The biggest job to date

I feel unstoppable.

Me and a florist pal we’re having coffee. We were meant to be having an admin day, but our laptops were firmly closed, notepads and pens hadn’t even made it out of our bags. We were in Partenope. The coffee is delicious and the big glass windows flood the café with sunlight.

There’s nothing like chatting, moaning, sympathising with someone in the same industry as you. They understand the very specific and niche hurdles you face. They understand when you complain about the cost of sphagnum moss and bundles of spruce. They understand how irritating it can be when people say: Aww, I wish I could play with flowers all day.

Just as I’m about to launch into another story I stop.

‘I should really check my emails, at least feign an effort at doing admin.’ I said to Louise.

As I lifted the laptop lid and refreshed my emails I genuinely became speechless. This is a rarity. Sitting in my inbox was an email from an events company asking if I fancied making 50 table centres.

It was so casual, so relaxed.

After several ‘omg’s I finally got my words out. Me and Louise sat there calculating the cost of flowers, freelancers and logistics.

‘Immediately reply and say yes.’ Louise implored me.

If I had received that email alone I might have said no. It was the biggest undertaking of my career. It meant hiring vans and extra staff. There would need to be spreadsheets to ensure the flower order stuck to budget. Honestly, it felt like too much.

I replied saying yes.

The next day we had a phone call, within days I’d sent an invoice for the deposit. In hours the money landed in my account. You know when you’re thinking it’s too good to be true? That’s exactly how I felt. I’m going to spoil it for you though, it was good. There was no catch. Tiring, but nothing went wrong. Well, nothing major.

Throughout all the planning and spreadsheets the thing that kept making me nervous was the thought of having to drive to the venue. It was in the city centre of Glasgow. I hate driving around the city centre. It’s just a weird mental block I have. I’m happy driving around Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, but Glasgow? It makes my palms sweaty.

It was also my first experience of hiring a freelancer. Thankfully it was someone who I had worked with plenty of times before. I also roped in my partner, he was on transport and putting out the candles. I’m very comfortable bossing Scott around, but it took me a while to get comfortable being confident in my convictions with my freelancer. We had such a good rhythm though, it genuinely made me so eager to take on larger jobs in the future.

My eyes have been opened to event work. Earlier in the year I did a Burns Supper and there was a similar relaxed vibe. There’s much less emotion than weddings. Budgets seem much less fraught too.

I’m still in awe at how smoothly it went on the day. There were several sleepless nights in the run up to it and the whole flat is still in slight disarray. But there were no major hiccups. We were missing a candle stick holder and I took a couple of wrong turns on the drive in. I also over ordered on some of the foliage. I managed to stick to the budget though.

The feedback was incredible. The client was thrilled. This whole experience was exactly what I needed to boost my confidence. Truthfully, the thing I’m proudest of is driving around Glasgow city centre.

With love and ambition,

P.S. Do you love having flowers in your home but panic when it comes to arranging them? I’ve written the perfect eBook for you: Flower Arranging at Home.