A Budding Business: Blossoms

As the long, seemingly ubiquitous winter is drawing (hopefully) to a close, the warmth and renewal of spring means not only an economic and social rebirth, but the reawakening of flowers from their frosty graves. The spring revival orchestrates the bloom of trees and flowers that permeate the county. The impending summer means an array of celebrations for both local and non-local alike. Special events, such as the ethereal Door County wedding, necessitate the perfect floral arrangements that accentuate these memory-filled celebrations.

Jackie Schuler, a Sister Bay resident, has a budding business, Blossoms, that will colorfully coordinate any event. You can also find Jackie working at Base Camp Coffee Bar in Sister Bay, but her true passion is floral design and creating the ideal arrangement for the summer staple that is the Door County wedding.

Flowers and floral design has been a passion of Jackie’s since her high school years in Burlington, WI. Upon graduating high school, Jackie enrolled in the Milwaukee School of Flower Design where her studies focused on developing her own flare and artistic eye. From Milwaukee she transferred to UW – Oshkosh to study business in order to learn how to manage her own shop. To gain more experience while studying at the university, she worked at a very popular flower shop in Oshkosh. This position helped to further fine-tune her skills and educate her on the operations side of the business.

Finishing up at Oshkosh last winter, Jackie, a bride-to-be herself, moved up the county with her fiancée, Ben, to start life post-college. While having organized floral arrangements for several weddings in her hometown of Burlington, she sees Door County as a pristine location for her business with the natural beauty and quaint nuances exhibited in this resort peninsula. “It [Door County] is never lacking in natural inspiration, and I just adore the endless possibilities the county offers,” said Jackie.

The always popular outdoor wedding, is her favorite venue to work within, because the natural environment lends itself perfectly to her creative process. She thoroughly enjoys designing floral arrangements that are in sync with their natural environments.

“The push for outdoor weddings that is happening now is super fun to prepare for because there aren’t many restrictions with the environment,” she said. She went on to explain that the freedom to not worry if her arrangements clash with the wallpaper or carpet is a welcomed change of pace.

Within her business, Jackie strives to keep her practices as natural as possible. “Believe it or not, behind closed doors, the floral industry isn’t always as green as you might expect,” she said. She explains that typically within the industry florists order wholesale flowers from all over the world. Although this gives a selection of flowers that doesn’t depend on season, she doesn’t necessarily agree with the practice.

“By the time the flowers arrive at my door from London, Ecuador, China, etc., they are pumped full of chemicals and were cut over three weeks previous,” she explained. “It doesn’t make sense that flowers should live that long.”

Instead, Jackie acquires her flowers through two farms in the county, Door’s Fluers in Brussels and Door County Flower Farm in Sister Bay. She loves the opportunity to work with fellow business owners and to help preserve the raw, natural state of the flowers she works with.

Apart from working with brides, Schuler is also organizing a program for local restaurants and hotels to provide floral arrangements like this one for tables and counter tops. Photo by Len Villano.

Hoping to establish Blossoms as a premier source for floral design and arrangement, Jackie sees herself serving weddings and other events throughout the county for years to come. This winter has been a great time for Jackie to utilize her time to finish modifications on her website, build her social media presence, and to locate other streams of marketing potential within the peninsula.

The rapidly approaching summer, however, brings with it a number of weddings, including her own in July. You will find her work at Gordon Lodge in Bailey’s Harbor, The Landmark Resort in Egg Harbor, and a number of private properties.

Apart from working with brides, she is also organizing a program for local restaurants and hotels to provide floral arrangements for tables and counter tops. All local businesses that take part will have fresh local flowers arranged and delivered to their doors as often as they’d like. Jackie thinks it will be a great way for businesses in hospitality and service to really show their customers they care, and is something that will further enhance the “Door County charm” in local establishments.

As Terri Guillements said, “The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in imagination.” It is safe to say that Jackie’s imagination and efforts this spring will surely paint the county this spring and summer.

For more information about Blossoms visit BlossomsOfDoorCounty.com, facebook.com/blossomsofdoorcounty, or call 920.492.1786.