Weddings: from Disaster to Delight w/ Ian Prosser

Every wedding designer has experienced ‘that wedding.’ The one where perfect plans suddenly met with unexpected chaos. Sometimes Mother Nature throws us a few challenges, even for those who are at the top of their game. Regaining control requires focus, finesse, and flexibility. 

Ian Prosser AIFD, AAF, PFCI reminds us to stop, realize there is a solution, and move forward to find it. Even the most challenging weddings can be taken ‘from Disaster to Delight.’ We love for our flowers to be pretty, but this is a story about being prepared.

How we Bloom podcast is an oasis of flower ideas. Hosts Sharon McGukin and Smithers-Oasis North America invite floral guests who dare to do things differently. We listen, learn, explore new opportunities and that's how we bloom!

Transcript

Ian Prosser: (00:08)
This was a very high budget wedding. It went awry, but we made a purse out of a Sow's Ear. And in the end, they were absolutely thrilled.

Sharon McGukin: (00:27)
Welcome to How we Bloom, an Oasis of flower Ideas. I'm your host, Sharon McGukin, AIFD, AAF, PFCI. And, I believe that every great success story starts with one simple idea. That's why we interview those who dare to do things differently, inspiring people who plant seeds, grow ideas, and bloom to their full potential. In this podcast, we listen, learn, explore new opportunities, and that's How we Bloom.

Sharon McGukin: (01:09)
Today, we'll discuss weddings and events, specifically the challenge of how to turn 'disasters into delight.' We've all had 'that wedding.' The one where things beyond our control start to roll. How can we regain control? When it comes to wedding flower design, Ian Prosser, AIFD, AAF, PFCI is the Prince of Perfection. A Director of Detail. Planner of Petals. One of the most sought after wedding and event floral designers in the world.

(01:46)
Ian and his Botanica team of Tampa, Florida make flower magic happen for weddings and events. If you're trying to place Ian's intriguing accent, he was born in Scotland. Starting his career with three floral design shops in Glasgow. He was the youngest person in Scotland to win Floral Designer of the Year. He received the highest European honor in floral design, the National Diploma of the Society of Floristry.

Sharon McGukin: (02:18)
In the US, Ian excelled in the floral industry. He's an active member of AIFD and SAF. Among other events, Ian has contributed to the design of President Bill Clinton and President George W Bush's presidential inaugurations. You get it. He has a busy schedule. Ian is known for rushing from one fabulous event to another. The photos are glamorous. The wedding designs exquisite. Botanica events come together in perfect detail. Until they don't!

Sharon McGukin: (02:55)
Sometimes Mother Nature throws us a few challenges, even for those who are at the top of their game. Having scanned so many beautiful photos of Ian's work and witnessed the pleasure of wedding couples week after week, it was quite a shock to see photos of an exhausted Ian standing in a rain slicker, soaking wet in a downpour of rain. He had just survived a simultaneous wedding and tornado. Ian came out the victor.

Sharon McGukin: (03:25)
But, what a challenge it was. Ian posted the story of the wedding beset by the storm. He shared the details about how the Botanica team turned failure into a fabulous finish. Now that's a story we can learn from!

Sharon McGukin: (03:39)
Later, Hurricane Ian offered another opportunity to relearn the 'can do' lesson amidst local destruction. In the world of events, the show must go on. The Botanica team loaded flowers into transfer trucks, and magically moved a wedding from Florida to New Jersey and New York. Just another day in the life of a mega florist. Right?

Sharon McGukin: (04:04)
How do wedding flower design stories go from 'disaster to delight' in times of challenge? Floral expert, Ian Prosser, is here to share his hard-earned insights with us. Flowers aren't just about being pretty. This story is about being prepared. Please welcome my dear friend, Ian Prosser.

Ian Prosser: (04:25)
Well, hello Sharon. How are you this morning?

Sharon McGukin: (04:28)
Doing well. And you?

Ian Prosser: (04:30)
Good? I'm good. We are kind of back on track now after this Hurricane Ian and , yeah, I propose that it's named after me.

Sharon McGukin: (04:41)
I was just thinking exactly that.

