2024 was another year of growth for our company. And not just in revenue, but creatively and in team size too! We continued to push the boundaries of what was possible and doubled down in our efforts to elevate what it means to be a luxury event decor company. Our team produced so much beautiful work and so much happened this year that it’s hard to sum up in one blog post. Alas, as is tradition, I’ll do my best to encapsulate some highlights of the year. Enjoy!
We Purchased A Van!
When our four year old daughter first saw it, she endearingly named it “Marshmallow”. Our high-roof cargo van has been an instant game-changer this season making it much easier for our team to run mid-week errands, pick up large inventory, and most importantly be able to transport large quantities of fresh blooms to our events. Not to mention, with its fresh vinyl logos, she’s looking super cute!! So be on the lookout for “Marshmallow” around town and if you see her, give her a honk!
We Designed and Produced Our Very First Bat Mitzvah!
The LoveshackFancy themed event couldn’t have been more up our alley and we were HERE for all of the custom pink toile, climbing floral moments, and pink bows! And don’t forget about the mannequins that we styled in a custom toile fabric! Props to our very own Erin Korab on creating the most tasteful mitzvah we’ve seen to date!! It might have been our first but it certainly won’t be our last.
Venue: Ivy Room Chicago | Event Planner: Events By Tess | Photographer: North Shore Photography
Our First Destination Wedding (By Air)
In late May, part of our team headed to Kansas City to produce a beautiful wedding for the sweetest couple at the Kansas City Country Club. We’ve done numerous out-of-state events before but this was the first that involved producing our floral arrangements out of a remote location. In addition to the final product being absolutely stunning, the family couldn’t have been sweeter, we learned a lot about how to produce a travel job smoothly and efficiently, and we had a lot of fun along the way!
Photography: Laura Foote | Planning: Kristin Ashley Weddings
Designed, Spec’d, Sampled, Produced – In Under 8 Weeks
June was PINK! For this 10-year wedding anniversary and christening ceremony, our team was tasked with creating a luxurious and customized tented event at our client’s beautiful property! Some of our favorite details from this celabratory day included a gold mirror runner, (2) 5′ floral swans, a floating floral monogram for the pool, a fully adorned carriage, a custom painted phone booth floral explosion, and a massive floral ceiling from which a 6-tiered cake was lowered during the reception. Just WOW!
Planning: Kristina Taheri Special Events
One Family, Two Showers
Our team had the opportunity to design and produce two stunning showers for the same (lovely) flower-loving family this year. A July Bridal Shower in the theme of Bridgerton, and a December Baby Shower in the theme of Lover Boy (meets the holidays) since the expecting mother is due with a baby boy on Valentines day. Both events took place at our client’s beautiful home in Elmhurst, IL and both had stunning details and wow moments at every turn.
Planning: Birch Design Studio | Photography: Studio This Is
6 New Full-Time Team Members
Karina McAdams (floral designer), Mari Fazio (event design assistant), Rick Wroble (floral studio manager), Vince Phan (floral designer), Sara Finan (event design assistant), and NatashaJoy Amante (graphics designer) all joined our team this year taking us to 15 full-time employees! Each one of them has dramatically leveled up our organization and I am super excited to see them all grow at Life In Bloom.
We designed a LOT of really fun dance floors!!!
Gone are the days when a set of wood parquet panels will suffice as the dance floor for your wedding. After all, you’ve spent months mulling over every single detail making sure the decor would be just right. The dance floor is a great opportunity to breathe a heavy dose of personality into your event! This year, more than half of our events included some type of custom dance floor cover. Picking one favorite would be impossible to do so enjoy a handful of some of our favorites from the year!
Surprise Baby Shower
One of my personal favorite moments of 2024 was surprising our very own Erin Korab with a costal mama themed baby-shower and luncheon in the sample room at our office. With the cutest coastal-inspired details and delicious bites from Entertaining Company, it was such a lovely way to enjoy what we do as a “guest” vs. as a “vendor” and to celebrate Erin who has been with Life In Bloom for nearly 10 years! We all surprised Erin with a baby book and pitched in to make sure the floral was just perfect!
One Night Only
In mid-December, we assisted in the production of a really fun wedding with world-renowned, Birch Event Design out of NYC. The wedding took place in a custom tent just outside of the Adler Planetarium. The tent was designed to feel like a restaurant and the backdrop was one of the most spectacular skyline views you could ask for. By working alongside the Birch team, we learned a lot of really interesting things and got to see how others operate.
One of my favorite parts of the event was the sunken-in dance floor that sat three steps below the rest of the custom built tent. Above the dance floor was a motorized light display with undulating cylindrical lanterns. Huge props to Renny of Bliss Events who was the planner for the wedding. This one was a serious undertaking and despite the many hurdles to produce such a large-scale event in a venue that really doesn’t exist, everything went off without a hitch!
If you made it this far, you can see, we had quite a year! (Hence our need for an annual week-long shut down around the Holidays). I just want to say thanks to every one of our clients who trusted us with one of the most important decisions on one of the most important days of their lives. We also could not do what we do without our incredible team working tirelessly to bring these grand visions to life. And we rely on so many other amazing event industry professionals that we collaborate with on a weekly basis to take our events to the next level.
One of the things I feel we did exceptionally well this year was just that – collaboration. As a team and by working with other talented teams and individuals, our ability to collaborate and bring our best efforts forward has made doing what we do that much more fun and impressive. I can’t wait to continue to build in 2025 and I can honestly say, it’s going to be our biggest year yet!!! Enjoy a look at an assortment of other Behind-The-Scenes moments from our year below… Cheers!!
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