It’s taken me much too long to offer this glowing review of the superb floral design, execution, and professionalism exhibited by Sweetwater Stems’ Kelli Rogers. Looking back on my daughter’s wedding this past spring, it simply would not have looked or felt the same without Kelli’s interpretation and dedication to bringing the bride and groom’s vision to life. From the bride who loves very particular florals but is very environmentally conscious and who did not want flowers to “go to waste” to the groom who said “we need flowers? Please, can I have succulents and a chicken topiary?” Kelli brought it all home and then some!
For some reason floral consultations were some of the most “nerve-wracking” vendor meetings for us–perhaps because we were generally astounded that we were “way off” (by a factor of 100%) about floral design pricing. From our first meeting, we knew she was the one! She was honest and upfront about the scope of the work we were asking for and offered excellent suggestions for particular areas where we could be cost conscious. She listened carefully and was genuinely intrigued by the chicken topiary idea. You could see her wheels turning about how to make that happen for them. She took each of the ideas my daughter had and thoughtfully interpreted them and a week later presented a detailed proposal with variations, recommendations, and pricing. She carried a greenery and wreath theme throughout the designs using unusual plants like giant cabbages. She met my daughter several weeks in advance of the wedding to pick up some antique milk jugs and crates that were from the groom’s grandparents farm in order to have them as she designed floral elements for the ceremony and reception that utilized these priceless items. She also designed a beautiful and unique place card display on copper wreaths that was just stunning. She attended our final design meeting at the venue and agreed to make some rather large additions to our designs once we did a walk through and realized where we had missed a few important elements to the reception room design. Seriously, I could go on and on.
I will, however, and with this. Kelli is a calm, happy, encouraging and reassuring presence who by just being there makes you feel loved and respected and cared for on what is a very important day in your life. On the day of my daughter’s wedding, the skies were grey and threatening rain. We had an outdoor ceremony planned and while we were set to go with plan B, it was stressful for the bride as we arrived at the venue with the skies spitting a light rain. Of course, we had called off the tenting earlier that morning so we were going to make do with the inside spaces if we needed to. Once at the venue I walked over to the reception and dinner areas with my daughter to take a look see. The bride-to-be walked in, gasped and started crying. Poor Kelli thought something was wrong. Actually, it was PERFECT–it was everything my daughter had dreamed and imagined and more. Regardless of whether it rained or not, she knew in that moment that everything was going to be perfect regardless. In the end, it did not rain. In fact, as the bride and groom recessed to “Here Comes the Sun” in fact the sun peeked out from the clouds at that very moment. I kid you not. Thank you, Kelli for your beautiful floral design but most of all, thank you Kelli for being a beautiful person.
Photos provided by Asia Croson