0:11

Well , welcome everybody to the Flower Files

0:13

. We are here this evening with

0:16

one of our I don't want

0:18

to say favorite , because we shouldn't say favorite

0:20

.

0:20

Well , I mean , but we do say favorite , Like remember

0:22

when she was here , Like it was just so much fun .

0:24

Remember that one time ? Do you remember

0:26

those boots that she wore ? So

0:31

our guest tonight is the one , the only

0:33

, the infamous , famous Allie

0:35

Yoder . Yeah

0:38

, yay , yay , super excited .

0:42

I'm super excited to have her here this

0:44

evening because I

0:46

have known Allie since she was like this this

0:48

sweet , quiet little girl

0:50

with a huge smile , adorable

0:52

curls and according

0:55

to Lizzie , one of the best party throwers

0:57

ever for birthday and just

0:59

had the best cupcakes , and we played softball

1:01

together and it's just crazy

1:03

how we've been able to come like full circle

1:06

in like so many different ways . And I'm so thankful

1:08

that I was with Allie , because you were always the nice

1:10

girl well softball

1:12

.

1:12

I remember you rolling around in the dirt . You were

1:14

the catcher . You were like the first base person

1:17

, second base person , like it didn't matter . You were

1:19

always that like Allie can do it , allie

1:21

can can do it . It was just awesome

1:23

, awesome , awesome . But

1:25

fast forward a little

1:27

bit . You are now adulting

1:30

. You've graduated from Alabama University

1:32

in event planning , which I

1:34

guess technically is considered hospitality

1:36

management , and , considering you always

1:38

had the best birthday parties and the best cupcakes

1:41

you know 100

1:44

, 100 .

1:46

So welcome Allie thank you

1:48

, thank you , guys , for having me .

1:49

I am so excited when

1:52

I texted you , I was like , well

1:54

, we were running through the list of like all of the

1:56

people like what to do and who to talk to

1:58

and I was like , oh my god , we can talk to Allie . So

2:00

that's when I texted you and I was like , all Allie

2:02

, it was an excuse for us to catch

2:04

up , yeah exactly .

2:05

It's a great excuse , very great excuse

2:08

. It's

2:10

nice just to like see you . Yeah

2:12

, oh my gosh . So I think about way

2:14

back when you were with us . How

2:17

many years ago now , was that ?

2:19

It would have been the year going into my

2:21

senior year of college .

2:27

So all two , three years almost years , almost three

2:29

. I think it's wow , yeah

2:33

, oh my gosh , oh my gosh , um

2:35

so okay .

2:37

So we're gonna go over through like a couple questions

2:39

we have five of them written down and then , as

2:41

other stuff comes up , we'll just kind of like dial back and go back and

2:43

forth and go on things . So the first we'll just kind of like dial back and go back and

2:45

forth and do other things . So the first one that

2:47

the three of us came up with is what is it like

2:49

in Texas compared to here ? Because I've

2:51

never traveled there . She has Amber

2:54

, I don't think you have , but what's

2:56

it like ?

2:58

um , I think the biggest difference

3:00

is the heat . It's a different kind

3:02

of heat . Maryland is

3:04

wet and it's humid , and

3:07

it's a

3:09

different kind of heat . Here it's a dry heat . So

3:12

it can be 109 degrees

3:14

, which it was a lot this summer

3:16

and you're not sweating

3:18

at all . You walk around and you're , you're

3:21

fine and your hair is still in place , and while

3:25

you could never , ever do that in Maryland

3:27

, even at like 85 degrees . I

3:29

think that is one of the biggest

3:31

things that I noticed .

3:34

There's no clear top 10s used at that time

3:36

of year ?

3:36

Yeah , that is also true . There's not

3:39

many outside events in general in Texas in

3:41

the summer , so that

3:43

helps a lot . Is that because it's so hot

3:46

, no one even wants to be outside

3:48

. So it's a different kind

3:50

of vibe , I think another

3:52

. Well , I guess I eased

3:55

into the South because I went from Maryland

3:57

to Alabama , then to Texas , so I kind of

3:59

had a taste of what the South was like and different

4:02

things . But Texas is very

4:04

different than Alabama In

4:06

a lot of ways . They're both like considered the South

4:08

but Texas is , I

4:11

would say , more modern than Alabama ever

4:13

was . So Are

4:16

they both sweet tea places or is ?

4:17

like one more .

4:19

So Alabama is a big sweet tea place

4:21

, but Texas is not . What

4:23

? Yeah , I think Texas is more

4:25

like alcohol , more than I

4:29

know that much . There are a couple of influencers I'm like

4:31

oh okay

4:33

, and even

4:35

though I think the biggest shocker to me

4:37

was not living in Texas

4:39

. I always thought Texas was huge , which it is . It's huge

4:42

, but all the major cities are within

4:44

two hours of Austin . So

4:46

, because I live in Austin , I am three

4:48

hours from Dallas , three hours from Houston

4:51

and an hour from San Antonio , so I

4:53

have events in all three cities and I traveled

4:55

with them pretty regularly .

4:58

Is there one that you like doing events

5:00

in better than another Like is the vibe different

5:03

?

5:03

Yes , yeah , you're in like three different like

5:05

countries when you go to these different places

5:08

. Dallas is super like swanky

5:10

. There's a lot of like old money in Dallas , so

5:12

when you go there it's very different than when you

5:14

go to like Houston , which is more . I mean

5:17

, houston itself is just three different cities within

5:19

one city because it's so large . But

5:23

then San Antonio is more like blue collar

5:25

and then Austin is super like liberal

5:27

. So very different vibes

5:30

from everywhere in Texas .