Ian Prosser: (04:43)
Yeah, my namesake. And it created so much havoc. But, at least we have this weekend. We have a normal weekend. Which is really kind of nice because we had so much affected by the hurricane. I guess we can touch on that a little bit later. But one wedding really caused us to think on our feet. You know, it's pointless panicking because you have a job to do. You have a very set time frame that you have to be complete in. We had a planner we worked with. We both had to think on our feet and decide what is best for this wedding. The wedding itself was supposed to take place at the Ca' d'Zan - the Ringling Museum, the hunting lodge of John and Mabel Ringling. Which is no regular hunting lodge. The entire thing is marble, so it's not quite a log cabin in the woods.

Ian Prosser: (05:47)
It's really quite fabulous with this very grand terrace that leads down to the water. We arrived there ahead of time, which, I mean, that's my big thing. I don't want to arrive on time. I want to be there ahead of time so that I can assess all situations. So, we get there, and the wind is blowing. We've been watching the weather for the last few days. We get there and there is absolutely no way that the ceremony can take place where it was supposed to take place. The planner had a plan B. Which was now - instead of being at the back of the house which overlooks the water, to be at the front of the house, where there are beautiful gardens and a grand driveway. You can be married, and we do many weddings there, in front of these gorgeous elaborate doors.

Ian Prosser: (06:49)
Anyway, it's just, you know, let's rethink it. We decide that this is what it's going to be. I'm not overly happy about it, because the driveway needs to be accessible until 3:30, and I had a $20,000 structure to get produced. It was 10 feet square and 12 feet tall, and it took six designers four hours to produce. So now the planner has decided it's to be the front of the building, and the facilities manager came out and said, "You know, you really can't do it here because it can't be put in place until 3:30." Well, there's no way that we could physically lift it because of the weight. You know, so many Oasis cages on there to attach the flowers. I was pretty thrilled that we could not. Because this is a facility where we are not allowed to drive anything into the ground.

Ian Prosser: (07:55)
We're not allowed to attach anything to a staircase handrail. It has to be completely freestanding. I knew while moving into plan B, it was really going have to be plan C. With a bit of reluctance on the planner's part, and certainly the bride, we had to move to plan C. Adjacent to this building was a tent that they were planning to use for cocktails. And the whole big thing was "What we're going do with the cocktail party?". I said, quite frankly, "I don't really care about the cocktail party. We can move that somewhere. We've got to attend to the ceremony."

Sharon McGukin: (08:43)
Do you think that's the key in the first step when things start to roll out of control You have to get a willing consensus from the major players?

Ian Prosser: (08:55)
Yes. And sometimes wedding planners are people pleasers and they want to make their brides happy.

Sharon McGukin: (09:06)
As we all do.

Ian Prosser: (09:08)
As we all do. I had already been to the house and dropped off the wedding bouquet and said to the bride, "Just so you know, I greatly doubt that we can do the ceremony where you want it to be, but as long as I have your trust and you know that I have your best interests at heart, we will make this as fabulous as we can. But we have to, address the reality of the situation."

Sharon McGukin: (09:36)
I remember saying to a bride, “It's like putting together the pieces of a puzzle. And until you get onsite, you don't know exactly how the pieces are going to fit. So, if you come in and it's changed, it's because the puzzle pieces changed and we had to refit."

Ian Prosser: (09:51)
Right. And it's so funny that you say that, Sharon, because I explain to brides that weddings are like a jigsaw. We all hold a piece and we put puzzle together. And sometimes, it's not quite the picture that we that we were looking at. This was a very high budget wedding. It went awry, but we made a silk purse out of a Sow's ear, and in the end they were absolutely thrilled. She cried. She hugged me. He hugged me and thanked me for being able to turn it around. In this tent, the canvas is blowing like crazy. They had a 54-inch crystal chandelier. And I said to the client, okay, this is what we're going to do. I mean, I eventually just had to take charge and say, "Okay, I understand what you're saying, but with the practicality of A, B, and C - this is what we need to do."

Ian Prosser: (10:51)
The planner's assistant was on my side, and of course, the planner herself is also addressing every other vendor, not only me. We have this crystal chandelier that we can build the structure around so that it looks like it was meant to be this way. We can do the seating in the round so everybody has an awesome view. We were doing this 70-foot long meandering path on either side. I had all of these flowers that I could make everything look fabulous. So, we created a beautiful entrance. We had flowers all along the back of the seats at the entrance where guests would arrive. We did flowers all the way down the aisle. And, we even had enough flowers to do the facing side of the aisle.

