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Today, we welcome Sarah Watts. Sarah is the owner and head floral designer of Sarah’s Garden. Today we talk about when her love started for flowers, her gap year experience in Mexico, and how meditation plays a daily role in her life. After listening to Sarah talk about her life experiences, you will learn how passion plays a huge role in the happiness and success in your everyday life.
LOVE FOR FLOWERS
Sarah, as a child, was always happy outside. She explained how she would go out into the woods picking flowers and creating random artwork in nature. When she moved back to Minnesota, she found a garden called Munsinger Garden. Her grandmother told her the reason why the garden was there was because a man lived across the street with his sick wife. He wanted to give her a beautiful scenery to look at each day and decided to buy the land across the street so he could give her something beautiful to look at each day.
Sarah first got into floral design in 1996. Her best friend’s mother bought a flower shop and was in desperate need of help. She learned to design from a man who was a designer for 30 years and realized that this was her passion. She said, “Floral really meshed design and nature”. In 2011, Sarah started Sarah’s Garden.
“Flowers are here on the earth to inspire people and show love”.
A VISION BLOOMING INTO A REALITY
Before Sarah started her floral business, she worked in retail. One thing that really bothered her when she was working in retail is that brides would tell her they could not afford flowers because they were too expensive. Sarah decided that she needed to change this “norm”. She states that if you are going to take a leap of faith, you need to be very organized with a plan. And that is exactly what she decided to do. Sarah started her own business and began to work out of her garage to create floral designs.
She had three venues right off the bat feeding her new customers and clients. For about a year, she was working retail and creating floral designs before she decided only to do floral designs. Sarah decided to take that leap of faith even though she was not sure of the outcome.
PETAL FASTER!
Now, Sarah takes on 50 to 60 weddings a year. She tries not to overbook but she also wants to make an income. She explains that florists do not make a lot of income because you are always paying for the flowers, labor, tools, etc. The first couple of years of having her own business, she booked over 100 weddings a year and knew she had to slow down the pace since she felt like she was burning out too fast.
Sarah has done close to 500 weddings but her weirdest request was hot pink and red flowers with cheetah print accents. It was a complete nightmare and she showed up to the venue with set up not being ready. Therefore, she was informed to drop the arrangements off and ten minutes later, the mother of the bride called and said she hated absolutely everything. Sarah looks back on it now and sees it as a learning experience. Now, she decides to work with clients that share the same style and vision so that the floral arrangements can achieve the bride and groom’s highest expectations.
LEAFING HER HOME
Sarah says a fun fact about her is that she moved to Mexico when she was 19. She did not want to go to college after graduating from Chandler High School and moved into a bungalow on the beach with one of her best friends for a year. They immersed herself in the culture with no car, no phone, and had to take the public bus to get groceries.
When she returned to the valley, it was very humbling to realize all the opportunities and options that are provided here. She never took the advantages given in The United States for granted after this experience. Also, she noticed how the Mexican culture consisted of families beings extremely close and wanted to bond more with her family when she got home because she never truly had that experience.
THEY ROSE ABOVE THE STRESS
Sarah is a “believer in energy” and meditates every single day. She came across the form of meditation that she practices because her husband has had lots of anxiety and wwas willing to try anything for a solution. In order to know how to meditate correctly, a person needs to be taught through multiple classes.
She has learned that she and her husband have both benefited from it. In order to control your mental health and your mind running all day, there needs to be a time each day where you shut your brain off. Sarah says the best time to meditate is 20 minutes before dinner. It has relieved stress from both of their lives and helps them focus on the important entities in their lives.
Sarah celebrates life by focusing on how grateful she is for being blessed with everything she has. Even though there are rough days, she decides to focus on why it is a learning experience and why it is happening in her life. Sarah focuses on laughing and enjoying life. She is extremely inspiring as a
We believe Sarah, like the flowers she loves, is here to inspire people and show love!
SARAH’S GARDEN WEBSITE: https://sarahsweddinggarden.com
SARAH’S GARDEN INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sarahsgardenstyle/?hl=en
SARAH’S GARDEN FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/sarahsweddinggarden/
Thank you to our featured video and photography partners: Ryann Lindsey Photography, Melissa Ivy Photography, The Shepards, Rachael Koscica Photography, Aaron Kes, Kayla Fisher Photography, Olivia Markle, Rachel Soloman Photography, Marie Claire Photography, Emily Vandehey, Morgan Mccanne, Andrew Glatt, Chiara Shine Photography, Mike Oblinski, and Good Vibe Media.