5:32

Is there one venue that sticks

5:34

out for you that you're like oh my gosh

5:37

, I love this one . Or one that you're like oh

5:39

, I still want to work at this one .

5:41

Like um , so I work a lot with

5:43

the Four Seasons hotels . So , um

5:45

, I always love Four Seasons . They're great to work with , Um

5:48

, they're always so pretty , and so every

5:50

time you walk in you're like it just smells rich in here . It

5:52

just smells what

5:54

they're doing . It just smells great , um

5:56

, but I think those are

5:58

my favorite venues to work with , just because it's so consistent

6:01

everything

6:13

the same every time and you know what you're getting . Other than that off-site venues there's a few

6:15

wineries outside of Austin . There's a place called Fredericksburg and it's called the Texas Wine Country

6:18

, so there's a few really cutesy venues out there . But with my

6:20

job I work majority with hotels , so

6:22

there's certain hotel brands that

6:24

I like more than others , but it just depends

6:26

.

6:27

Interesting , interesting , interesting . I

6:30

feel like hotels here are underutilized

6:33

. Everybody's on the water

6:35

and on the bay and backyard and it's

6:37

a totally and barns . Oh my gosh . Barns , barns , barns

6:39

, barns , that's just I mean , it fits

6:42

, it totally fits .

6:43

Yeah , I think it definitely depends on where you're at , especially

6:45

when I go to like a Houston or

6:47

even in Austin and sometimes in Dallas , it's very

6:49

city venue . So it's rooftops

6:51

, it's industrial buildings , it's things

6:53

like that which are

6:56

the like go-to venues .

6:58

So are there ? Are

7:00

, are there traditions that

7:03

are different , or are there certain things

7:05

that you see that are

7:07

the same ?

7:08

east coast versus they're like , oh that'll

7:10

, that would never happen back at home .

7:14

I think the attire is the thing that like

7:17

stands out to me the most . People wear cowboy

7:19

hats like unironically , like they actually wear those

7:21

like out and about , like in their day-to-day

7:23

lives , and they have different hats for like

7:25

different events . Like I just did um

7:27

a casino night a few weeks ago

7:29

and it's a black tie event and

7:32

they wore cowboy hats and

7:34

huge belt buckles and this is their like

7:36

everyday attire which , like

7:38

I walk in , I'm like oh my gosh , I can't

7:40

believe he wore that . And everybody who works with me who's

7:42

from Texas , like yeah , yeah , he probably wears

7:44

that like every day . So I think

7:46

attire is the

7:48

biggest thing that I notice . I feel like-

7:50

.

7:51

I know attire is one of the things that , like

7:53

, you watch , and you know , because

7:56

when we did that flower bar at that , golf

7:58

course we were on the second floor and we could

8:00

look down and see all the ladies and

8:04

you're like , that's that designer .

8:09

And that's that designer and that's that designer . But look at that

8:12

designer . I've never seen that dress and I was like they're clothes . I'm not . That is like

8:14

my forte , the casino night I just did . It's um , all family

8:16

lawyers so a lot of them are divorced

8:18

, and and those kinds of lawyers and they

8:21

all come in these

8:23

amazing gowns and I'm always

8:25

like so like taken aback , and I'm there in my little

8:27

like Amazon dress

8:29

that I have to wear . Um

8:31

, but I , I love it and

8:34

like I wear cowboy boots

8:36

. Now that I live here , I think it's more in trend now

8:38

. But like these people wear

8:40

, like they have their nice boots and they have their work

8:42

boots and they have like different things that we're going

8:44

to do I want to come out and see

8:47

you . It's

8:49

so , so , so much fun . I

8:52

didn't notice this this is another thing that's different from Texas

8:54

but my best friend , who lives in Florida

8:56

, when she came to visit me a few weeks ago , she

8:59

noticed how brown Texas

9:01

is because nothing can live here , so

9:03

the grass is dead Like

9:06

every when you look out like all the

9:08

trees aren't there . There are , but

9:11

not like , not in the city

9:13

like where I'm at but

9:16

you like look around and there's no

9:18

like blue . And then I went to Alabama last weekend

9:21

and I had never noticed it . And then I went to Alabama

9:23

, I was God , there's color like

9:27

orange and yellow and and you

9:29

just don't get that here , because if anything can

9:32

stand through , it's

9:34

green or like it's . It's

9:37

not , it's not colorful , which

9:39

?

9:39

is really Wow , Well , wow

9:41

that's so weird Cause you're used to like four seasons

9:44

and now all of the all of the

9:46

trees and the flowers and

9:48

all of the stuff .

9:51

And like , even like in my apartment complex , some people

9:53

have tried to like grow flowers on their balconies

9:55

and it's just as soon as they get out

9:57

there , they like swelter out and they're done

10:00

.

10:00

They're like yep , no , I

10:02

guess there's not a lot of uh garden

10:04

centers out there then not really

10:06

.

10:06

I pass one on the way to work um

10:08

every day , but it is not

10:10

flowers . It's like shrubs

10:13

and things that can like stand

10:15

the heat , um , but

10:18

flowers not really are like . But

10:20

we don't really have like seasons . It goes

10:22

summer and it's super , super hot . I mean

10:24

it's still 80 degrees here today .

10:26

We were in the seventies .

10:28

today , oh , wow .

