Written by: Yvonne Ashton
2/7/2012 9:22 AM 

Another great seminar that I attended while at The Special Event 2012 in Tampa, was called “Successful Happenings in Floral Trends and Technology” presented by Bill Schaffer owner of Schaffer Designs.  I will be completely upfront that I may be a tab bit biased because we provided the fresh flowers to Bill for the session.

The session started off with some video to explain a little about Bill’s background – he is a third generation floral designer.  My favorite quote from one of the videos that Bill showed was “You better be damn good …. Otherwise you aren’t going to make it!”  Such a relevant quote for any type of business – isn’t it?

The original company was started back in 1925 and Bill states that the family’s floral business has been successful because they are always finding and staying with the trends.  Its a matter of staying relevant in today’s world and no one wants to buy yesterday’s design/look/product/etc.

This is a good transition to discuss the trends Bill reviewed.  I took a ton of pictures.  Again, some look a little funky because I was taking pictures of the projection screen, but the slides were great and filled with pretty pictures and information. 

New Victorian – Feminine, romantic, but still modern.  Bouquets have beautiful handles and finished with amazing ribbon and jewels.  The hottest trend in accessories – boutonnieres.  They should be created with lots of details and along with corsages, should be considered a piece of jewelry.  Sell these pieces as floral art.

Vintage Modern – a hot trend is wired wool along with the color combination of mustard and gray.  This was a big hit with the audience.

Tangerine Tango – this is a hot color for the year and looks great with navy.  Tangerine and navy is the new “nautical”.  Last year’s honeysuckle you will see but in a more muted shade. 

Lighting – lighting is so important because it makes such a huge impact in your event room.  A company called “Wire Free LED” was showcased.  All the lights are on a remote, many lightening effects are available, and can be turned on with a click of a button.

Re-event – For this segment, Bill created a floral piece using empty water bottles.  He stressed the importance of making sustainability a part of our everyday lives.

Outside the Vase – this was one of my favorite segments of Bill’s session.  He says that submersing flowers is done by everyone, so why don’t we take what we’ve been doing inside the vase and do in outside of the vase.

Fresh Luxe – this trend uses “haute-tension” … sculptural molded form, sophisticated, sexy and often combines opposites.  For example, high sheen combined with something organic.  I love the new luxe topiary that Bill used as an example with a really chunky riser, boxwood and moss, and rhinestone ribbon.