Ian Prosser: (11:47)
You know, it really turned out gorgeous. It really was beautiful. But then came the reception. Oh my gosh! It's a completely open space, a courtyard in the museum, and they do not allow tents to be erected. We knew we were out in the open. We knew that the weather was going to lift towards the end of the day, but things needed to get done. While the ceremony took place we were over at the other space. We had three gorgeous archways for guests to walk through. We had to use furniture belts and strap them to trees.

Sharon McGukin: (12:34)
I remember, too, that you said that you had these huge, heavy containers that were just flipping over and you were having to just basically cram the flowers back in to make them upright.

Ian Prosser: (12:49)
Right. As the day progressed and the reception was coming together, all of my crew were working crazy speeds to try and get this done. Because, we had been so held back by other issues. At the grass area where you unload, they were only letting one vehicle in at a time because the grass was so wet. So that held us up for another couple of hours. So, now you've got 15 people held up for two hours. We've now lost 30 hours of installation time. And I became like this little general shooting orders. I explained to the staff, "Please don't take this personally, but I have got to keep you on track here." So now the first look is where people entered and there were these beautiful archways that could happen no more. We now had to use that for the cocktail area. We had a gorgeous round bar with these huge Accent Decor containers that we had filled with weights. We used a flower bucket with probably 12 bricks of wet Oasis foam in there. So, you're talking a substantial weight plus all the flowers.

Sharon McGukin: (14:15)
You told me those original weights were about 50 pounds each, so it was a heavy.

Ian Prosser: (14:20)
We had added 50 pounds of weight, then all the Oasis foam, and then flowers. So, these beasts were exactly that. We were working away and everything was fine, calm, and the weather was playing with us. We were getting stuff done. All of a sudden, I hear this almighty crash. I thought it was a caterer situation where plates had smashed or something. We look up and the four big arrangements that were to be on this bar had all blown off onto the ground.

Sharon McGukin: (14:59)
Oh, no!

Ian Prosser: (15:00)
The containers, the flowers were all smashed. Some of the containers were broken. Fortunately, we always carry some extras, just in case. So, we used two of the least broken containers.

Sharon McGukin: (15:16)
The least broken ones. <Laugh>

Ian Prosser: (15:18)
Two of the least broken containers. <Laugh> And we had to, on the spot, make these $1,500 arrangements over. But we did it. We did it. And, you know, they were thrilled. We just, we just had to reshuffle.

Sharon McGukin: (15:33)
You did it!

Ian Prosser: (15:33)
We just had to reshuffle everything and stuff that was supposed to go in one area did not, and stuff that was supposed to go in another area did. And when all was said and done the client was extremely happy. It was beautiful. Sadly, for us, it was not exactly how it was supposed to be, though. You don't get those glorious images that you were going to get.

Sharon McGukin: (16:01)
You learned a lot of valuable lessons. I remember when you were telling me about it originally, you said one of the major lessons was that the trucks could only come in one at a time because of the wet grass. You said "a lesson that I learned is that from now on I will number those trucks!" You said that the truck that has the Oasis products in it will be the first truck, not truck number four.

Ian Prosser: (16:27)
Right. Because, we had to unload all the trucks to get to everything we needed.

Sharon McGukin: (16:33)
If you could speak to that for a second.

Ian Prosser: (16:36)
I think you have to look at every situation as a learning experience. And, and that's what we learned from this. You know, this was $200,000 in flowers and lots of containers, lots of oasis foam, cages, and raquettes and all of these different things. A lot of things had to be produced there. Had I numbered the trucks as to 'this is this' and 'this is that,’ then I would've known. I will most decidedly do that next time. You know, we were all thrown a curve ball with the loading area only allowing one truck in at a time, which was a bit of a disaster. We lived to tell the tale. I most certainly learned from that. And that's a mistake that I will not make again.

Ian Prosser: (17:32)
You know, as old as dirt as I am, I can still learn. I think one of the most valuable things is that you have to be open to continuing to learn. It doesn't matter how many years you've been in this business. That certainly was something that day. I thought, "Dang it, we're getting held up because we're bringing candles and all of this other stuff off first because it's the first truck to arrive. Or, the first truck to get into the loading zone.” So yeah, let me tell you - there may have been a cocktail or two consumed that evening. .

Sharon McGukin: (18:11)
But that's how you go from grit to glory. You learn and you do it again. Thank you for sharing that with our audience. That's what I hope we come away with today from this podcast. People look at your work as so glorious and think, "Oh, it's easy for him because he has a big budget." Wedding flowers are easy for no one .

Ian Prosser: (18:31)
Right!