10:30

Yeah . I know , but it's going to be in the thirties like

10:33

two days from now .

10:33

So yeah

10:36

, and then , at like December , we get

10:38

one freeze , and the freeze is so weird

10:40

, nothing I've ever experienced . It's not snow

10:42

and it's ice , but it's

10:44

like an ice that covers everything . It

10:46

covers buildings , it covers like

10:48

the road , it covers your car . It

10:50

is so strange , and it happens for one week every

10:53

year , and then we're in summer again

10:55

.

10:56

Oh , so you don't have like a summer coat , summer

10:59

coat , nobody has a summer coat , I mean a winter coat

11:02

.

11:03

I actually was looking for my winter coat the other day and

11:05

I was like oh , I left it at mom and dad's because that is

11:07

literally the only time

11:09

you need it .

11:11

That's crazy . Crazy crazy , crazy

11:13

. So when

11:15

you worked with us we're going to

11:18

say a couple of years ago , right

11:21

, a couple of years ago , as

11:24

you said , you were a senior and

11:26

we were still learning . I mean

11:28

, we learn every year , but we definitely

11:31

were still learning A lot , yeah

11:33

. We learned a lot that year . I

11:35

still picture you in the back of that

11:37

U-Haul van trying to hold those

11:39

things together . I was like I'm breaking

11:41

the law . I'm breaking the law .

11:43

I was like I'm breaking the law .

11:44

I'm breaking the law . I was like , oh my God , and

11:46

the storm was coming and like everything

11:48

was happening . You walked around . You're like

11:51

can I help ? I was like don't talk to me . What

11:56

are ? What are some things

11:58

that you learned working with us

12:01

that have given you an edge

12:03

compared to , maybe , somebody

12:05

else who's never worked with a florist ?

12:08

Yeah ,

13:21

Well , this is a very niche

13:23

and I'll get into

13:25

the bigger things later , but I think , like when I see

13:27

floor arrangements at certain events I'm like

13:29

, oh , they should have done it like that , they shouldn't have layered it that

13:32

way , like I always

13:34

think , like I'm thinking in a mind that

13:36

it doesn't most

13:38

people don't have . But

13:41

I think one of the biggest things that has helped

13:43

me is when things

13:45

go wrong , I have solutions that other

13:47

people don't . We , we now my company uses

13:49

like the green , like flower

13:52

, the stuff you stick the flowers in the

13:54

oasis for a bunch of things Now

13:58

we use like

14:00

fishing wire for a lot of things , like different

14:02

things that you guys had taught me that

14:04

I would have never known going

14:06

in to this industry without it , and

14:09

it's just like background knowledge

14:11

and things of that nature that have really helped me

14:13

. And I think , too , just problem

14:15

solving in a small environment

14:17

, because my company isn't huge . I think it's about

14:21

20 people , so working

14:23

together in a small environment and

14:25

learning together , because my company is 20

14:27

years old but still we're we're learning

14:29

as we go , so I think that has really helped me

14:32

if you're not learning , you're stagnant and

14:34

you're dying .

14:34

You have to learn , you have to adapt you . I

14:37

mean , that's part of it , that's part of what

14:39

makes it work . Yeah , and trends are always

14:41

changing .

14:41

Things in the event world are always changing , so

14:43

being able to adapt to those changes and kind of

14:45

come up with solutions on the like , on the fly

14:48

, which you guys do all the time

14:50

.

14:50

So I think that all the time , all

14:52

the time , I don't know how many times . Well , we

14:55

did a . We had a beautiful wedding

14:57

down at the Tidewater , absolutely

14:59

gorgeous . There is a great

15:02

, big , huge stone outside

15:05

fireplace , fireplace

15:12

, fire pit . There's a um , uh , what do they call that ? A never-ending pool where it just

15:14

constantly goes in a sculpture , and it's gorgeous

15:16

. And they had this

15:18

whole thing for the mantle . And the mantle

15:20

is like way above your head because everything

15:22

there is just huge . And it

15:24

was probably the windiest day

15:26

on record

15:28

for the entire year and

15:31

I was like , okay , but it's protected . It's

15:33

behind , like I

15:35

think it's the chop tank that's right behind it . Literally

15:37

, the river had white caps , like it was that

15:39

windy , it was so bad . And

15:41

I'm down there by myself , which was fine

15:43

because it was a simple setup , but

15:46

I had everything set up inside . I had

15:48

gone outside and they were like , oh , the

15:50

guys want to get their pictures half an hour early . I was

15:52

like no problem . And then inside I'm like

15:54

, okay , I'm going to run , I

15:57

got this . I got the whole mantle

15:59

set . There were three distinct pieces

16:01

that went up on it had all the florals

16:04

tucked in between so you couldn't see it . It was

16:06

blowing a little bit . Here and there it was gusting

16:08

. I was like this is going to be okay , allie

16:11

, there's a

16:13

gust of wind that came

16:15

and it took the whole thing . The whole

16:17

thing went all

16:19

over the floor . I had oasis

16:22

that shattered , it was everywhere

16:25

and I stood there and I looked at it . I looked

16:27

at the mantle and I looked at it and went , cool

16:29

, we're going to set it up in front of the fireplace . So

16:32

I just wrapped it in front of the fireplace

16:34

Cause I was like if I put this back up , even

16:36

if I tie it down with wire

16:39

and fishing line and all of that kind of stuff whatever

16:42

it would have taken , if that that blows

16:45

off , that was knocking people out like

16:48

no way .

