Tuesday, October 28

Wedding Bouquets


DO click to embiggen! The detail is amazing.

Mel Day (my employer) made these bouquets back in the spring and I never got around to posting them. I love the colors; a mix of everything pastel except blue. Wouldn't a light blue iris or delphinium have looked great in these too?


The bridesmaid's bouquets had a little more color.




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About 7-8 years ago, a friend who owned her own wedding flower business here in NC got fed up, sold her inventory and moved away. She had only been in the business about 20 years, and I couldn't believe she could just sell everything and declare that she'd never do flowers again unless it was for very good friends or her church.

It took me 7-8 more years to get to that point. I am burned out. I thought it would never happen - but here I am - admitting it. The doing of my small wedding this weekend held no joy for me, and that's really sad. I simply don't want the responsibility any longer. At my age, it's too stressful. A florist has to thrive on that stress, and I no longer do. (There are other stresses in my life, and they are enough.)

Unless something changes that in the near future, I will be selling my inventory and cleaning out most (if not all) traces of my business life. That thought brings me some of the joy I have been lacking here of late. Saturday's wedding was the last on my calendar. I did a proposal for a wedding next June, but I don't expect to book that one. From here on out, I will work.....for others.

Time will tell if I'll need to amend this post with a new title.......Famous Last Words!


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We voted today!! It only took 20 minutes from the time we got in line. I am so glad we got it over with!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

OOH LA LA. They make me want to start all over and get married again.

I understand the burn out feeling. It takes longer and longer to bounce back from a big output.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful flowers! Can appreciate the sense of burnout you feel. There is something to be said for working for others and letting them bear the stress of the business -- any business. Maybe you just need a break and can rachet down the number of jobs you accept. Can imagine that could be difficult with unpredictablity of what else is going on in your life. Hang in there!

Bear Naked said...

Now you are going to stop and smell the roses in your life.

Bear((( )))

Tabor said...

All good things must come to an end and I am sure you will find passion and joy in other things. You will also enjoy the flowering arranging more when it is part-time.

tiff said...

Kenju - sorry to hear that, but I understand how you feel. Timing is everything, and it's now time to move on with the rest of your life. Working for other people has its advantages!

You're still going to help me out, aren't you? :)

rosemary said...

I've been in the burned out place....twice with nursing. I went back for a short while only to have the same stress, idiots to work with and low pay. Retirement is great in some ways....I manage to fill my days without working. Beautiful arrangements.

G in Berlin said...

Burn out- I understand. I hope you enjoy some time to do whatever you most enjoy and then have joy in whatever you choose to take on. I had my own business for ten years and I must say that cashing some one else's check was particularly happy afterward.

Bobkat said...

It's a shame that what you do no longer brings you joy but if that is the case then the right thing to do is to stop. As you say, there is enough stress in life as there is without adding to it. For the record though, you do beautiful arrangements :)

Anonymous said...

Those bouquets are precious!!!
I am sure you'll be making the right decision...

Shephard said...

Those flowers are gorgeous. :)

You know Judy, I totally get what you're saying. I say, do what brings you joy, and if that means amending this post later, so be that as well! :) I hope you'll still have pretty flowers on your blog though. I love looking at them!
~S

Kay Dennison said...

Love the bouquets!

Ohhhhhh do I understand burnout. You can only do so much for so long until it isn't fun anymore. I hope you enjoy having one less thing to worry about even if it turns out to be temporary.

Nancy said...

Hi Judy,

When the Title Clerk handed the Seller the proceeds check from the sale of his house, and the new buyers clutched the door keys to their new home to their bosom, I walked out the door of that Title Company and never looked back..

Many years were spent with Buyers and Sellers of homes and for most of those years I LOVED it. Then on that last sale I realized that it wasn't much fun anymore and I wanted to retire. I did retire the following month after my last transaction closed, and to this day I have never regretted it.

My days and nights are now my own;I don't wake up at 3 A.M. anymore fretting because I didn't give the sellers enough time to sell or hoping and praying that the buyers would be able to secure financing.

Now, all those problems and tensions belong to someone else and I can read books and watch television and write my stories and,last but not least, pester everybody on their blogs with inappropriate comments.

Retire, Judy, and enjoy yourself. Maybe I'll even start a blog so you can pester me with inappropriate comments. How's that?

Mojo said...

Those are gorgeous! I mean gobsmacking gorgeous!

And I feel ya on the burnout thing. I'm the same way about wedding photography. I do it only in very limited circumstances, and only if the following all apply:
(a) I know the couple.
(b) I know the couple well enough to give them a wedding gift.
(c) Neither of them is a photographer!

Okay, that last point is negotiable, but seriously... I only shoot weddings as a favor to very good friends -- and that's my wedding gift to them. I will not do this for money. It's too much stress and you get too much misguided (albeit well-intentioned) "help" from all and sundry.

Only thing is, can you call it "burnout" if you've never done it for a living?

I have my well-researched sample ballot all filled out and ready to be transferred to the real thing tomorrow or Thursday!

Evil Twin's Wife said...

Well, enjoy the retirement! I know you've worked awfully hard these years and you deserve the down time.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Those are exquisite! I personally loved the Brides Bouqet...I'm a Pastel Person and for me...That color palette is perfect. The Bridesmaids, too!

I can truly understand your feeling f Burnout, Judy...BUT.....Maybe, before you sell everything, give it 6 months or so to see if after a "rest" from the responsability, you decide you can continue on a more limited basis....! I know that once the "joy" is gone in what you have loved to do, you just don't want that stress anymore---Been there, Done that! TGhe AIDS Benefit I was so very involved with for twenty years and worked sooooo hard on for many months out of the year, just got too hard for me. It was, in my case, the dysfunctional family aspect of my cohorts....It was just too crazy! And since I stepped away from it...Well, it was a great relief. I still care about the work, but I;ve just had to do what I do in other ways. And given my Health Issues, I honestly couldn't have continued in the same capacity anyway. What had been fun and so very gratifying became total drudgery. And not a whole lot of appreciation for what I wax doing, either.

I hope you do continue with Mel...and maybe doing that only, will serve those creative needs you have and be the outlet for your lovely talent!

JeanMac said...

You have out your heart and soul into it for so long, no wonder you're burned out. Let someone else do the work and sit back and relax - I'm sure it's very stressful work.