It’s been a tough year for the wedding industry, but two Plymouth women emerged from lockdown with a bright and innovative plan to help future brides have their perfect day.
Yasmin Downing and her business partner saw a gap in the market for bohemian-style dried flower weddings after the trend rose sharply in countries like Australia and the United States.
Wanting to pioneer the alternative trend, 31-year-old Yaz is determined to make sure brides get “more than just an average wedding”.
Babcock’s office manager took advantage of the pandemic to capitalize on her passion by selling bouquets of dried flowers on Instagram in November.
By the new year, Yaz had expanded from bouquets to baked goods, sold dried flower decorations for cakes and baked goods, and last month founded the event company VVEvents, which creates bespoke wedding sets for the bride and groom.
“We can do anything from table linen to flowers to cakes,” explains Yaz.
“For a bride who doesn’t want to plan her wedding, we could do that for her, or they could have as much or as little input as they wanted.”
Yaz, an avowed perfectionist, is involved in all aspects of the process, spraying, coloring and styling all the flowers herself.
“I love boho weddings and if it’s not perfect it won’t be here,” she adds.
“I sit on Instagram and Pinterest for hours and look at Pampas. I have more photos of dried flowers on my phone than family I think!”
Working with several other local companies to curate the perfect wedding day, Yaz describes VVEvents as “a one-stop shop for the best in Devon”.
She continues, “Everyone we use is female and we are big advocates of women empowering women.
“It’s also great to be with other local businesses – the ladies who made the bridal headdress, the pampas wall, the wedding cake, they’re all from Plymouth.”
One of the VVEvents table assemblies and bouquets of flowers
(Image: Erin Black / Plymouth Live)
Yaz and her business partner already had their first booking for a boho style wedding and encourage brides to get in touch with them if they think this is something they might be interested in.
“We’re not for a woman who wants a bouquet of white roses, we’re here for more alternative brides,” she explains.
“Some of the things they do in Australia are crazy and I would love to be a pioneer here.
“A lot of wedding florists are booked, but we’re brand new so we have an availability I very much doubt last minute brides will find.
“But we are available – for now! And we would like to help.”
Despite the difficulty of the pandemic for the entire wedding and events industry, Yaz saw the opportunity to explore the creative side of the industry and see what looks good and what doesn’t.
The 31-year-old’s long-term goal is to make VVEvents a full-time job and create a day for the brides.
“In the current climate, leaving job security is daunting, especially when you don’t know when events might get canceled.
“It will be so amazing to see the bride’s face when I hand her this bouquet of flowers, or the guests’ faces when they see the table and pampa wall.
“It’s the most important day of your life and it’s just as important for me to get it right.”