Anna Gordon has been enamored with flowers since she was 11 years old. She would assemble bouquets and create arrangements of all sorts even at that early age. Over the years, she has honed that passion into a profession, and after working for a couple of years out of her own house specializing in wedding flowers, she's jumping full-tilt into the floral business with a brick and mortar store overlooking the Brookwood Golf Club in Buchanan.
Anna and her right hand assistant Cassondra Rudlaff of Berrien Springs are targeting April 1st to debut the new home of Flowers by Anna. The new shop at 4796 Niles-Buchanan Road is currently undergoing a major transformation to the new shop, across from State Farm Insurance.
Over the past two years, Anna has crafted the floral arrangements and bouquets for nearly 160 wedding parties and she's already projected to perform for 65 in 2016.
Anna tells me that while she will continue to specialize in weddings, because she loves the work, her new business will be a full scale gift shop as well with all sorts of bridesmaids gifts, Pinterest-inspired creations from local crafters, soy candles, herbs and small plants and even specialty food products from Froelich's of Three Oaks such as coffees, jams, and other preserves.
Sweet Dreams Bakery in St. Joseph will make sugar cookies for inclusion in flower arrangements, and the shop will also provide every-day florals for birthdays, anniversaries, special occasions and even for funeral arrangements.
Anna's parents have always had a fruit and vegetable farm where they also grew fresh cut flowers and herbs. That's where she learned to assemble bouquets and arrangements. When Anna went to Western Michigan University to continue her education, she earned her business management degree but until her last semester she still didn't know exactly what she was going to do. Barcley Johnson of Tara Florists in St. Joseph was her professor, and he suggested she work for a while in his shop to determine if she still wanted to head in the direction of going into business for herself. It worked, and now here she is.
Gordon hails from Berrien Springs, and she is very excited about the new building. Other things she will feature in the shop include hand-crafter bird houses, fresh pies, priceless photos, personalized bridal hangers, cake pops, and vintage refurbished furniture in a shabby chic style which she will use for store displays but will also be for sale to interested buyers. Wreaths of all types, including holiday wreaths in season, will also be offered along with a lot of wedding gifts and rustic home decor inspired by farms and local nature.
Anna's prime focus will continue to be on wedding florals and you can see all that she has to offer during her Grand Opening Open House on April 1st with lots of prizes and gifts-with-purchase options as well.
Flowers by Anna takes the more than 1,500 square foot space that most recently housed Petals & Blooms. In addition to the retail space and showroom, the newly remodeled shop will also feature a Bridal Lounge overlooking the fairways at Brookwood for consultations with new brides, and space to display rental offerings of such things as vases, decorations, table runners and more.
In the future, Anna hopes to offer occasional Wine & Design parties, wherein classes show how to make colorful centerpieces while sipping wines, much like the Wine & Canvas parties that feature "how to" options to budding artists while they enjoy local wines together.
You can follow Anna's progress online through her Facebook fan page which shows dozens of floral displays she has provided over the past several years, and you can learn more online through her web site by clicking the link below.
Once the shop is up and running in a couple of weeks, Flowers by Anna will be open Monday through Friday from 9am until 5pm and Saturdays from 9am until 3pm. The shop will be closed on Sundays.
Here's the link to her website: http://www.FreshFlowersByAnna.com
In the photo above, Anna Gordon is on the left at a recent bridal show, and her sidekick Cassondra Rudlaff is on the right. The photo below is of the building that will house the new shop, taken on the day she signed the deal to buy it.
