Journey into How in the world we became a Wedding Planning Company

Wedding planning is a highly stressful, not well paid job that we love. We have to be crazy, right? Well, we are , but we are also dedicated designers and planners. People ask how did we end up here? We would like to share a little of our journey with you.

Anne’s mother and grandmother had always been interested in gardening and arranging flowers, Anne didnt know a pansy from a rose until one day her mother phoned her to say, she was going to London to study flowers with this man named Kenneth Turner and did she want to go. Never one to turn down an opportunity to travel, Anne Said yes!

The New York Times wrote an article about Kenneth and these are a few things that were said ,

“Kenneth Turner, florist to London society, was asked to provide flowers for a party last year at St. James's Palace. It was, he said, ''a fantastic challenge.''

The hostess ''hates everything gilt,'' he said. ''Her first words were, 'Get rid of the gilt.' In a palace.''

So Mr. Turner hung flowers from everything in sight. Roses tumbled from the gilt chandeliers. Roses rambled up the gilt staircase. Enormous topiaries lined the walls. And hundreds of potted birch trees stood on the floor, which was stripped of its carpets at Mr. Turner's behest.

''We made it look like an overgrown palace, as if no one lived there,'' he said.

Belle Shenkman, a promoter of cultural events who asked Mr. Turner to decorate the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden for a gala for the National Ballet of Canada, said, ''Other people can decorate with flowers, but Kenneth has the understanding and imagination to capture the mood.'' 'A Magician With Plants'

'Dart-board arrangements,'' he said with a groan. ''I loathe, I detest those contrived, torturous things. If I do a pedestal, you don't see it. I want it to look like a Piranesi print, all overgrown.''

Once home from London, one person asked Anne to do a wedding and her floral career took off from there. Anne continued to study and further her floral career. She truly believed flowers could tell stories and reflect couples personalities and help create the atmosphere that reflects their style. Anne always asks for a lot of input from her clients but after hearing their wishes, she uses the influences that Kenneth showed her to create the perfect look. Always going for the unexpected and ideas totally out of the box, she uses the freshest product possible to please her clients.

She has collected a staggering amount of different containers and table top decor to create just about any table scape that you can think of. She loves involving textiles such as linens, and draping. Anne has evolved into a stylist, not just a floral designer. She now works with the entire design, such as lighting, event furniture, linens, draping, ceiling installations, just about anything you can think of to achieve the final look.

Next in the picture, is Christa. Christa got her business degree from the university of Tennesee. After her twin boys were born, Christa worked in DC as planner for large corporate events. She learned that only a level of excellence was acceptable in her events. She learned to look at every detail either small or large before hand, so that on the day of, things go as smoothly as possible. Her attention to detail is flawless and will do whatever it takes to create an event that is elegant, seemingly effortless with that little kick of southern hospitality.

Anne and Christa had been great friends for years but the opportunity to work together never came about until Christa moved back to North Carolina after living in Montana for 11 years. They decided just to give it a try and worked on one wedding together. They realized that they had different skill sets that worked really well together. Anne worked on anything that you looked at and Christa worked with anything that had a number to it. They worked on educating themselves with intensive classes and continue to do that every year. And poof, The French Bee was formed.