Sharon McGukin: (18:32)
There's always a challenge. If we can come away today with how we meet those challenges. Yours are on a really big scale. If you can meet those challenges, then the rest of us on a smaller scale can use those lessons in our own weddings. That was the wedding that I noticed on Social. I can't tell you the shock that I felt. Always, when I look at your column on Facebook there are such beautiful pictures. And you always say how the bride and groom were so wonderful and they were so happy. Then, suddenly there you were, exhausted in a rain slicker saying, "I want a cocktail."

Ian Prosser: (19:17)
Right? A drowned rat! I mean, Zoe had wellie boots on. We were all doing our thing. We all had blisters on our feet because our feet were so wet because a lot of the tables were on grass. But yeah, it was just certainly one to remember. It really was.

Sharon McGukin: (19:39)
And you thought, this is the worst that can happen. But, that was before you heard that Hurricane Ian was coming.

Ian Prosser: (19:46)
Yeah. That was something else. And people are like, oh my goodness, it's your namesake and it's going to trash everyone. I'm like, yeah.

Sharon McGukin: (19:55)
You know what? I've seen you in a couple of torrents where your Scottish brogue clicked in and I know why they named that hurricane Ian.

Ian Prosser: (20:07)
Oh, yeah. Let me tell you, it is not pretty! Once I'm there, I'm there. But, that was supposed to be a head on hit for Tampa. We have this mythical story that there's an ancient Indian burial grounds at the mouth of the entrance into Tampa Bay. And that we are always protected by that. And you know what? We really have been. So, goodness knows if that's the truth, but Tampa was spared. Actually, my whole family had gone out of town 40 miles to another daughter's house. And of course, we get 40 miles closer to the dang hurricane. Her yard ends up looking like firewood because all of her trees were getting blown down. It was horrendous. But as soon as we realized that our homes and our business were going to be safe, our focus goes onto the island, Boca Grande. Which is where we do a lot of very high end weddings.

Ian Prosser: (21:20)
And, you know, that it kind of comes down to a - don't carry all your eggs in one basket, kind of thing. So, in an eleven-week period, we had nine weddings in Boca Grande. The first one was canceled because that was a Saturday after the hurricane and nobody was getting on-island. I mean, there's barely a leaf left on any of these trees. And, you know, there's a probably 150-foot tall banyan tree or maybe be a hundred-feet tall banyan tree blown on its side. Which is a favorite marriage location. That's gone now. They tried to upright it, stake it, and get it to take, but it just continued to die. They had to remove that tree.

Ian Prosser: (22:14)
Which is very sad, it was a very beautiful tree. The following week we're supposed to have a wedding. All the flowers were purchased for this couple. We actually had a flower sale here at our business and sold the flowers for less than they cost us. And we were able to donate, I think $4,300 to the church they were supposed to get married in. At least some good came from that, which was really nice. But the following week was the 15th of October. The hurricane happened on Wednesday. By Friday we heard rumblings that they may have to move it (the wedding). By Sunday, we knew the wedding had been moved to New York City - 60% of their guests were from New York or New Jersey.

Ian Prosser: (23:20)
This family had quite some pull. They made a phone call to St. Patrick's Cathedral. And, guess what? Within 10 days, we had a 6:15 PM time slot for this wedding on a Saturday night, which is completely unheard of. Apparently, they have a two-year waiting list to get married at the church, at the cathedral. So anyway, it was now Sunday. Zoe and I worked on it very heavily on Monday. We had many discussions with the family and with the groom. And, these were very emotional conversations because everybody's in a complete tailspin. What are we going to do? What are we going to do with all these flowers? You know, they thought that we were just going to not send the flowers or not do anything with them.

Sharon McGukin: (24:16)
That you were going to absorb the cost of the flowers is what they thought.

Ian Prosser: (24:19)
Exactly. I mean, from a contractual standpoint, we actually, a wedding being canceled with us within 30 days, we were not due to return any money at all. That is in our contract.

Sharon McGukin: (24:35)
That was a question I was going to ask you. Do you place all of these considerations into your contract? After you've had the tornado and the hurricane, has that changed the way you approach refunds in your contract?

