The Flower Fest 2021- How a Baton Rouge Fundraiser Came Alive!

In early February a total stranger called me with a crazy idea. She was a marketer with a client who had a large outdoor space, and wanted to do something BIG.

That was Amy Dighton from Clover Creative Agency, and the venue was Pointe Marie in Baton Rouge. The space had a bandstand and pavilion and lawn space and it would be perfect for something epic that could bring new eyes to their new community. Amy had watched the Big Flower Fight on Netflix and called the Louisiana Wholesale Florist in Baton Rouge to ask who she should pitch this crazy idea to, and Rick gave them my name. He also suggested they keep it small this first year. Ha!

In February, New Orleans was shut down for COVID, so I was game. I was bored, my staff was bored, and I knew my flower friends were bored too. All I had done for the past year was sales and paperwork, the idea of getting my hands on flowers and doing something totally creative and out of the box was compelling, and I was hopeful that my fellow creatives would think so as well. I agreed to help on the condition that the florists would not have to come out of pocket to pay for the flowers. Our industry had a rough year and cash flow was bleak and I was not about to call people and ask them to spend money! It was agreed, and off we went.

My first couple pitches were easy. I called creatives in my local circle and rambled a bit, but they were anxious for some flower fun too. My pitch got better and Michell and I spent a day finding our team. We wanted event florists, mostly because the retail florists did not need the business in the same way that the event florists did, and we knew the event florists would be comfortable with the scale of the project. We wanted diversity too, geographically and sociologically. We wanted to truly represent the beautiful melting pot that is uniquely Louisiana. I was turned down by only one florist, and one florist dropped out a week or two into the design process. Our goal was for 10 installations, and we had nine, which seemed like a great start.

I am a community builder. I love to teach and to mentor and share with my flower friends. The only downside of this for me is that we were inviting too few florists, and I knew there would be feelings that were hurt! I am sincerely apologetic for everyone that didn’t come to play this year. Next year everyone is invited! I want all the flower friends. One of the greatest compliments I received about the Flower Fest was that “everyone was warm and friendly and willing to help.”

We have big plans for next year. Categories for larger and smaller installations, a floral fashion show, tablescapes for the Gala, and a guest artist doing a themed installation.

Did I mention that all the profits from The Flower Fest went to St Judes? It was a perfect partner in my eyes, as Pointe Marie is the host of a St Jude’s auction house. We were not sure that we would actually make money the first year, but Amy can hustle! I saw her hard work, and it resulted in us finding many sponsors and donors for the cause. I would be remiss if I did not thank my friend Rick at Louisiana Wholesale Florist. He got donations of lots of flowers for us, and then donated all the rest! I sure bet he is glad we managed to keep it small.

I am so grateful to the Team! Katie, Meredith, Amy and I are fast friends and will bring in others to fill in the gaps from this year – and there were some. But I am thrilled and happy and can’t wait for another weekend in the sun. See you there!