Party-It-Forward Offers Innovation in Event Planning

Feb. 20, 2012 - PRLog -- From Patch, Carrollwood

According to Florida Department of Health Vital Statistics 2010 report, there were 8,360 weddings that year in Hillsborough County.  

This means the day after the ‘big day’ - unless they are handed down to the next generation or given away - about 8,360 wedding dresses, suits and leftover décor  and trinkets were gathering dust, unappreciated and unused in someone's closet.

In February, Carrollwood online wholesale florists Dorelle Raphael-Fishkin and Ellen Hack decided to change that by creating an innovative concept to create a greener way to reuse, or reinvent, party leftovers.

Expanding their successful 2003-launched wholesale floral business Bridesnblooms to include Bridesnblooms Designs floral design, Raphael-Fishkin and Hack created a unique event for Do-It-Yourselfers.

Party-It-Forward is the innovation of Raphael-Fishkin and Hack, a pay-it-forward movement that benefits anyone self-planning any type of event.

Whether it is a wedding, a Quinceañera, an anniversary, a bat or bar mitzvah, a graduation, or many other celebrations, the Party-It-Forward concept wants the planners to save time, money and have a great time in the process.

“It’s a new concept in planning your celebration,” explained Hack.

Raphael-Fishkin said she researched how many bridal items were being posted for sale on Craigslist.

“There are people doing this,” she said. “We thought that they just need to be doing it in the same place at the same time.”

The owners knew from experience that the majority of people that purchased wholesale flowers from Bridesnblooms were also buying everything else themselves.

“I got to thinking, all those people have all those things – what are they doing with them when they’re done?” Raphael-Fishkin said, “There must be an opportunity to sell to the people that were now (planning an event) in their same boat.”

On March 11, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Do-It-Yourselfers can find affordable surplus and overstock party items for a small entry fee. Items range from invitations and wine glasses to vases and wedding dresses at the Party-It-Forward special event at Countryside Country Club, 3001 Countryside Boulevard.

Like a celebratory-themed garage sale, for a low table rental, anyone can register with Bridesnnblooms Designs and sell their surplus party items, and what the person earns is theirs alone. Bridesnblooms Designs takes no fee. The space is limited to 30 sellers.

“Anyone who has bought a load of stuff for a party and has leftovers, Party-It-Forward is the event for them,” said Raphael-Fishkin. “We’re helping the environment by not consistently buying new and throwing away. We are paying it forward because what you didn’t use, maybe someone else can.”

Upstairs event vendors will display their talents and wares as the exclusive Party-It-Forward vendors.

Up to 30 event vendors can register with Bridesnblooms Designs at this two-tier event. In addition, they can offer their party overstock downstairs for an additional fee.

“Our event helps the vendors, because if the planners don’t have to spend $500 on extraneous things, now they have the extra $500 to spend on something like the coffee cart they didn’t think they could do before because they had to buy all their items retail,” said Raphael-Fishkin.

The two owners’ goal is to have an event every four months, enabling those now in the planning stages to be able to sell any items that they over-purchased.

“This will be you X months from now,” said Hack. “You’ll be able to come and Party-It-Forward.”

For more information on Bridesnblooms wholesale flowers and Bridesnblooms Designs, to become a Party-It-Forward seller or a vendor, email info@bridesnblooms.com.

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Brides N Blooms Designs takes great pride in creating your bouquets, centerpieces and arrangements for any occasion. We are committed to offering our clients personalized attention and excellent customer care. We will design your floral packages to suit your budget, needs and dreams. The flowers you request are specifically ordered just for you and are delivered straight from the farms within days of your event. Our goal is to create something from your ideas and our experience that will make our part in your day everything you dreamed it would be!

Flowers for Weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Anniversaries, Birthdays, Graduations, Quinceañeras, Sweet Sixteens, Corporate or Club Events, and all of life’s most important events... Brides N Blooms Designs is your ‘connection to all things floral’.