another Business in Bloom profile! Many of the students at our classes are wearing both hats: farmer and florist. But we also have the pleasure of helping “just florists” along in their business journey too. I say “just florists” with total reverence. Being a florist is incredibly hard work. Often people think being a florist must be tons of fun, “just playing with flowers”. But it’s really back-breaking labor, long hours, and constant challenges thanks to working with a very perishable product with very slim profit margins. In all honesty, I would never be “just a florist”. I couldn’t deal with the stress of wrangling wholesalers, blindly trusting them to send decent-quality flowers a few days before your big event and then the anxiety when it doesn’t work out as planned. While growing the flowers myself is no easy task, at least I have a whole flower farm to glean from instead of relying on a shipment of boxes. As such, I have tremendous respect for “just florists”!

I also have tremendous admiration for those florists who are now working extra hard to develop relationships with independent small growers in their area. It’s no small task to build a network of growers and set up a good communication and delivery system that makes buying from them easy. It makes my heart happy to meet florists like Maureen Azize at The Local Bouquet in Little Compton, Rhode Island. She and her sister-in-law/business partner, Mary Kate, are dedicated to using only US-Grown flowers, especially those grown as locally as possible. They started out as “just florists” but now are starting to grow some of their own too. It’s so fun to watch their evolution! Not to mention, Maureen is a hoot to have in class! She had me laughing at every turn and has such an infectious smile (she’s the one on the right in the picture above).
Follow The Local Bouquet on Instagram @thelocalbouquet. Don’t they have the cutest little logo?! Not to mention such a beautiful rustic studio where they teach floral classes of their own. If you live in Rhode Island, get yourself on their mailing list so you can take a class there (and send me pictures so I can live vicariously through you!).
Let’s do it! Meet Maureen!

Tell us a little bit about your business, business model and clientele.
Here at The Local Bouquet our mission is to bring the freshest locally and U.S. grown flowers, including blooms from our own little flower farm to every wedding and event we design. We design natural, free-flowing and elegant bouquets and arrangements, inspired by nature and tailored to meet our clients needs!
While bringing local blooms to the wedding industry is our mission, we are also committed to teaching and inspiring the community around us about the importance of buying local flowers even in their daily lives.
Our clientele is the bride who knows the importance of local ingredients and is looking for that couture design. She is someone who wants her flowers to tell a story, be uniquely beautiful and rememberable for years to come.
What got you into flowers in the first place?
You could say that it was in our blood. I grew up working for my uncle’s cut flower business on the family farm which eventually lead to owning my own garden maintenance and design company. Mary Kate also grew up in the same town and has experience in the gardens as well as designing for several years for a nearby high-end florist

You attended our Weddings: From Seed to Centerpiece Master Class at Love ‘n Fresh Flowers this past spring. When you signed up, what were you looking to gain by coming to our farm?
I was most interested in coming to the class to learn what it took to grow cut flowers for the wedding industry. Having a green thumb myself, I knew any extra knowledge, advice, and tips that I could gain would help Mary Kate and I grow The Local Bouquet. I was also interested in honing my design skills and learning some new techniques from one of the best, Jennie!
What did you find most helpful about your time in the class? Were there any surprises?
I really enjoyed learning how to stay true to our mission of using only 100% local and domestically grown blooms in everything we design. It was really inspiring to see how much Jennie was able to grow for her wedding business in a very similar zone as us. There were so many beautiful ingredients! I have to say I was impressed at how well Jennie utilized every square inch of both her land and her studio to make the best use of her space.

Can you give us a specific example of something you learned and then implemented into your own business once you went home?
I think one of the biggest things I learned from this class was how to be confident in our prices, knowing that the services and products we provide our brides are worth every penny. After arriving home from the class, Mary Kate and I were able to put together new prices and packages for the 2015 wedding season that worked for both our clients and us as new business owners.
How has your business changed over the past several months since the class?
To start, we have eliminated the online and call-in order segment of our business, focusing on just weddings and events. We have also added floral classes to our services, hosting an amazing night out for women in our area to come and learn how to design with local ingredients while experiencing The Local Bouquet atmosphere.

Have you stayed in touch with any other students from the class?
Yes, thanks to social media we are able to follow some of the other student’s businesses while sharing our latest projects of The Local Bouquet.
Time for the “big question”! Where do you see your business going from here? A healthy business is always evolving. What’s that process look like for yours?
We plan on The Local Bouquet being the next high-end wedding and event florist in Southern New England. We truly believe that the wedding industry here needs a more eco-conscience choice when it comes to flowers and so we are excited to be that for brides! We are also very motivated to continue to help grow the “Slow Flowers” and “Field to Vase” movement around the country by showing our clients and our followers why local is better! By continuing to get our work published in some of the biggest wedding media outlets both in print and online, we know that local flowers will be seen everywhere in the near future, benefiting the farmer and the florist!