Vendor Spotlight: The Cutting Garden

The Cutting Garden is lead by owner and founder, Carmen Carter. She started out in the floral industry after studying Interior Design and ventured off to open her first flower shop at the young age of 21. With over 30 years experience in the Wedding & Event Industry, she takes her client's ideas and brings them to life! She is very familiar with The Blaisdell and we love seeing her creativity come to life within the mansion.

Get to know Carmen, and The Cutting Garden below with some fun Q&A time!

Tell us a little about yourself and your company. My love of flowers started when I was in Interior Design school at UW Stout. I had a floral design class and fell in love. I opened my first full service flower shop in Green Bay, WI when I was 21 and never looked back. It's hard to believe it's been 33 years that I have been in this industry. I scaled my business back from the full service world to specializing in weddings and events 10 years ago. Best thing I ever did. Retail is hard and ever changing and super time sucking. Now I can be super creative and I get to work in fun venues and work real close with couples and companies to execute their floral visions.

What is your favorite thing about working in this industry? Getting to work with so many other talented business owners and venues!!

What are you looking forward to in 2022? Any specific trends you are excited to see? I am looking forward to another crazy year full of excited couples and getting to work at some new venues. So many fun new trends, like disco balls and Hollywood glam.

What does your day of a wedding look like? Day of for us consists of my team coming to the studio to load the van and heading out to the venue. Most weekends we have multiple weddings, so we have to color code each wedding. I coordinate who goes where. We usually plan for morning set ups and head out to the venues. Each wedding is unique and requires different things, so it keeps it fresh and fun. We usually head back at the end of the evening to tear down any installations and return our furniture and any rental items.

Pictured above: Collin & Brita’s Wedding day, floral by The Cutting Garden, photography by Carly Mac Photography

What is one piece of advice you would give couples? Do your research. Check out their websites and read reviews. Get multiple quotes and see what each florist has to offer. Ask lots of questions about their experience in the wedding world and what their day of consists of, such as delivery and set up, tear down, contracts, retainer fees, etc. Take any pictures or ideas of what you like along to your first consultation.

What kind of experience can a couple expect when working with you? I get to know my couples. I ask lots of questions and ask how they met and what their expectation of their florist would look like. I take a personal approach to their day and treat their wedding as if it was my own.

Let’s have some fun. This or that:

Summer or Winter - SUMMER!!!! Flip flops all year if I could
Singing or Dancing - Singing
Early Riser or Night Owl - Early riser
80s or 90s - 80's - BEST MUSIC EVER MADE was from the 80's!
Fries or Tots - like both but if I had to choose, it would be tots
Beach or Mountains - Beach, beach and more beach.
Stay in or Go out - Go out! I love going out and trying new restaurants. I think my family thinks I'm nuts, but we try a new restaurant about once a week.
Phone call or Text - Phone call. Texts are easy, but I like hearing people's voices.
Coffee or Tea - Chai tea for me!!