16:49

You think you're in the clear that it goes wrong , like

16:51

you're like okay , I did everything that I can do , it's

16:53

gonna stay , and then it

16:55

doesn't . Yeah , you watch it from like afar

16:57

a

17:00

few minutes . You're like okay

17:03

, let's figure it out yeah , yeah

17:05

, I feel like wind .

17:07

You know people have all of these images on Pinterest

17:09

. They're like , oh , this is my vision and I'm like

17:11

, okay , that's great , but that is lit

17:14

candles in this beautiful setting

17:16

tapers and

17:18

you're in a tent on the water

17:20

, there is zero chance of that actually

17:23

working .

17:24

I think the majority of my job is talking

17:26

people off the Pinterest ledge yeah

17:29

, work for them . That will not work for you

17:31

.

17:32

No , even if it's like , I feel like those

17:34

moments are caught by like an

17:36

accident , where there's not a fart of wind

17:38

like in sight , and then it just works for them . Like

17:40

you , said , it's just a thing , yeah

17:42

, and you're like I don't think that's

17:45

going to work very well , very well , yeah

17:47

.

17:47

And it's hard too when they they put

17:49

you on the spot , like , okay , we can't do that

17:51

, but let's come up with something else , like let's come up with

17:53

a different solution of what we can do that's gonna be similar

17:56

but not the same . Um that

17:58

we can do it so that works for everyone , which

18:00

is um a skill . Hit

18:02

the budget , yeah

18:07

.

18:07

Always , always , always , always hit the

18:10

budget . How does

18:12

the speed of the event world

18:14

? Because you know what it's like up here , you

18:16

have a specific time you can get in

18:18

. You've got to get all the stuff set up . You've

18:22

got to coordinate with the caterers , you've

18:24

got to coordinate with the planners . I don't

18:26

think sometimes that

18:28

works . I

18:31

don't think people realize sometimes all

18:33

of the parts that have to work together

18:36

, yeah , and all the people , yes , like

18:38

you've taken all of this time for this vision and all

18:40

of that kind of stuff . And and in

18:42

those last final what three

18:45

hours before the ceremony ? And

18:49

in those last final what three hours before the ceremony , it's shit or get off the pot

18:51

, kind of thing . You know it's . How is that ? How

18:53

is that different there ?

18:56

So I work primarily with nonprofit

18:58

organizations . So my events

19:01

go from anywhere from you know

19:03

, a small 20 person clay

19:05

shoot to a thousand person gala

19:07

. So it very differs

19:09

by thousands

19:13

of people . Yeah

19:15

, it is intense

19:17

and especially when you're working . I'll

19:19

have a clay shoot on Monday and then the gala on Friday

19:22

. So like it's coordinating , like

19:24

all the pieces that go together . But

19:26

I think the biggest thing is communication . You

19:28

have to have communication with the caterers and you need

19:30

to make sure everyone is on the same page and everyone

19:32

agrees to the same thing . Because what I learned super

19:34

early in my career is you can think you're on the same page

19:36

as everyone , but if they

19:38

say the caterer wants to set up

19:41

at noon and you're like , no , you cannot

19:43

set up until three , that caterer is going to show

19:45

up at noon . So I think figuring

19:47

out like middle ground

19:50

for everyone to be on the same page

19:52

is really important and also knowing the

19:54

size of your event , am I going to be as strict

19:56

on certain timelines with my 25

19:59

person clay shoe ? Not as much . Am

20:01

I going to be very strict on my 3,000 person

20:03

gala ? Yeah , I'm going to be a job sergeant , so

20:07

it really is dependent on what's going on , who

20:09

the event's for and some clients I

20:12

work . So I work for a management company , but

20:14

I have five clients who are my own clients

20:16

. So it also depends on the client . Some

20:18

client is like , well , if we go over cocktail hour

20:20

, that's fine and we'll

20:23

be up late anyway , so if we go past midnight it's

20:25

not that big of a deal . And then we have other people that are like , if

20:27

we don't start cocktail

20:29

hour at 6 pm , I'm

20:32

gonna lose it . So I think , like there's

20:34

just certain people , you need to know your audience , you

20:36

need to know what's going on when it's going

20:38

on and coordinating all of the different things

20:40

and thankfully , like I said , I

20:48

work with a lot of hotels , so a lot of it is in house . So the AP people , everyone is pretty much works

20:50

for the hotel , so it's coordinating me , coordinating with everyone inside the hotel

20:52

.

