We were lucky to catch up with Mandy Hess recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mandy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

There are so many ways to learn in 2023. When I started in the floral industry my sophomore year of college in 2005, I was so excited to be working at a retail flower shop; delivering flowers, cleaning buckets, processing flowers, taking orders… it all led to Prom season – “here’s how to create a boutonniere and wrist corsage.” Then Valentine’s Day – “here’s how to design a dozen roses.” There was a lot of hands on learning, (having an art degree has helped with that as well!)

Now anyone who is interested in floral design can watch a video, buy a course from another design or freelance with their local designer. There are so many options in learning how to create a flower arrangement.

Either way, knowing the basics is best practice. If that isnt mastered, no matter how amazing the design you create looks, it may fall apart, or freeze when the weather is below 40 degrees or “melt” if it’s above 70 degrees. There are so many factors in keeping a design fresh and looking good.

I am a big believer on hands-on learning. I have attended several floral design workshops prior to 2020. After 2020, these had to be placed on hold and were slow to pick back up. At these workshops I learned so much, so I wanted to bring something to my local area designers. I created Lunaria – a floral design workshop for wedding and event florists looking to expand their knowledge on design and to create relationships and connections with other designers in the area. It was a need for my local market and I’m so excited to offer it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

MJM Designs is a wedding & event floral design studio. We specialize in lush garden style designs and love using local blooms as often as possible. We are a full service studio, meaning we design, deliver, setup, repurposed items after the ceremony and also come back at the end of the reception to clean it all up. We want to make sure that the couple and their families experiences the day beautifully and without stress as part of a steller vendor team of wedding professionals.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In the state of Colorado, there is many ways to show resilience. The weather here is not for the faint of heart in the wedding world. Gusts of wind come out of nowhere, afternoon rainstorms are almost guaranteed, and unexpected weather is a constant. Just the other day we were expecting a 70 degree day in the mountains and we reach 84 degrees. Having to problem solve on the spot is a must – floral designers are real-life MacGyvers.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My particular goal or mission to dive in and continue this creative journey is knowing I have control over my schedule. If I want to take a family vacation in the middle of the wedding season, I can block off that time and not book anything, If I need to schedule an appointment in the middle of the day, I can. I have choices I can make to ensure less stress and more flexibility. I also love expressing myself through art, and the medium I have selected is flowers. Most days it truly is a form of therapy for me.     

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.mjmdesignsllc.com
• Instagram: @mjmdesignsllc
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mjmdesignsllc

Image Credits
Diana Coulter Photography Sarah Porter Photography Sarah Porter Photography Jacie Margeurite Photography Bree Woolliscroft Photography Alicia Rinka Photography