Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa.
Hi Alyssa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Absolutely! It all started back in 2015, I was going to school studying Studio Art with a focus in Ceramics. While working at this, I helped open a coffee shop and had a limited budget to decorate the cafe. I went to a cactus farm in Apopka and bought as many plants, succulents specifically, as I could. From there, I learned how to propagate and created more plants to not just decorate the shop but to sell. The profits went back into the budget for more plants, etc. When I moved on to manage another local coffee shop, I found myself in a similar situation of needing to decorate the front counter with limited funds, only this time I had a little skill. I would create and refresh terrariums until one day while at Trader Joes I grabbed a few bunches of flowers and replaced the terrarium with an arrangement. I eventually found a local floral wholesale that sold to the public so I began experimenting with more premium blooms than what I could get my hands on at grocery stores. Around this time I decided to make an account on Etsy and see if I could share my creations with others. I made my roommate at the time a flower crown, posted it, and immediately got inquiries. From there, I received my first wedding inquiry in 2017 for a wedding the following January. I started dipping my toes in the wedding world while working full time and going to school so I decided to take a break from weddings for a bit. When I finished school in December 2019, I started 2020 with the plan to take a few months off from school and work and was planning on continuing my education that fall.
In early 2020, my best friend was planning a micro wedding and asked for my help with planning and decorating. I wasn’t currently doing weddings but I was generally familiar and could assist her with planning details. When Covid-19 restrictions came the week before her wedding in March of 2020, every vendor with the exception of her photographer cancelled. Since we were originally planning on only 5 people being there at her garden venue, we all isolated and agreed on a bubble and moved our plans to their backyard. We draped and decorated the facade of her house and went on with our plan to have them married on their original date. Their photographer is well known in the wedding industry and when she, along with the bridal gown company, posted the photos online they tagged my personal Instagram. I started receiving inquiries via dm’s for wedding flowers and shared this with my partner while cooking dinner one night. He was in the corporate world working in Operations with a background in business. He supported the idea of starting this up again, only this time more legitimately.
Around this time, I had known a local florist from the most recent coffee shop I had worked at who was phasing out of weddings. She had a background in teaching and was transitioning into the coaching world. She happened to live right down the road from me and I decided to hire her as a coach and through this ended up working her last few weddings.
Since then, we’ve grown exponentially and have found our stride in the wedding industry. This year will be 5 years that AMD has been operating in this capacity, I can’t wait to see where the next 5 take us!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Isn’t there a phrase in a poem about the path less traveled? I don’t think anything worth pursuing is necessarily easy or smooth, otherwise everyone would be doing it. There have been challenges along the way but every time I’m faced with a difficult decision, I feel like I’ve made the right choice and that everything has worked out the way it’s supposed to.
No artist is unfamiliar with imposters syndrome. Approaching it head on and putting myself in spaces that actively target that narrative has helped silence the noise. Approaching my craft with a child like wonder has allowed me to use florals to evoke feeling and emotion in a playful way. It keeps things fresh and creative in a fast paced industry.
Another thing that has allowed me to navigate challenges as they come has been being vehemently honest with myself about what my weaknesses are and surrounding myself with those who have strengths in those areas. My life partner, Kurt, has a corporate business background in operations and development with boutique law firms as well as the largest personal injury firm in the country. When this was developing from a small side gig into a full time endeavor, I asked him to come in as a partner. This has given me freedom to focus more on the creative side as well as facilitating greater connection with our clients. Allowing me to focus on the magic of it all.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a floral designer best known for weddings and events. I’m especially proud of how I can create something that feels special, bespoke, and intuitive to each couple. I don’t consider myself a traditional florist but rather a designer who uses florals. Taking the time to create a unique design that translates someone’s story is what I live for.
I recently drove 5 hours for 11 stems of a certain flower two days before a wedding because it was special to the brides late grandmother and I got word from a local farm in Sarasota they had a few early bloomers. The sentiment behind it mattered, it wasn’t “just a flower”.. It represented a loved one who was unable to be there.
These are the things that matter to me, creating a beautiful day that is drenched in meaning and doing whatever to achieve that. I believe this is what sets us apart.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I think keeping people at the focus is what has led to our success. Being a great designer will only take you so far if you don’t have a passion for the people who are with you on the journey.
I don’t view my clients as just “clients”. They’re Maddie and Dana and Carley and Stella and Emy… They’re *people* not transactions. Learning details about their lives, following them on social media and seeing more of their personalities, planning with them and hearing their opinions on things like linen texture, finding out about how the smell of a hyacinth brings them back to summers as a child, hearing the story of how they first met their love- these are all things that I want to learn about so I can create something that makes them feel seen and heard on such a monumental day.
Pricing:
- Micro Events/Elopements (smaller events): $3,000 – $5,000
- Full Service Weddings/Events (approx. 50 – 150 guests): $5,000 – $10,000
- Luxe Celebrations (large and heavily designed events): $10,000 – $20,000
- High Impact Celebrations (full design transformation): $20,000+
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alyssamaldonado.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alyssamaldonadodesign?igsh=ZjRkbDQ3ODM1czlr&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alyssamaldonadodesign
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alyssa-maldonado-design/
Image Credits
28 North Photography, McKenzie McNeil Photo, Matlock and Kelly Photography, Joanna Moore Photo, Justin Demutiis Photography