20:54

How do you keep up with the grind , like what

20:56

are some things that you do to take care of you

20:58

? Because , I'm sorry , I

21:00

look at planners in awe you

21:03

guys put everything together . Like

21:05

in awe , you guys put everything together . We work with folks to

21:07

do whatever the event is , but

21:09

it's kind of like a bug's life we come

21:12

, they eat , they leave , kind of theory

21:14

. We do the flowers , we

21:19

get to drop off , we get to see everything put together and then we're

21:21

finished . We're not there until Unless we're paying otherwise . Yeah , we're

21:23

not awful hours of the night dealing

21:25

with the drunk people , dealing with like

21:27

all I don't . I don't know how you

21:29

do it uncomfortable like you're

21:32

young and nude and like oh I'll

21:34

have to tell you about a

21:36

drunk person later . But , um , I

21:40

thankfully work for a really , really

21:42

great company and one of their um

21:44

like mottos is you work hard

21:46

, you play hard . So , though I work

21:48

crazy hours and I travel

21:51

a lot and I do different things , I

21:53

also get four weeks vacation that I can take at

21:55

any time , and so I think

21:57

that's really how we offset it . A lot

21:59

of the time , I can't take the four weeks vacation

22:02

because I have so many events going on and we work

22:04

. I mean , I'm planning on events to 2027

22:07

. So we work in such a constant

22:09

cycle that I'm excited for 2025

22:12

. My

22:15

brain is never on 2023 . I had a 2023

22:18

event last two weeks ago and

22:20

I kept writing 2024 on all my

22:22

forms because my brain is already in events

22:24

in 2024

22:27

. So because we work on that cycle

22:29

it's and because

22:31

we plan so far , it's easy to plan like

22:33

things for my personal life . So I know like one of

22:35

my clients is always going to have an event

22:37

in January and July . I

22:40

have another client who's always going to have it in May

22:42

and September . The weeks might change , but it's

22:44

always going to be in that cycle . So

22:46

I am able to , like . I went to Aruba for a week

22:48

and a half this year . I went and saw all

22:50

of my best friends from college . I

22:53

was able to do things which refueled

22:55

my battery and thankfully , like

22:57

I , none of my events

22:59

are super back to back . My spring is crazy

23:01

, but other than that , nothing is super

23:03

back to back that I can take off that time

23:05

.

23:06

How's your fall , though ?

23:07

Cause fall for us is like crack

23:09

, yeah , frantic

23:12

, yeah yeah so fall is

23:15

big for

23:17

galas and

23:19

casino nights , so I have two of them , um

23:21

, so I only do those . But

23:23

spring is really big for conferences

23:25

and I do eight of

23:27

those . Last year , between um

23:31

, the months of , like , the

23:33

last week in March to the first

23:35

week in May , I was home a total of two days

23:37

that entire time , because all

23:39

of that's when all my clients want to do their events . So

23:42

I was , I was in

23:44

Minnesota , and then I was in New York

23:46

, and then I was in Houston , and then

23:48

I was in Dallas , and then I had two events in Austin

23:50

and I was home for a

23:52

singular weekend and then I was back running again

23:55

, but then I pretty much got to take the whole summer off . So

23:57

it's a lot of a lot of craziness

23:59

. But then all that craziness comes

24:01

with a lot of things that , can you

24:04

know , nurture my social battery .

24:06

Wow , wow , wow , god , and you

24:08

have to have all the clothes and

24:11

all of the stuff for all of those

24:13

places . But you , you

24:16

have to have them with you and you're traveling on top . Man , I'd

24:18

love to see your suitcase .

24:21

Literally that was my grown-up gift

24:23

to myself was buying new , nice suitcases because

24:26

I could never go home . And it got

24:28

to the point in the spring where I had to do laundry at hotels

24:30

because I just did not have , I could

24:32

not pack enough clothes that I could have an outfit

24:34

for each day . But

24:37

yeah , that weekend that I got home I was like okay , I

24:39

need to clean my house and I need to do laundry

24:41

, and other than that I am sleeping because there's

24:43

nothing else I can do . I can't go to my groceries because they're

24:45

going to go bad by the time I get back . So

24:50

in that time

24:52

it's really like fight or flight . It's like , okay , well

24:55

, I need to do this and we're going to do this , but

24:57

by the time I get home and

24:59

I even told my boss this a few weeks ago it's

25:02

very like I would rather it be like

25:04

that . I'd rather be go , go , go , go , go , go go , and

25:06

then I have a second to breathe and crash , rather than

25:08

one event , and then I have a breath

25:10

and then another event and I have a breath Like I'd rather just

25:12

go hard and then take

25:15

a two week vacation .

25:16

Yeah , yeah , a hundred percent , a hundred percent

25:19

.

25:19

So another question that we have what kind

25:21

of trends are you seeing

25:24

that are going to come up in the future and how are

25:26

you prepping for those ? Because for us

25:28

, even just in the flower world , like I

25:31

mean , there's two blue and white , at

25:33

least on the Eastern shore , and pompous grass

25:35

I mean there's two blue and white

25:37

, at least on the Eastern

25:39

shore , and pompous grass Blue and white hasn't been

25:41

as big for us this year when you were with us , and last

25:43

year it was all that we did was blue and white , but we're seeing

25:46

a lot of like more color

25:48

and wildflower , a lot of like peaches

25:50

, black and white

25:52

, still green and white , as always , but

26:01

there's there's a lot of more like diversity and even with the like , like the decor , like all of it

26:03

, if it's green and white they have like some crazy disco ball thing Like it's just , it's wild .

26:06

Yeah , I totally agree , traditional

26:08

is going out . It was traditional

26:10

for the last , like few years , like

26:12

it was very not a lot of color

26:14

, a lot of white , a lot of black , like it was very

26:17

neutral , and I think that is completely

26:19

turning . I've seen a lot more themes

26:22

, I'm seeing a lot more sequence , I'm

26:24

seeing a lot more color . I

26:26

think we're totally flipping the script and

26:28

I also think that's a generational thing . I think we're

26:31

going from millennials doing events to now

26:33

Gen Z throwing these events

26:35

. So it's very , very different . I mean , I just

26:37

did a gala and for 17 years

26:40

it was just traditional black

26:42

tie , no theme . And then this

26:44

year they decided they wanted to make it Alice in Wonderland , and

26:48

okay , let's do it so

26:52

. And then my casino night a few weeks ago , it was glitzy

26:55

casino , because before that it was just black

26:57

tie , and now they wanted people to wear sparkles , they

26:59

wanted people to have the , the big shoes

27:01

and things of that nature . So I think we're

27:04

seeing a huge flip from one

27:06

extreme to the next thing

27:09

. I think , with this extreme and

27:11

it may be my personal opinion I

27:13

think it's going to go out as fast as it comes in

27:15

. I think it's it's

27:17

too , and maybe gaudy isn't the right

27:19

word , but it's too flashy . I

27:21

don't think it's going to stay for very long . I think it may

27:23

stay for another year and

27:26

then we'll see another trend come on yeah

27:29

, yeah , we've had um the

27:31

.

