The Truth About Your First “Big” Event No One Talks About

Here’s the reality: your first “big” event can either move your business forward or quietly drain your time, money, and confidence.

You’re working out of your in-home studio. You’ve got talent, ambition, and a head full of ideas. Then it happens:

Your first major inquiry lands.

Your heart jumps, your brain starts designing before the client has even booked, and without really slowing down to think through the numbers, you do what most new designers do:

You say yes.

You schedule the consultation. You meet with the client, talk colors, textures, style, mood. You walk away thinking, “This could be it. This could be the event that puts me on the map.”

Then you sit down to build the proposal.

Instead of starting with clear recipes and hard numbers, you start with feelings:

• “Fifteen centerpieces at $250 each sounds like a lot…”

• “A $1,000 arch feels high… I hope that doesn’t scare them away.”

You’re thinking like someone who’s grateful for the opportunity, not like a business owner responsible for profit.

You send the proposal anyway.

The client comes back with the classic line:
“We love it… but is there any way to bring the price down?”

Because you want the event, the photos, the review—you agree. You lower the price, maybe tweak a few vague details, but you don’t fully rebuild the proposal to match the new budget. On paper, it still looks like the same event for less money.

You celebrate landing it. You tell friends and family. You feel proud.

That’s the high.
The low comes later.

When you start ordering product, it hits you:
the numbers don’t really support what you promised.

You choose premium flowers because you want the event to look beautiful. You estimate stem counts instead of locking in solid recipes. You’re designing to match inspiration images with a budget that doesn’t quite match the reality.

Then design day arrives.

You create the first centerpiece and it’s stunning—lush, full, and exactly what you imagined. You’re excited. By centerpiece seven or eight, you’re looking at your buckets and realizing you don’t have enough to keep that same level of fullness and cover the arch or other installs.

That’s the turning point.

You didn’t plan tightly enough.
You didn’t protect your margins.
You didn’t clearly align the budget with the actual design.

You didn’t just “land” a big event—you partially funded it.

This side of the story rarely shows up on social media, but it’s incredibly common. And that’s why I talk about it now—not to scare new designers, but to help you avoid learning this lesson the hard way.

With the right structure—recipes, real numbers, clear proposals, and boundaries—you absolutely can take on big events and have them be both beautiful and profitable. The key is being honest about the gap between excitement and execution, and tightening that gap before you say yes.

The Must-Do’s If You Actually Want to Survive Your First Big Event

Let’s walk through what you must have in place if you want your first big event to be exciting and sustainable.

1. Recipes. Recipes. Recipes.

If it doesn’t have a recipe with clear stem counts, it’s wishful thinking.

Every single piece needs a plan:

• Centerpieces

• Bouquets

• Arches

• Installs

• Accent pieces

Write out strict recipes for each:

• How many stems of focal

• How many stems of filler

• How much greenery

• Any special blooms or branches

No “I’ll just wing it on design day.” That’s how you run short on product, start pulling from other pieces, and end up with an uneven-looking event. Recipes protect your product, your pricing, and your sanity.

2. Know Where Quality Matters Most

Not every stem has to be premium. That’s reality, not laziness.

A large arch that guests see from across the lawn for 20 minutes is not the same as a centerpiece guests stare at for hours from a foot away.

• Up close, personal, heavily photographed pieces → higher quality, more precise product

• Far-away, large-scale, “impression” pieces → smart mixes, more cost-effective product

This is where understanding suppliers and having a strong wholesale rep becomes crucial. A good rep will:

• Help you choose when to upgrade stems and when to scale back

• Suggest smart substitutions that look good but don’t crush your margins

• Help you maintain consistency in quality over time

Good wholesale relationships are not a bonus; they are part of how you build a profitable, reliable reputation.

3. Charge for Your Time Like It Has Value

Your time is not free just because you love what you do.

You are investing hours into:

• Emails and consultations

• Ordering and logistics

• Processing and prepping product

• Designing

• Packing, loading, delivery

• Set up and breakdown

Even if you don’t say it out loud to anyone else, you need to know your own hourly value. Estimate how many hours the event will take and build that into your pricing.

You’re new, yes. You’re not Martha Stewart. But that doesn’t mean you work for less than your time is worth. If you don’t pay yourself, your business will quietly burn you out.

4. Set-Up and Breakdown Are Separate Services

Set-up and breakdown are not “extra favors.” They are services.

You are:

• Hauling heavy boxes and structures

• Dealing with time-sensitive installs

• Navigating venues, rules, and timelines

• Returning late at night or early the next morning to tear down

That is billable time and effort. It should be clearly listed as:

• Set-up fee

• Breakdown/strike fee

If you keep folding these into your design price “just to keep it simple,” you’re training clients to see your hardest physical work as included and invisible.

5. Don’t Cut Price Without Cutting Deliverables

Clients asking to cut costs is normal. It doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. It does mean you need to handle it clearly.

Rule:

If the price goes down, the scope changes. Every time.

That might mean:

• Fewer arrangements

• Smaller designs

• Simpler mechanics

• Different flower choices

You don’t just say, “Sure, we can lower it,” and leave everything else looking the same on paper.

You send a revised proposal that clearly shows:

• What was removed or simplified

• What flowers or elements were changed

• The new total

That way, when the event happens, there’s no confusion. They got exactly what they agreed to for the updated price. Future you will be very grateful you did this.

6. Know When It’s Not Worth It

Here’s a hard but important question:

Would you rather lose an event or lose money doing it?

If the only way the numbers “work” is for you to underpay yourself, overload your schedule, or drop the quality to a level that doesn’t feel true to your brand, then it might not be a good event for you right now.

You’re allowed to say:

“Given the scope and budget, I’m probably not the best fit for this event.”

That’s not dramatic. That’s professional.

Final Thought

Your first big event shouldn’t be a story about how you impressed everyone and secretly absorbed the loss.

With recipes, smart product choices, real labor pricing, clear proposals, and the willingness to walk away when it doesn’t add up, you set yourself up for something better:

Events that look good, feel good, and actually support the business you’re trying to build—not work against it.