Conversations with Ferrell Richardson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ferrell Richardson.

Hi Ferrell, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
First, I guess I should introduce who The Cottage Rose is! We are a boutique floral and event design studio located in the Crossroads. In our shop, we offer custom orders for pick up, by appointment. We also just started renting out our space for small parties. Our services include florals and decor for weddings and events, styling and set design for photoshoots/branding shoots and custom orders/installations. Our styling work and floral designs have been published in many local magazines and national wedding blogs.

The Cottage Rose started years ago, back in 1996. My mom, and business partner, began helping out friends and family by doing the catering and floral design for their wedding. She began to grow quickly so at 10 years old I started helping her out. She ended up getting bigger than she anticipated and with 4 kids to raise, had to put the biz on hold. For some reason though, she never got rid of the business and kept renewing the license every year. We decided to start The Cottage Rose back up about 10 years ago and we have been going strong ever since!

I’m the creative director, lead designer, social media manager, etc, etc. I take care of most of the contact with clients as well as a majority of the floral design (bouquets, centerpieces, installations). I graduated from KU in 2011 with a Masters in Architecture. After graduating I started working in events. I’ve never had any formal floral training, besides working for a few florists, but I feel that my knowledge of design principles and artistic background have helped me find my own style.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The event world always has struggles. You are constantly encountering new problems that have to be solved quickly and without anyone noticing. With weddings it’s the best day of someone’s life so you really don’t want to mess that up, so that add extra stress to perform. Flowers are specifically tough to deal with because they are a live product that can wilt, break, die, etc. Luckily, our clients trust us to know their vision and make it look good even if we have to make any last minute changes.

Covid was another story though. All large events came to a halt in 2020 and we had to reschedule or cancel a lot of our weddings. Then in 2021 we had all of the weddings that rescheduled on top of any others that we booked so as a smaller team it was a lot to handle with multiple events every weekend.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I would call my self a florist who specializes in whimsical, sculptural and seasonal designs with an emphasis on sustainable practices. My background in architecture sets me apart from others. I try to think of each piece as a composition. There needs to be balance, contrast, play of scale and interesting color palette.

The best thing about weddings and events is that they are usually quick projects that I focus on for a week or two at a time, and then I go on to the next one. I don’t get bogged down by creating the same thing over and over again. Each wedding/event is different, which makes it very fun.

I’m very proud of our dedication to being as sustainable as possible. We haven’t used floral foam since 2019! It can make the mechanics and process of larger installations more difficult since we have to utilize other water sources, but it’s worth it to know we aren’t contributing more plastic, especially since most events last just a few hours.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I’m always down to try something new, whether that is a floral technique to taking on a new venture in our business. I like to feel like we are pushing the boundaries in regards to design and I like to be very experimental. If it doesn’t work or look good, I just don’t post it on Instagram 🙂

Pricing:

• We have a minimum of $7,500 for full service weddings over 100 people. but we also take on smaller events a la carte

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thecottageroseflorals.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecottagerose/
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/thecottagerose/