27:31

We had like two or three weddings that were very like

27:33

70s vibes , so like

27:35

orange and purple and magenta

27:38

and like screaming colors . They didn't

27:40

have chargers .

27:42

They had records yeah , whoa

27:44

interesting .

27:45

Yeah , yeah , it was pretty cool

27:47

.

27:48

There's a lot more like personalization

27:50

, yeah , which I'm so thankful for

27:52

, like thank god , a God and a lot more

27:54

dogs , a lot of dogs .

27:56

Yeah , yeah

27:58

. I think events now are more

28:01

standing out from each other . Like

28:03

a few years ago . I could do an event and

28:05

not even think about it , because I'm doing basically

28:07

the same event for a different client every

28:09

week . Well , this week it's so different

28:12

, it's such a different vibe going

28:14

on .

28:19

So what's your favorite thing that

28:21

you're ?

28:22

doing right now Cool . Um , well

28:25

, I just got done with my casino night , which is my favorite event

28:27

every year . Um , like I said , it's for family

28:29

lawyers and they do a live auction

28:31

during it . A

28:39

live auction during it and during this live auction , people spend

28:41

money that I can't even wrap my head around at these things , the back of the room and

28:43

watching somebody spend um drop

28:47

an amount on a winery

28:49

that's more than I make in a year is

28:51

a very , very crazy

28:53

feeling . And to

28:55

know that I coordinate everything on the back end , so

28:58

to know that half of these people don't even take the trips

29:00

that they bid on , they do it one

29:02

because it's a good cause and two for the

29:04

tax write off . So I think I

29:07

love just standing in the back of the room and seeing

29:09

people and be like I will never know money

29:11

like that in my entire life I will never

29:13

, just , you know , be

29:16

at a casino night and raise my paddle

29:18

and say , yeah , I'm gonna spend sixty thousand dollars

29:20

on uh , a trip to

29:22

Lake Travis , which , if this , this

29:24

event , happens , in Houston , lake Travis is in Austin , so

29:27

I'm gonna spend sixty thousand dollars to travel three

29:29

hours . I I will never

29:31

, ever understand , but

29:34

it is the first time

29:36

. I thought I was going to pass out . I was like , oh my

29:39

gosh , this is crazy . I

29:42

love anything that like has to do with

29:45

one people spending money

29:47

. I think it's so fascinating watching

29:49

these people just live their lives

29:51

.

29:52

That human behavior , that human element

29:54

of like , what made them think that yeah

29:57

.

29:57

Or like who

30:00

. When we were , I had a meeting

30:02

with this nonprofit's like

30:04

chair and we were talking about table

30:06

placements of where we were going to see people and

30:08

she knew she was like this person's going to spend the

30:10

most money and because they , they all do it , they all they

30:13

go from one event to the next . I'm like , okay

30:15

, well , what makes you well ? One , you

30:17

have enough money that you can spend $60,000 at

30:19

all of these events . Or two , what

30:22

makes one event like live

30:24

auction better than another ? And

30:28

fall is really big for nonprofit events

30:30

, really big for fundraising . And

30:33

so we have to put out our live

30:35

auction items to these people like months and

30:37

months in advance , because they're planning on

30:40

which one are they going to buy , which nonprofit

30:44

event are they going to spend the most money at

30:46

? And a lot of the time unfortunately

30:48

has nothing to do with the nonprofit

30:50

and everything to do with who they

30:52

know , and a lot of it is

30:54

ego . So it's one lawyer

30:56

against another lawyer , and if they're up in court

30:59

against each other in real life , they're also going to bid

31:01

against each other , which

31:06

is insane to me . But

31:08

I think those are always super

31:10

fun . Another thing I really

31:12

like right now is we're doing a lot of travel , so'm

31:14

going to Utah next year , which I

31:17

would have never probably gone to Utah on my own

31:19

, but I'm going to Utah to New

31:21

Orleans , I'm going to

31:23

a bunch of different places , so I'm

31:25

really excited about that that's

31:27

amazing .

31:29

I love that . Um . So

31:31

to back to the like

31:33

infamous COVID how

31:35

have like people's expectations

31:37

changed since then ? Like is it just

31:39

back to normal ? I guess

31:41

Because you have like bigger events than

31:44

we probably ever will , don't get me wrong , and

31:46

I'm okay with that . But

31:49

still , like , for

31:51

us it has shifted a little bit . Like it's still

31:53

like a thing , but it's not

31:56

. Some people act like nothing

31:58

ever happened and then you can tell that there are people

32:00

that are still like super hesitant

32:02

and then don't like you

32:05

can just tell it's like like you step

32:07

and they like step back , like it's like a whole , a

32:09

whole thing . But with watching

32:11

people in like masses that you have

32:13

like how , like how you know , do

32:15

those rich people care , do they not

32:17

?

