Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Courtney Zuber. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Courtney , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry

Some of the biggest trends we’re seeing in the wedding industry is heavy greenery and dried florals. This give clients the opportunity to preserve and keep their wedding florals. The Boho look is very popular! We’re also seeing brides ditch boutonnieres. They always tell us “the guys don’t care and they’re not going to be delicate with them”. They’re not wrong! Haha

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

I’m Courtney, the owner and lead designer. I graduated from Texas A&M in 2018 (whoop!) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Horticulture with a focus in floral design and a minor in Recreational, Park, and Tourism Sciences. I also was able to obtain my Professional Event Management Certification. ​
Cone Flower Designs was established in 2018 after I graduated from college. I wanted to create a full service floral company for brides to have a one stop shop for all things floral related. I have a deep passion for bringing floral visions to life, so after interning and working at several floral companies I decided to take a leap of faith and go all in by starting my own floral business. Working to create someone’s dream in real life is what I love to do. Another aspect I work towards is educating clients about the floral industry and what exactly goes into each design. I offer alternative flower choices that work within each clients budget as well as tips and tricks to get the most out of a floral budget. I strive to make each wedding and event unique.

Have you ever had to pivot?

COVID-19 was a huge pivoting point for us and all business owners. My neighbor always said “You either adapt or parish.” We’ll we adapted! We shifted how we did things in the studio/deliveries to make sure that all parties were safe. We created alternative options that were on a small scale so that clients weren’t spending as much money. We offered contact free pick up or drop off options. This is something that I never thought we would have to deal with but being put in the situation you figure out what you have to do to keep your business going.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

Ahh this is a great question! When COVID-19 hit we had hundreds of stems of flowers/greenery in the studio. Our weddings/events for the weekend rescheduled but we already had the product. My sister and her husband came up with a great idea to sell small bouquets of flowers at a lower cost. People needed to get out of the house and we had the perfect place for them to come. This is where Cooler Clean Out Bouquets started! We offered $10.00 bouquets for porch pick up only. I posted on our town Facebook group about the bouquets and what time they’d be on the porch. I made up about 20 bouquets thinking we might have three or four people come get some but boy were we wrong! They were gone in a matter of minutes. I was watching as people left and right were coming up to the door to pick up flowers. I was rushing back to the studio to make more and I honestly couldn’t keep up. I would open the door, set out five or ten more bouquets then go back to the studio to make more. By the time I would come back with the next round they would all be gone. It would one of the greatest ideas we started here at Cone Flower Designs. All thanks to my sister and her husband. I honestly didn’t think it would go as well as it did so kudos to them! Ever since then we do Cooler Clean Out Bouquets all the time. I’ll be in town with our work shirt on and I’ve met so many people just by them recognizing the name and saying “I’ve bought flowers off your porch before!” It’s been one of the coolest experiences and I’m forever grateful for it!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.coneflowerdesigns.com
• Instagram: @coneflowerdesigns
• Facebook: @coneflowerdesigns

Image Credits
Alicia Leigh Photo Wild and Untamed Photo Mylah Renae Photography Else Bonner Photography Jaime Burrow Photography Brooke Taylor Photo Tara Williams Photography Kati Maxwell Photography