Ian Prosser: (24:49)
Yes. We have now added to our contract that in order to have us do your wedding during hurricane season, you must have proof of wedding insurance. Wedding insurance doesn't cost a whole lot of money in the grand scheme of things. But, it makes sure that all of your vendors are taken care of - they all get paid, and the bride and groom or the family get 80% back. If the weddings are $100,000, they're going to get $80,000 back. So, we are insistent now that takes place. Because, as we go further down the line, you know, we now have two weddings that have canceled. One has gone to Miami and one has gone to New York State. They do not have the funds to transport us there and cover all the other expenses.

Ian Prosser: (25:50)
So, we had to add that into our contract. But this wedding, Hurricane Ian, was Wednesday. By Sunday, we know we're going to New York. Thursday, Zoe and I go to New York to spend 15 hours, including travel, in the city looking at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Finding all the logistical nightmares. Remember, it's right in the middle of Manhattan. So, here we are from Florida. We've never dealt with this before. I know that many of my peers deal with it on a regular basis, but we hadn't.

Sharon McGukin: (26:32)
One point I'd like to make is that Zoe is your daughter and your right-hand person.

Ian Prosser: (26:38)
Yes, she is the creative director, and she is my right hand. I could not function without her.

Sharon McGukin: (26:47)
And as a side note, she's very beautiful.

Ian Prosser: (26:49)
Inside and out. That's a good thing. So, we were there on Thursday. Then, on Monday we had a truck leave with everything we needed from containers to tables to heaters. We ended up working in the family's barn, which was not heated. I was afraid the temperature would dip and we might have an issue with the product. And, it did fall to about 37 degrees one night. I was a little bit concerned about that. We had to take all the buckets and whatever. Of course, the flowers got rerouted to New Jersey. We found a wholesaler that would accept the flowers for us. Then we went there and picked them up. Two of our staff headed off on Monday with a truckload of stuff. Five of us flew in on Tuesday to start producing the wedding. The production went without a hitch at all. The flowers came in beautiful. Remember, now it's a complete rework of the reception that we were doing. We had about 50 hours of redesign in this wedding. We were all under pressure and duress from this whole situation. We did not charge the client for those extra hours. Maybe we should have, but we didn't.

Sharon McGukin: (28:28)
That's a question I was going to, to ask you. How did you approach the customer with the fact that there was going to be so many more expenses, you know, flying people there, driving the truck there? Were they understanding about the fact that this was requiring a lot more expense?

Ian Prosser: (28:52)
Yeah, they were. Fortunately, they're a wealthy family. And, they were just beyond appreciative that we would actually go to New York and do this wedding. Because for them, trying to find somebody that could produce it ... I mean, we were going to refund some monies to them that would've covered the labor on the other side. But, finding a florist that all of a sudden needs to do this wedding that was in excess of a hundred thousand dollars. I would've had a conversation with them had they chosen to go that route. But anyway, they said we have every level of trust in you. We know that it will be beautiful. We want you to come and do the wedding. Fantastic. What happened was, here we have this small Catholic church in Boca Grande, and it only holds 90 people.

Ian Prosser: (29:53)
They were doing seating for another 90, it was 180 guests, in this courtyard of the church. But everything was much smaller. So here we are, we'll get two altar pieces in this small church that are like, I don't know, $550, $600 a piece. And then we had aisle stuff, and we had the gates, and we had the lamp standards outside.

Ian Prosser: (30:19)
And all of a sudden, guess what? We're in St. Patrick's Cathedral where these flowers will look like a bud vase. Then, they wanted to add more stuff to it. I had to go back to her and say, "You know, I've, credited you for A, B, C, and D ... garlands, gates and blah, blah, blah, but it still comes out that we need another $4,000 in order to do in the church what you want. Or, I have a feeling that we need to cut things. They were the most delightful family ever. I mean, they were delightful. They gave us everything we needed. We rented vehicles. We had 33 room nights, I believe, or 34 room nights in hotels. Yeah. I mean, it was a difference of $24,000, but they did it.

Sharon McGukin: (31:23)
They did it. I think that that's a point to be made. They did what they needed to do to make the changes. But you did also. Not everyone would say, let's get a truck and go to NYC. I think they probably understood the value of the person they had commissioned originally.

Ian Prosser: (31:42)
Right. We had a brief conversation because, everybody was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. And the groom's mother, Janet, who was paying for the florist, said "Look Ian, we 150% trust you, just do it." And I said okay.

Sharon McGukin: (32:06)
And that's a blessing. A blessing that you're not fighting a battle with the people in addition of the battle of the weather.