32:17

care . I don't see it

32:19

as much like on the front end of things

32:21

. I don't see like attendees wearing masks or

32:24

them limiting capacity or anything

32:26

like that . I see it mostly on the back end

32:28

of planning . So we just can't

32:30

do things that we could have done beforehand

32:32

. We can't fill a ballroom to

32:34

mass capacity anymore . We can't

32:37

, and now it's not only just because of COVID

32:39

. Now fire regulations are

32:41

more evident . Things that could fly

32:43

before COVID will not fly anymore

32:46

, and I think I also see it in

32:48

the aftermath of COVID . So

32:50

because we're in a recession

32:52

right now and just prices are crazy we're seeing

32:54

a 25% increase on all food and beverage

32:56

across the board . So people are

32:59

having to raise their budgets . We can't , you

33:01

can't get away with a . I

33:03

mean , I'm doing . I had to fight with a client , not fight

33:05

, that's not the right word . I had to

33:08

discuss with a client with

33:12

a client earlier today because we were talking

33:14

about their budget and they have a four day event and they

33:16

only wanted to budget a hundred grand

33:18

for food . And though a hundred grand

33:20

sounds like a lot for food , that's

33:23

not going to get them anywhere . That might get them two days

33:25

for food . That's not

33:27

if you . If you want to do an open bar

33:29

, that's even more . So just

33:32

food in general is crazy . Right now we're even looking

33:34

at like hotel room rates . So a lot of my groups

33:36

do room blocks and from

33:38

just this year to next year we have

33:41

a room block same hotel , same dates

33:43

, same everything . The room rate

33:45

this year is going to be 189 . Next

33:47

year it's going to be $250 . So

33:49

for the same hotel , same everything

33:52

. So just price in

33:54

general has gone up so

33:56

much and we're hoping in the next few

33:58

years it'll drastically drop

34:00

. But right now I mean we're

34:04

making budgets out to 2027 and we

34:06

are increasing almost by 25%

34:09

in every budget that we have because prices

34:12

are getting crazy . And I think that's the biggest thing

34:14

I felt from COVID is that one

34:16

, you can't just do things anymore . I

34:19

couldn't go into a space and be like , okay , we're going to

34:21

do this , this , this and this , this . There's always

34:23

somebody there with you . There's always somebody You're

34:26

running into a lot more roadblocks and

34:28

then two price . I think those

34:30

are the biggest things that came out of COVID

34:32

.

34:33

Yeah , the

34:38

biggest things that came out of COVID ? Yeah , I don't

34:40

think we've . I don't . I think we've come back from it , from people and like

34:42

interactions and things . Like that is , as you

34:44

guys said , like we don't see the masks , we don't

34:47

see that , like people aren't

34:49

scrubbing down all of their doorknobs , and

34:51

like the grocery carts and all of that kind of

34:53

stuff , the toilet paper . Yeah , toilet

34:55

paper is readily available . But

34:58

you're right , I

35:02

feel like it changed some inner

35:04

workings that I don't think we can ever

35:06

put back .

35:08

I think people are just more cautious in general

35:10

Say that again . I think

35:12

people are just more cautious in general , not only

35:14

with health but in every aspect

35:16

. I mean , I get roadblocks

35:19

for fire code , I get roadblocks for

35:21

obviously these are important

35:23

things , but intoxication that I didn't get before

35:25

I get like we have to shut down the bar after two

35:27

hours . I get that I wouldn't

35:30

have run into before , are now strict , which

35:37

is good . Things should be strict , but it's definitely

35:39

different than anything I did

35:41

pre-COVID interesting

35:44

, very , very very interesting .

35:46

So you said you had a interesting story

35:48

about a drunk man .

35:51

Yeah , I was a drunk woman , which is even better

35:53

so

35:57

the casino company that we bring in to do

35:59

um , because you and I had a few weeks ago . I

36:01

am really close with um , the guy who

36:03

owns it , because I use him for a lot of my events and

36:06

he's just an overall great guy and he brings

36:08

his sons with him and his sons

36:10

are these like cute little 17-year-old

36:13

boys and

36:17

women eat them up . You just dated yourself .

36:18

Abby , you just dated yourself

36:20

oh my gosh .

36:22

I know these

36:25

women eat these little boys

36:27

up . They love them . And

36:31

I was thinking , oh

36:33

no , these are like 40-year-old women , but it's

36:36

40-year-old women who have just , yeah

36:38

, these are the lawyers . So

36:41

people have gone to school for way too long . But

36:44

after the fact we were

36:47

cleaning up our stuff and the casino company was cleaning up

36:49

their stuff and I was talking to Scott , who's the owner , and

36:52

he goes , we got to tell you something that happened last

36:54

year , which I also did , this event last year and

36:56

I was like , oh my gosh , what happened ? Tell me . He

37:00

was like my son was dealing

37:02

to these two women and he

37:04

was like , yeah , and they just kept passing

37:07

him tips and like he's like he went

37:09

out of the night with like 800 worth

37:11

of tips . Um , because these women

37:13

were against each other in trial but

37:15

they wanted to play against each other

37:18

on this game table , so they were like slipping

37:20

him tips , like having him like do other things

37:22

. And then you would think

37:24

, because these people are like top-notch

37:27

Houston lawyers , that they would act appropriately

37:29

. No , no , they

37:32

and I do this word

37:34

but apparently the woman was

37:36

calling the other professional lawyer

37:38

, the c-word across

37:40

the table at this

37:43

very

37:45

formal event

37:47

, and like if I would have known

37:49

that , I would have had to like kick her out . I was

37:51

like , oh my gosh . And

37:56

then I like had a realization it

37:59

never stops , it never ends . These people never

38:01

stop being like that wow

38:04

and um , it's a case

38:06

like that in every event , like

38:08

that I have , and it's always alcohol , which is

38:10

obviously always alcohol , but it's always

38:13

the instance of somebody who drinks too much

38:15

. And I think that's the biggest roadblock I

38:17

always run into is where's the

38:19

line ? Where is the line of , yes

38:22

, you're drunk but somebody's gonna get you home safe

38:24

, you're fine , you can stay and you

38:26

need to get an u Uber and you need to leave now , like

38:28

, where is the line there

38:31

?

