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Prom Sweet Prom |
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Written by Amanda Ryder
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Say goodbye to the simple spray rose wrist corsage and hello to customization. This generation of promgoers is looking for something unique and personal and you’re in the perfect position to deliver this. The past five years have brought a lot of changes to the prom market and you need to know what teenagers will be looking for when they come to your shop.
Loann Burke, aifd, pfci, a design director at Smithers-Oasis, says the market has undergone some major changes in recent years. “We’ve seen a trend towards more personalization, individualization – they don’t want to wear everyone else’s corsage. They like unique and different twists that we can put on corsages,” she says.
Dan Fisher, president of Fitz Design, backs this up. “Before, it would have been a corsage with five spray roses and you change the colour of the ribbon – that’s what made it special. Now it’s a fashion accessory to match the dress.” Teens can now choose from bracelets, arm cuffs, necklace pieces, barrettes, ponytail holders and diamond studded bobby pins, to name a few.
Even the corsage style itself has evolved. Burke reports seeing more cascading and trailing corsages, as opposed to ones that just wrap tightly to the wrist. Gems, pearls, beads or ribbon will dangle from the arm to create more visual interest. In certain regions, there’s a move towards nosegays – hand-held bouquets that are smaller than bridal or bridesmaids’ flowers.
Flowers are also being used as accessories to glam up the dress. “We’ve actually done, in addition to wrist corsages, flowers for the hair, floral rings are really big, and then things that will attach to the dress or attach to the body itself. We’ll do a shoulder corsage that will drape over or individual flowers that we actually use Band-Aids to attach on,” says Burke.
Even though it’s all about her special day, the boy’s boutonniere has also undergone some changes. Burke says the bout has become more stylized and unique. Wire work is used to give it more structure and visual appeal and helps his boutonniere match his date’s corsage. “We try to sell the boutonniere with the corsage so everything co-ordinates,” says Burke. Even the mechanics behind the bout have evolved. “Magnets are dramatically more popular than they would have been before. You can turn a double pin into a design platform where florists can glue or they can wire and tape it on there together,” says Fisher. Because florists can now employ glue into their designs more often, this allows smaller flowers like equisetium, wax flower, delphinium or larkspur to be used.
When it comes to selling teens these floral accessories, florists are in a great position. “The big advantage for the florist is the opportunity to sell all of these items that they would have never had the opportunity to sell before,” says Fisher. “Now they have a chance to really ramp up the sale by selling the jewelry and all of the unique things.”
Both Burke and Fisher agree that it’s all about marketing to the girl. “It’s like her own mini wedding,” says Burke. “This is her first shot at wedding planning and I prefer to get the girl involved. There are a few guys who care but it’s more about the girl’s day. They have dreamt about this day forever – the whole swept-off-their-feet type of thing.”
Fisher says the key to the prom market lies in the selling process. “Florists that have a lot of success actually create the corsage with the girl and add the components. One of the things we teach is to sell the bracelet first and the flowers later. It’s a lot easier to add $20 of flowers to a $20 bracelet than it is to add a $20 bracelet to $20 worth of flowers,” says Fisher. Burke also recommends this technique: “By the time she’s personally constructed this corsage or this bouquet, she has ownership in it. We tend to get a higher price when they’ve created it or you’ve guided them in creating it.”
And when you’re speaking with a potential prom client, don’t forget to ask her about her dress. If there’s a popular dress store in the area or a manufacturer that always comes up, keep an eye on the prices and styles. “If they’re spending $500 plus on the dress, I don’t want to sell them a $20 corsage. I want to sell them a $50 to $70 corsage to complement the dress,” says Burke.
Underestimating this market is one of the biggest mistakes florists can make. “One of the things we would challenge the florist on is not to make conclusions about the girls. We know this generation has more disposable income than any other generation has,” Fisher says. “The average couple spends $1,740 to go to the prom, they have money spend. Often the florist wants to think that they don’t and they cut themselves short.”
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