Ian Prosser: (32:13)
Right, exactly. They were just very nice. You know, we had another meeting once we got to New York. They lived in New Jersey about 40-45 minutes from the city. Fortunately, they had a big barn. I had initially said "Could we work in your garage?" And she said, "Hey, I have a barn with running water and plenty of space” ... here you go. So that's what we did. I had called some friends to join the team up there because we had another big wedding going on in Tampa that weekend. It really was a pretty cool experience, I have to say.

Ian Prosser: (33:01)
I mean, we had to turn around within a 10-day period, which was amazing that we did it. What we had planned for here didn't work there. We were supposed to have four floral chandeliers hanging. We no longer could do that because we were in a museum for the reception, which was a whole other experience. Probably one of the most unpleasant experiences that I've had in the 40-odd years I've been in this business. And, it was all down to the facilitator in the museum. It goes back to what my parents used to say to me and what I say to my kids and my staff. It should probably be on my headstone when the day comes. "It's not what you say, it's the manner in which you say it." And, she just treated us like absolute dirt!

Ian Prosser: (33:59)
It was a very unpleasant experience. She just threw up as many hurdles as she possibly could. But you know what, we got it done! When we got to five o'clock, there were things that we could now do in public spaces of the museum. Because they don't allow it until the museum has closed, which I completely understand. We had to have somebody staged at the bottom of the staircase to catch leaves as they fell. <Laugh> Come on. It’s smilax. They didn't want leaves falling on the glass. Which was totally ridiculous. So now you've lost a person until the stair case is complete. And then we had this whole other situation. She was very derogatory in the way that she spoke to us and about us. She had a conversation telling somebody to 'tell the florists this,' and I was standing right next to her. You just have to kind of bite the bullet. There are some of these people in the world. You have to realize that we are there for the client and there we go. So that's that.

Sharon McGukin: (35:22)
And you also have to just maintain your dignity, to prove to them how wrong they are. But, that becomes a challenge. Also, the added emotion of dealing with negativity adds another layer to the challenge.

Ian Prosser: (35:40)
Yep. And, it could have been simple. I met her in the walk-through. It could have been as simple as "I know it's your first time here. Let's run over some of the details that we need to be aware of." Just make it warm and fuzzy. We carried in because of this junky elevator. We carried in 50 buckets of flowers and put them down. Then, 10 minutes later she tells us we need to move them, so we moved them. We just get those 50 buckets positioned, and she told us "Oh, I forgot to tell you, you need to put a tarp down." So, we had to move them again to put the tarp down. These flowers got handled four times more than they needed to be. And, sand is running out of the hourglass at that point in time. So anyway, we got it done. The client was over the moon. I just got to a point, at the end of the setup that I just needed to leave the building. And I said to staff "You just need to finish up the odds and ends. I've got to leave the building, or I'm going to spend some time in a New York City jail tonight.

Sharon McGukin: (36:55)
I've seen that Scottish temper. She didn't want to mess with you.

Ian Prosser: (37:01)
Well, I knew that I needed to remove myself from the situation, and I did. The client was great. But, this individual made that part of the wedding a miserable experience. But, we don't get those often, and so you just have to take it with a grain of salt. It certainly did add a lot of stress, which was unneeded in those days.

Sharon McGukin: (37:33)
It added angst.

Ian Prosser: (37:36)
It added angst. I got a little box from the client the other day, saying "You know, we really appreciate everything that you did, and we understand the situation that you had to handle at the museum." I don't know how she heard, but she did. And, I got a lovely brand new pair of Gucci shoes.

Sharon McGukin: (37:59)
Oh, wow! That was worth walking away for.

Ian Prosser: (38:04)
I could be guaranteed that the lady at the museum is not supporting new Gucci's, today!

Sharon McGukin: (38:12)
What suggestion do you have for florists? We've all encountered those people. We have to bite our tongue because we want to maintain our professionalism. But, do you have any technique for dealing with them? Or, do you think just as you said, walking away is the most amazing way to put them in their place?

Ian Prosser: (38:32)
Right. Good question. As you said, what we must do is maintain our integrity and our professionalism. And sometimes you walk away into the back of the house and just have a few minutes to calm yourself down. You're going to gain nothing from exploding at that individual. If it's somewhere that you think you may return, it's most decisively not a plan to let off steam and become unprofessional about it.

Sharon McGukin: (39:15)
Sometimes, it seems to work when you just stop and look them in the eye and say, "I am not your adversary. You and I are on the team that brings this event to life for our client. We need to do a little better job of working together. And you need to remember, I am not your adversary."