38:31

And why is that your job ?

38:35

Yeah , it's probably my least favorite part of

38:37

the job , but it it falls on me because

38:39

liability falls on me . So if that person

38:41

gets in a car and

38:43

they drive and they get in an accident , though

38:46

I won't be the first person , it comes back to , it will

38:48

come back to me eventually . So , making sure

38:51

that everyone's safe when they leave , making sure

38:53

people are in ubers , those

38:55

kinds of things , and unfortunately , also something

38:57

you have to deal with is sexual harassment when that happens

38:59

. So really

39:02

the line is are they a danger to themselves

39:04

? Are they a danger to the people ? Not only people , danger to the

39:06

people , not only people out of the event , but the people

39:08

when they leave Especially when we're

39:10

at hotels , because a lot of these events happen

39:12

on the second , third floor Are they going to walk

39:14

and try to walk into somebody else's

39:16

guest room ? They're gonna have to walk to the lobby to get

39:18

home . Are they walking into , you know , the lobby

39:21

bar after they leave me to go drink

39:23

, which then I actually love when they

39:25

do that , because the liability is now not on me , it's

39:27

on the lobby bar . So , just

39:30

like a lot of things that , like I had to

39:32

think about now that I going

39:34

to event would never think about .

39:37

Yeah , yeah , wow

39:39

, that's wow

39:42

Well .

39:45

I'm trying to think , amber , I know you're hidden

39:47

, but do you have ?

39:48

any questions . She sent us some and

39:51

I have one thing that

39:53

I would love to just kind of wrap up

39:55

with . But if

39:57

Amber doesn't have anything , I know Amber's kind

40:00

of hidden tonight .

40:02

I'm here , hello . I

40:04

was going to say , liz , have you peeped her cup yet

40:06

?

40:07

I know I saw it was the Stanleyeped her cup . Yet I know I saw it was the Stanley like

40:09

Barbie one .

40:10

I know I

40:12

am not a part of the Stanley cult , but

40:15

I went to Target a few weeks

40:17

ago and I walked by

40:19

and I was like I will regret this for the rest of my

40:21

life .

40:22

I don't buy this cup , so I bought it so

40:25

now that we have picked your brain and

40:28

, um , you know you're

40:30

actually home tonight , so I don't want to

40:32

, like you know , keep you way too long . I

40:34

just wanted to say that there

40:36

are many times where I am

40:38

upstairs at my desk working

40:41

and I find these little notes that say

40:43

if you're reading this , you probably need to take a break

40:45

or I still

40:47

find them in my desk and I leave them right where they

40:49

were . so the next time I open my desk

40:51

I can have another little Allie note oh

40:54

that's so cute

40:56

. Her imprint is like

40:58

forever with us um

41:01

. I think , as I said earlier , I will always

41:03

picture you in your red fancy

41:05

boots and

41:10

Mighty and Allie looked cute and

41:15

I was like I will never

41:18

pull that off in my life .

41:19

So we missed you a lot , but I

41:21

am .

41:25

I'm always happy in my heart that I know that you've taken a little piece of us

41:27

, and hopefully it's not when something's broken

41:29

.

41:30

But hopefully

41:33

a flower's , not yeah .

41:37

Yeah , I definitely am . I think that's the biggest

41:39

takeaway is I look at bouquet and I'm like could

41:42

have done better .

41:46

Awesome , awesome , awesome , awesome . Well , thank you

41:48

you . Thank you , thank you for being a guest

41:50

tonight and thank you , guys

41:52

, for having me . Thank you , yeah

41:54

, we miss you guys too , for

41:56

sure for sure . Yeah

41:58

, we'll have to come crash at your place one day when

42:00

you're home and be like okay , yeah

42:03

, yeah , you can visit austin's .

42:05

So so fun , so so cool , and I'll

42:07

be home for christmas .

42:08

Hopefully we'll see isn't that

42:11

one of the ? Isn't austin now

42:13

becoming one of the music centers

42:15

?

42:16

I've heard so it was , um

42:18

, it was the music , live musical capital

42:21

of the world , but you can't go anywhere and listen

42:23

to live music anymore . I think nashville has totally

42:25

taken that over , oh yeah .

42:27

Interesting . That doesn't surprise me . Interesting . Everywhere

42:29

you go , it's like one thing after

42:31

another .

42:32

Yeah , Austin used to be like a really

42:35

small city and it's grown so

42:37

much in the last few years that

42:39

it's very different than everything

42:41

before , like two years ago .

42:43

Interesting , very interesting . Cool

42:46

yeah , cool cool yeah , cool , cool .

42:47

Well , thank you guys for tuning in

42:49

and listening and we hope you

42:52

enjoyed some of the different tidbits from the

42:54

middle of the us , but a little bit lower than

42:56

other places . We've

42:59

had so much fun and

43:01

we will

43:04

catch you guys next time . Bye

43:06

.