We were lucky to catch up with Meryl Ciraolo recently and have shared our conversation below.
Meryl, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I had been working in the floral industry for a few years when I had landed my first designer job in Philadelphia, PA. After being taught one on one with an AIFD certified designer, he brought me along to Beautiful Blooms. Experiencing the industry from the high end event side versus retail floral shops, I quickly realized this was the field I wanted to work in. Some research told me that my hometown in Atlantic County, NJ (and surrounding area) did not have many florists that only worked exclusively on weddings and other events. So I had decided to create Stemtations that catered solely to this market. I wanted to be a major part of my client’s wedding day and other rites of passage – I wanted to create the most beautiful floral arrangements and memories for their special days.
Meryl, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am the founder of Stemtations, a wedding and event florist, created in October 2013. Since then, I have designed and produced hundreds of weddings and events in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area.
I pride myself on creating unique and beautiful floral arrangements for all of our clients. No two weddings are alike and I like to make each once as unique as the people involved.
Some things that set us apart from other florists is our dedication, work ethic, and attention to detail. We hold ourselves to a high standard and make sure that everything is perfect. We are also “full service” which means that we provide floral arrangements in addition to decor rental – and we set up and breakdown all rental items that we provide. We are a one-stop shop!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
My family, friends, and community. I grew up in a small town, where everyone knows every one. It is an area that value small shops and local businesses. Early on, most of my first clients came from family, friends, former classmates and members of my Jewish community. My parents are also well known in the community. They have a reputation for having a great work ethic that I like to think I inherited. I believe this helped with building my company’s reputation.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Word of mouth is always the most important and, of course social media. There are a lot of community pages on platforms like Facebook that current and future clients are a part of for event planning. I have learned that Stemtations is often recommended from past clients so seeing that word of mouth in real time on social media is the best of all worlds.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stemtationsflorist.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stemtationsflrst/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stemtationsflorist
Image Credits
Photography by Kim Angelo Christina Marie Klein Photo