Get ready to be inspired to elevate your business!

The Wood Flower Florists Conference & Retreat is thrilled to announce our two incredible spotlight speakers, who are leaders in the floral industry with a wealth of knowledge and experience to share.

First up is Erin Reitzel of HannahSola, whose hand-made flower tutorials and stunning wood flower designs have made her a legend in the industry. Erin's stylized shoots and showstopping designs are immediately recognizable and exceptionally original!

Our second spotlight speaker is Candice Milliard of Candi's Floral Creations, a highly experienced fresh flower florist with over 20 years of industry expertise. Candice is famous for her luxurious wedding floral designs, which have earned her numerous accolades and recognition in the press.

Join us on Saturday, the Conference Day of the weekend, to hear from these two experts and gain invaluable insights and expertise.

Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to learn from the best! Register now for the Wood Flower Florists Conference & Retreat 2023 and experience the knowledge and inspiration of our esteemed headlining speakers.

Saturday Speakers and Sessions

Matt Stephens

Matt is an outdoorsman, small business enthusiast, and marketing expert dedicated to helping small businesses leverage modern tools and processes to get the most out of their marketing.

Chatham Oaks was founded to create a grand comparison between business success and hiking/mountain climbing. You just need the right tools, an expert guide and a little bit of experience to get to the summit.

Matt is joining the Conference for the second year in a row as a speaker and supporter of the wood flower industry!

Optimizing Your Presence Online
A brief overview of all the fundamentals you need to know to get seen on the largest search engines.

Maria Artice

Maria is the floral designer from R&M Creations 3:16 LLC. Her business was born from the desire to give back to her community 3:16 represents the unconditional love. She loves to meet people and bring their creative ideas to life. She has been in business for 3 years now and continues to grow! Her business has become a family business and her husband has joined in the creativity with wood working where now they offer wood work to other businesses. They have had the honor to have participated in many different shows such Pinners Conference, Fountain Hills Art Festival in AZ, etc. They have been interviewed by Fox 10 in AZ and showcased their wood flowers and creative process. One of the things that Maria enjoys the most being in this business is the opportunity to meet other people and learn more about them and see their creativity grow!

Seek, Find and Rock the Show
Survey how to find shows (social media, promoters, etc.), things to look for when deciding to participate, do's and don'ts to rock the show.

Jennifer Ruiz

Jennifer Ruiz started doing paper flowers for events in 2015. One of her favorite things about being a paper flower artist is the “WOW” factor – when people see the flowers and are like “WOW, that’s Gorgeous!”

She received her degree in visual communications and uses her well tailored skill to convey whimsical displays with her medium of choice, crepe paper.

In 2021 Sarah Campbell from Intrigue Designs and Netflix’s “The Big Flower Fight” reached out on ticktock. Jennifer was able to participate in a workshop in San Diego and shined a light on the talent of paper flower artists. Her social media following more than doubled from this collaboration.

With her family’s support every step of the way, Jennifer has been able to achieve goals never imagined. A few things you should know, she loves chips and salsa, eats peanut-butter by the spoonful, and though ice cream does not always love her, she loves it.

Keeping up with her husband and 4 year old son, Jennifer is always on the go. Like all of us with small or big families, thankfulness is the beginning of every prayer. The fact that you read this is just the cherry on top #GRATEFUL.

The WOW Effect
How to ingeniously design and establish a mesmerizing atmosphere around your business, ensuring it leaves a lasting impression that captures that elusive "Wow" factor.

Shelly Pender

Shelly is the owner of Fluttering Bloom Designs. She started her business after doing her daughter's wedding florals over 3 years ago. Shelly found a love of creativity she didn’t know she was missing.

Since starting her business, Shelly has teamed up with a local fresh flower florist, which has helped her business grow. Shelly earned Cottage Industry of the Year through Union County Women in Business for 2021 and she is a member of our local Chamber of Commerce.

Shelly's business mission statement is through faith and a passionate heart, Fluttering Bloom Designs transforms every wood flower into artistic designs that last.

She enjoys spending time with her husband, adult children and especially her granddaughters. Shelly serves at her church. She also loves to sing and make homemade crafts.

Working With Your Community
Your local community has a plethora of resources to help you move your business to the next level. It can also benefit from your business as you find ways to give back.

Samantha Faille

Samantha Faille is a scroll saw artist, a wood flower florist, and owner of Hunters Ridge Boutique. She is a self-taught woodworker with over 1,000 sales on Etsy and has had her products offered in an artisan catalogue. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband Eric and their black lab Max. She enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time in the White Mountains.

The Business Side of Making: Processes, Promotion, and Pricing
Focusing more on the business side of things, Samantha will talk about how best to price items, how to maximize your efficiency by creating processes, and how to adapt your business to attract the orders you want to be working on.