Ian Prosser: (39:35)
I said that to her when we were moving tables for cocktail tables for the caterer. Because there was a hallway that we had to put high tops in. Well, one of the reasons was we needed to put flowers and candles on those high tops, but we needed the tables in place. Everybody was running like a scalded cat at the same time. And she said to me, "Just, what do you think you're doing?" And I said, "You know, Karen, this is what we call teamwork, and they need the tables moved and we need them in position. So, if they don't have people that are spare to do it, then why wouldn't we? We're here anyway. We're waiting on the tables, so let's just do it. It’s all about being part of a team. We are this family's wedding team, which you're a part of as well. So, you know, we all need to work together."

Sharon McGukin: (40:33)
Teamwork makes the dream work.

Ian Prosser: (40:35)
It surely does. Because you never know. The caterer may well have helped us. I've had situations in the past where I've been tabling salads because the caterers had broken down on the way or whatever it is. You just have to treat others the way you wish to be treated yourself and .... work.

Sharon McGukin: (41:00)
I once did a buffet where they were just putting all the fruits and vegetables directly on the table. They were positioning it when one of the caterers got hurt, and they had to rush to the hospital. So, I said "I'll do this. And they said, are you a caterer?" I said, "No, but it's color, texture, and form. And that's what I work with every day with flowers."

Ian Prosser: (41:21)
Right. So sometimes you just have to step in. Yeah.

Sharon McGukin: (41:26)
And sometimes other people step in for you. And that is so appreciated when suddenly someone says, I can help make this happen.

Ian Prosser: (41:37)
Yeah, absolutely. So as I say, we were standing waiting, so it's like, why not just do it now? Just do it. They had put down this beautiful white dance floor. We had done what I call a cutting garden along the front of the stage. That installer of the dance floor had put paper down. And I said to the individual put in the room to watch us, which was ridiculous, we've got to get the paper off the floor. And they said, "Well, can you do it?" And I said, as a team player yes I will, but understand - I am only allowed three bags of garbage. I'll pull the paper up, but please don't count this in my garbage. It's not mine.

Ian Prosser: (42:41)
It was just something else, it was.

Sharon McGukin: (42:45)
And didn't you want ask the watcher, can't you just help here, take this job?

Ian Prosser: (42:49)
No, she was like we need to get this paper up. And I'm like all right, we will. It's not part of our job, but we're glad to do it. But you know, here's the funny thing. At the very end of the event when we are there cleaning up, the groom's mother is now pulling flowers out of this huge arrangement that was in the entryway, and I said, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, you're not allowed to do that. She looked around, and she's like, "Oh my gosh, it's you!" At that point, Karen appeared, I mean, it was like, she came out the woodwork every time. And she said to Karen "I hope you've enjoyed working with Ian, and I hope you've gotten to know him because our wedding is chicken feed as to things that he has done in the past." She proceeded to have all of these accolades roll off her tongue about royalty and yada, yada. And Karen looked at me and I just stared back at her. I said, not a word, but let me tell you, it felt so good, .

Sharon McGukin: (43:59)
And that's the delight at the end of the disaster.

Ian Prosser: (44:05)
That's so good! I think I need a cigarette now, that was so good.

Sharon McGukin: (44:08)
To go with that cocktail .

Ian Prosser: (44:11)
Exactly. Yeah.

Sharon McGukin: (44:13)
Well, after your tornado and hurricane , in the big picture - would you say the real key to a beautiful wedding is being prepared, flexible, and able to hit plan A, B, C, or whatever comes after?

Ian Prosser: (44:36)
Right. Absolutely. You know, the thing is pointless wasting energy on negative thoughts. You may as well take that time and sometimes I just have to be by myself when we have a situation like some of these situations. I just need a few minutes just to clear my head and think ... okay, so how do we move forward with this? And I think that's it. It's like ... don't lose it. You know, stay calm and think about how do we move forward from here and make this work. And so that's it. It works most of the time. .

Sharon McGukin: (45:17)
I think that's the key also. If you get too hung up in what's not happening, you don't leave any brain space for what can happen. And, sometimes the secondary result is really better than the first would've been anyway.

Ian Prosser: (45:32)
You know, sometimes it is and you're like, oh, okay, well, maybe I would never have done that. But guess what I did? And it, it worked out great.

Sharon McGukin: (45:40)
And I'll do it again.

