Gainesville Florida Wedding Florist - Garden and Grace Florals
Ashley Rodriguez is a local Gainesville Florida wedding florist and owner of Garden and Grace Florals. We had the incredible opportunity to ask Ashley a few questions about her story and her local women-owned business here in Gainesville, Florida to share with our readers!
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself!
Ashley: I’m Ashley Rodriguez, owner of Garden and Grace Florals. Based in Gainesville, Florida, our boutique floral company specializes in weddings and high-end special events. Outside of floral design, I’m a wife and mom to two daughters (who love playing with flowers too!), a baby boy on the way – and I love architecture and home design. My husband and I have renovated three houses together and love the process!
Q: How long have you been in business, and what got you into the industry?
Ashley: Garden and Grace Florals evolved from a faux wedding floral shop on Etsy initially, which I started after my own wedding. I worked for a wedding florist in college and never really stopped designing after that. Garden and Grace Florals has grown in the last three years into a full-scale fresh, faux, and dried flower wedding and special event florist, servicing clients across Florida and Georgia, as well as destination weddings internationally.
Q: What is something that your business does that makes you stand out?
Ashley: I’ve always felt strongly that the combination of excellent customer service, an eye for detail, and a genuinely positive attitude never fails to make for a great event – and ensures the process is equally enjoyable along the way! We also purposely only take a certain number of weddings each year so that our level of customer service always stays top of mind for the incredible couples we are privileged to get to work with!
Q: Where do you see the wedding industry heading?
Ashley: I have seen a trend for more clients wanting their event aesthetic to be truly unique. Whether it’s a floral design they’ve seen, but taken to another level, a unique experience for their guests or even destination weddings – there are so many ways that couples can express themselves in a very personal, unique way and I absolutely love this trend. With Covid-19, we’re also seeing a new wedding trend in the industry for more intimate ceremonies that, while smaller, are equally stylish and memorable.
Q: What advice would you give to couples planning their wedding?
Ashley: Book the wedding vendors that you can’t live without first. However, keep in mind that for each individual and couple these priority vendors might be different. For example, when I was a bride, it was actually a particular make-up artist who I new I really wanted to work with and who I booked as soon as possible to ensure she had availability on my wedding day. Typically, venues, caterers, photographers and florists are also high up on the list of priority – particularly to ensure availability on your date. From there, I believe it’s so important to constantly keep in mind the experience you want for yourself and your guests on the wedding day. If you keep this in mind throughout the planning process, it helps focus decisions (large and small!) for the end result of what you want for yourself and your guests on your special day.
Q: Is there anything else you want to tell us?
Ashley: It’s such a pleasure getting to work with other customer-focused, local vendors. I just adore working with Kimber and Water Bear Photography – thank you for the feature and for your mentorship! 🙂
You can reach Ashley Rodriguez, our local Gainesville Florida wedding florist and owner of Garden and Grace Florals directly or through her website or Instagram:
Website: Garden and Grace Florals
Facebook: @gardenandgrace
Check out more of our blogs from some of Gainesville’s local, fantastic wedding vendors: Wedding Vendors Blogs