Josie Daigle

Josie is a Digital Marketer based in Dover, NH. She works with small businesses, entrepreneurs, and non profits who need a little relief when it comes to pressure of this digital world we live in. That being said, her favorite non-digital hobbies are hiking, going for runs with her two fur babies, and planting a seat on the beach for endless hours!

Josie is joining the Conference for the second year in a row as a speaker and is looking forward to giving everyone tangible tips and tricks instead of advice meant for businesses with million dollar budgets.

Find her before, during and after the event to talk about your strategies and bandwidth - she's an open book and happy to give her advice!

Consistency > Constantly: A Realistic Viewpoint of Your Marketing Strategy
If you're doing it all, or mostly all yourself - this is the session for you. Learn the (affordable) tools, tips, and tricks that can help you maximize on those creative surges. Avoid burn out while keeping your brand in front of your audience more often.

Corina Mauss

The founder of She's Pretty Crafty - Everlasting Wood Florals based in Tucson, AZ. Since a very young age, she's been known to be "pretty crafty," always creating for friends and family. She started a mobile wood sign DIY business in 2017, and soon after discovered these amazing wood flowers. In 2018, she shared wood florals at a bridal fair, and have been creating for amazing clients ever since!

A little more about her....
Wife and #boymom
Science Nerd by day
Latina

Using Processes to Build Success Mini Sessions:
Book Clients Faster with Honeybook
In this session, you will gain insight on how Corina, owner of She’s Pretty Crafty-Everlasting Wood Florals has streamlined client management. How? Using the all-in-one client management software, Honeybook! She will walk you through her workflow that helps her manage projects. Get ready to learn all about the tools available that integrate initial inquiries through final invoicing, and book clients faster.

Melissa Cassol Merva

Melissa Cassol Merva is the owner of Zinnia & Birch based out of Goffstown, New Hampshire. Like many other brides, Melissa came across wood flowers when planning her wedding and fell in love with them and the opportunity to start a business. Since its formation in 2020, Z&B has grown from a home-based business to a thriving Main Street shop with employees and local recognition for excellence. Prior to becoming a Wood Flower Florist, Melissa spent over 15 years training, coaching, and mentoring both clients and professionals in the fitness and wellness industry. This work included education on stress management and psychology, bridging the gap between the two to help clients break through mental blocks to shift their mindset. She believes that our happiness and overall success, whether in life or business, is dictated by the commitment to our own personal growth and healing all parts of ourselves so that we can truly live life fully.

Using Processes to Build Success Mini Sessions:
Inventory Systems
Inventory can be an overwhelming part of running a handmade business and it’s time we stop thinking of it as a “one size fits all” process. In this session we’ll be discussing the different ways to manage your inventory, tips for getting started, and why it’s important from both a business management and bookkeeping standpoint.

Cheyanne Weiss

Cheyanne Weiss is the owner and lead designer for Shy Chic Boutique. They specialize in luxury wood florals and wedding planning. After graduating with a Bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida, Cheyanne continued to pursue, then left behind, a 12 year career in corporate catering to embark on a career in luxury wood florals. After 4 years of working with wood florals full-time, she is reminded she made the right decision every day because she gets to sing to the radio all day long. Cheyanne isn't winning any karaoke contests but it does not matter because she is the boss and she says everyone is allowed to sing (and wear pajamas) in the Shy Chic studio!

Shy Chic has been pictured in PEOPLE magazine, featured on ABC and FOX television as well as published in more than a dozen wedding publications. In 2022, Shy Chic won a Best of the Best Florist award as well as Best of the Best Wedding Planner for the 2nd year in a row. Shy Chic provides luxury florals, coordination and/or planning for over 400 weddings per year. The Shy Chic team includes 4 full-time employees in addition to Cheyanne. Nothing is more satisfying to her than to make a bride cry with my work. For that reason, it is her mission to make sure every bride knows that it should be enjoyable to plan for the most special day of their life and then make that a reality.

Elevating Our Industry
Learn how to change your marketing mindset about wood flowers. Our community can pioneer a new era in florals. When it comes to flowers drop that filthy F word ("fresh") from your vocabulary! Those flowers are "ordinary." Your flowers are "luxury," my dear!

Spotlight speaker

Erin Reitzel

Erin, owner of HannahSola LLC is an artist who likes to push the boundaries of wood flowers.

She is well known for her many publications, live classes, over the top photoshoots and incredibly detailed wedding creations.

She is so excited to be able to meet some new sola ladies and hopefully inspire some to throw away the boundaries the sola world has created and find their own path to greatness!

Pushing the Limits: Inspiration & Flower Making
We'll chat about starting out in the sola community and how Erin was hindered by boundaries put on her because that was just "how things are done." This craft doesn't have to have limits! You don't have to do the same thing you see other people doing. From there, she'll teach how to make one of her beginner flowers and how to "dress it up" to be unique to the creator. Plus time for Q&A!