Getting to know your vendors - Fat Cat Flowers

I first met Diane Mouton of Fat Cat Flowers when I was researching florists for my wedding. She made me feel so at ease and welcome into her shop and like I was her number one priority. 

Since then and after our interview, I believe I've grown to know Diane and her business fairly well. When describing her several words come to mind: personal, enthusiastic, engaged, professional yet completely free and owns her creativity.

Born and raised in Vermont, Diane came to New Orleans when she was 16 years old to attend Tulane. She fell in love with New Orleans! She describes it as, "the perfect blend of big and small and it has such a close knit and rich community....It's almost European." She never looked back.

While at Tulane, surprisingly Diane studied accounting which is the exact opposite of being a florist. But, like Diane says, to run a good business you have to make money. And you have to be able to pay good staff. And her business background has served her well (I know who I'm going to for business advice in the future).

Diane graduated and went to work in the hospitality industry in catering and at the Marriott and in restaurants which gave her the customer service foundation she believes is key to her success. And I have to agree. I think she has a great combination of professionalism, business experience, and customer service skills that truly sets her apart from others.

Yes, I wondered how she got from accounting and catering to being a full time florist. As most of you know, accounting can be stressful, so she needed a change. She thought about starting a restaurant, but that would involve a lot monetarily. So she looked herself and at what she really liked doing in life. Flowers. She loved flowers. She worked at several flower shops around the city to get a feel for how they functioned. In 2005 she started Fat Cat Flowers in her basement, and moved into her current studio several years later.

To ensure there is great design, great value, great reliability in every single event she does, Diane attends shows, uses the internet and goes to Market every year. She sees the trends before they get here and is able to show them to her clients. The trend right now is to be more eclectic but keep it cohesive. She wants it to be a true reflection of the client.

This is why when Diane begins the planning process, it's all about getting to know the client and pulling the entire picture together to ensure everything gels. She wants to know about your theme, your colors and yes, she wants to know about your dress because the bouquet is an accessory, and everything flows out from there. She wants you to use Pinterest to try to find your style so she can have a visual to pull from. And for some clients, the process is more detailed and involves more meetings, and for other clients, it's about Diane being creative. It's definitely a balance and a skill in adjusting. But Diane's main goal is that she genuinely wants people to come into the shop and know without a doubt she can recreate their dream and KNOW that she's going to show up on time. And that really is her mantra - be personal and be reliable and be creative.

Don't be afraid to talk about your budget with Diane! We know this can be a painful or sticky subject Be prepared to talk about what you want so she can work within it. In the end she wants you, the client, to be happy. (HINT: Using in-season flowers also costs less and makes a great show.)

Because of the need to keep things personal, Fat Cat Flowers does limit the amount of weddings they book each year. So book early! Diane recognizes you need to book the venue, band, and photographer first because they book fast in New Orleans, but if you want Fat Cat, you should book at least 6months in advance. Of course there are highly competitive months: for example, October books extremely fast, so book them at least a year in advance.

In addition to doing weddings, Fat Cat also does corporate events for the following: Brennan's restaurants, August Catering, City Park, Pat O's. Fat Cat has solid relationships with many people. In addition, she continues relationships with clients, so she also does other personal events in their lives like births, anniversaries, and even funerals.

Wrapping things up, Diane would tell clients, she wants them to remember to slow down and enjoy the day. "Just relax."

This blog was done by It's Your Time Events in an effort to become more of a resource to brides and others looking to have events in New Orleans. If you are interested in having It's Your Time Events plan your big day (or any other event), please email erin@itsyourtimeevents.com or call us at 985-234-9757. 

Getting to Know Your Vendors - Makeup by Meggan LLC

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with Meggan Dupre Ory of Makeup by Meggan during the Roques-Robichaux wedding. All of the ladies from Amanda and Chris's big day were absolutely beautiful!  Meggan was also the first vendor to respond to my wanting to do these vendor spotlights. She was so friendly, beautiful inside and out, and the session was so relaxing!

We started the session talking about each other. I loved that Meggan wanted to get to know me too! Getting to know your vendors is so important. If you can't communicate with or work with one of them, it can definitely make the entire process more stressful than it needs to be. It is so good to know I can definitely work with Meggan!

She began working with makeup while studying psychology. She started working for MAC when she was only 19 years old and had absolutely no idea what she was doing. Clearly they saw something in her work because they hired her and she has worked off and on with them over the years. It is through MAC that she went through much of her training. And to better herself, Meggan also went through training at Aveda for Esthetics.

From MAC, Stacy Marks helped get her to where she is today. "With the help of Stacy Marks...the first bride I ever did make up on was one of his bride models. He invited me over, I did her make up, and that was the first time I'd ever done make up on a bride per say. And that's how I got started, and he was like, 'You should do it.'" He helped and inspired her to get where she is today. Nice job Stacy Marks for noticing this gem!

While she recognizes some items and products might be better than others, Meggan doesn't put all her eggs in one basket though. "As far as brands go, I don't believe one brand has it all. So I pull from whatever brand has the texture I'm looking for."

But, she does have some fav tools:

1. Inglot - Meggan describes this as the following: You know how if you have black eye liner on, a few hours later it can build up in the tear duct area? It can get really messy and nasty looking. Well on your wedding day you don't want that. Inglot looks like tar. And it's not sold anywhere in the US (to our knowledge). This product does not move. 
2. Eve Pearl - the mother of the bride often worries about wrinkles. A lot of times make up can accentuate those areas. Eve Pearl covers it all really well, is "emollient and moisturizing," and Meggan uses it on all her "mature" ladies.
3. Fast Response Eye Cream - Meggan puts this on everyone because this de-puffs the eye really well. 
4. Beauty blender - one of the best inventions ever for makeup! Meggan uses it to apply foundation. 

And if you opened her bag, you might be surprised to find one of her favorite items is a pallet, so she can mix colors! She's a true artist!

Being a true artist, Meggan knows technique is important. A lot of times when brides are looking for a makeup artist, they are looking for someone who can do a better job than they are able to do. To truly be better than the average person or makeup artists you need technique. It's so important to know what is popular for this season and to be able to adjust for who she is working with at the moment. MAC and Bare Essentials trained Meggan in the true techniques makeup artists use, which can set her apart from other makeup artists. And Meggan continues to better herself by following trends and continuing to work with MAC. Every fall, spring, summer and winter she goes through training and watches a lot of youtube and researches through magazines as well. 

And while Meggan doesn't give out much advice, because it's more about guiding and asking questions to discover what clients really want, Meggan does have one tip to give clients - take care of your skin.  She highly recommends, if you're going to have a major event, like getting married, go get a few facials to prep for your big day. Get your skin looking as healthy as possible because that is how much better your makeup will look in the end. 

Makeup By Meggan was real in January 2013! And since then she's been doing weddings, proms formals, ect. Her website will be up shortly but you can find her on facebook. Most recently Meggan's makeup was featured on the cover of and throughout nola wedding guide's Summer Issue. This is by far her proudest moment - having her make up on the cover of a magazine (which is pretty awesome!).

 

More than that, though, it's important to Meggan her clients feel more beautiful and more self confident when they look in the mirror. To do that, is truly a success in her book.  

Meggan has her set rates, seen below. 

This blog was done by It's Your Time Events in an effort to become more of a resource to brides and others looking to have events in New Orleans. If you are interested in having It's Your Time Events plan your big day (or any other event), please email erin@itsyourtimeevents.com or call us at 985-234-9757.