Ian Prosser: (45:42)
Exactly. I'll refine it next time and we'll make it really work.

Sharon McGukin: (45:46)
What is your all-time favorite wedding? Is there one that just stands out in your mind as that that's how life should be? One that was amazing?

Ian Prosser: (45:58)
You know, I, I think it's just when you get a really appreciative family that really knows the work, heart, and soul that has gone into making this day really special. I think there's nothing better to me than happy tears when a family walks into a tent or a venue or whatever it may be. And, they release these happy tears because it's way better than they thought it was going be. The one wedding that jumps to mind, was actually President George W's niece. We did Marshall's wedding, and it was really quite gorgeous. And, and again, we had to encounter rain and inclement weather and think on our feet and do such things. Then, she and her husband came into the reception tent when everything was over and done.

Ian Prosser: (47:00)
Of course, we're dealing with secret service and everything because of '41 being the bride's grandfather. He and Barbara Bush were still alive at that time. The wedding may have been, I don't know, maybe six years ago, five, six years ago. The bride came into the tent. She's like, "Oh my goodness, this is so gorgeous." And she's crying. She's like, "You know, I just did not imagine it would look this good." And I said, "Well, I'm over and out now that you've seen." She said, "No, no, no, don't leave because my uncle and my grandpa are going to take photographs with you.

Sharon McGukin: (47:36)
Very cool.

Ian Prosser: (47:38)
And I was like, wait a minute. This was '41 and '43 that, you know, that we were having photographs taken with. And Barbara Bush and Laura Bush as well. So, it was lovely. And Laura was like, "My goodness, these flowers are so beautiful." And I said, "Well, you know, I had some practice. I was the chairperson for George W's inaugurations. And he said "Do you know how many people have told me that?" And I said, "Yeah, but this is the truth this time." They were a very, very delightful family to deal with. It was nice to see the ordinary side of them, the family side, rather than the Presidents that we knew. So that, that was quite lovely.

Sharon McGukin: (48:22)
I have heard what a delightful family they were. In fact, when I was working in the flower shop in the White House one time, an employee in the White House said that Barbara Bush was everyone's favorite First Lady, that she was like, everyone's grandmother. She would stop you in the hall and ask about your mom or somebody in your family that had sickness or something. They said she was just the most delightful lady.

Ian Prosser: (48:53)
Yeah. Yeah. She was. I mean, we encountered her a few times, and she was as pleasant as could be every time we met her. Very humble actually, which was lovely. Yeah.

Sharon McGukin: (49:09)
And I think people appreciate that. As we wind this up, I'm so thankful that you joined us today. I know what a busy week you had and how hard it was to find time for us, and I just appreciate you so much. Are there any last words you would leave for florists in terms of working with challenges? We all have challenges as we do any type of event, but weddings are even more important because it's someone's special day of their lifetime. What would be your best advice in terms of just dealing with challenges and trying to change something from disaster to delight?

Ian Prosser: (49:50)
When you're in the throes of things and you're in the trenches, I kind of touched on this earlier, but I think the most important thing is keep a clear head. There's always a solution. You just need to take the time to find that solution. And as you said just a few minutes ago, sometimes things turn out better than you thought they were going to. Because sometimes, myself included, you work best under pressure.

Ian Prosser: (50:22)
You know, I do work best under pressure. I mean, I think if you just take the time to think clearly. Really think out the solution and how you're going to move forward with it - that is the best thing that I could say.

Sharon McGukin: (50:41)
That's excellent advice. “Stop. Realize there is a solution. And, find it.”

Sharon McGukin: (50:48)
That's the best advice. Thank you so much, Ian. I knew this was going to be so interesting and I just appreciate you being with us to share the details of disasters that you have turned into delight.

Ian Prosser: (51:02)
Yeah, you're most welcome. It was my pleasure to be here.

Sharon McGukin: (51:06)
So glad you were.

Sharon McGukin: (51:13)
Today, Smithers Oasis-North America, Ian, and I want to thank you for joining us. If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and be sure to hit subscribe. You don't want to miss the inspired solutions our upcoming guests will share with you for your personal or business growth. If you have topics or a guest you would like to hear, please message me. We'd love to hear from you. Until next time, I'm Sharon McGukin reminding you that like the unfurling petals of a flower, we grow by changing form, soaking inspiration in like raindrops absorbing energy from others, like warmth from the sun. This growth opens us up to new ideas, and that's How we Bloom.