uBloom

                                                     Photo by Ellie Bolton Photography

Coming to the US from her homeland of Jakarta, Indonesia right out of high school, Tanti attended college and graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Steven’s Point with a B.S. in Computer Information Systems.  Owner of Papertini, a wedding & events floral business, Tanti happily resides in Philadelphia, PA with her husband & business partner, Neal,  and her chubby & very spoiled kitty,  Jake.

When did your interest in flowers begin?

The first year I moved to Philadelphia (2005-2006), I lived alone because Neal was still finishing up his Master’s in Wisconsin. So I got bored a lot and that’s when I picked up my first floral design "bible" - Paula Pryke’s Flower School: Mastering the Art of Floral Design. So floral design, at that time, was simply…curiosity. I was more into doing paper crafts (card making/scrapbooking/stamping).

What compelled you to start studying floral design?    

The level of curiosity heightens significantly when I first competed at the Philadelphia Flower Show in 2007. It was such an eye opening experience! To be able to see flowers being used ABOVE AND BEYOND "weddings" and "regular arrangements" was like…the "Eureka" moment for me. I wanted to do those "art exhibitions". I felt like I found my canvas. The possibilities become…endless! And that excites me and pushes me to study and learn more via books or talking to people. 

I try to combine other materials with flowers like candles, interesting containers, options such as potted plants, basically any designs that help them stick with their budget. 
I don’t know how to define my style per se, but I can tell you things that I like -IF- I get 100% freedom to do whatever I want: WIRES, feathers (all kinds of feathers…), fruits, herbs, and vegetables. If I can blend in some steel/iron works that will be awesome!  
Staffing….At the core is…Me, Neal, and Mandy Duchesneau, my right hand woman. She has been with me since Day 1. We met when working for the same company back in 2005. She is a crafty jewelry maker and just like me, she has zero floral design background. I pretty much dragged her into this and thankfully, she never looks back.  Besides Mandy, I have about 7-8 lovely and talented ladies who work for me part time/on a need basis. Most of them are pretty much my friends (2 of them are actually my past clients who become friends - who I then dragged into helping me out. LOL!  I like to tell that story a lot.), only 2 actually went through a "normal" hiring procedure where they sent me their resumes and I had to interview them. 
Let’s just say, I have been nothing but lucky and blessed in how I get my staffing built. I wasn’t even looking around, they just pretty much came to me at the right time.  
I identify which staff members have the highest interest in pursuing the field further and I try to sponsor them going to workshops together with me. So we all can be educated and learn together. I think sharing is great and sharing a learning opportunity is even better.  If one day they decide to leave me, at least I know that I have prepped them well so they can do great on their own.   

   

In addition to running Papertini, you enjoy participating in floral design competitions as well as teaching DIY bridal workshops.  Tell us about these floral activities.    

I started Papertini as a side/part time business and at that time, my day job had a lot of down time and was quite boring. I started browsing around looking for inspiration online and I came across information on the Philadelphia Flower Show… AND the best thing about it was… ANYBODY could compete! I was like, YEAH! I had no idea what I was doing, but decided to compete anyway.  For a first timer, I was considered nuts because I competed in 2 classes. My first piece was horrible - it was a design I entered in the Small Arrangement Class. Everything was off, it was just not good. BUT….my advisers from that class were so generous in that they told me what I could have done to make the design better. I learned pretty quick that day and for my next class, I got second place (a dried arrangement/mini competition class).  Last year, I was asked to be an adviser for the Dress Class (which I got a blue ribbon the year prior). I was so shocked that they asked me, that I had to check with the Chair a couple of times to make sure that she was absolutely sure about her decision.  I was a newbie…I mean, I had less than 3 years of experience and all these ladies and gents have been with PHS for over 10-15 years!! It was such an honor. So yeah, I’ll be doing the same position again next year and am looking forward to it.   I really like to encourage people to compete at the Philadelphia Flower Show - at least give it try once. It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about grabbing an awesome opportunity to learn! It’s truly amazing what you can learn from Philadelphia Flower Show. So if anybody at uBloom is interested to compete next year, you know where to find me!   I teach DIY bridal workshops through Mt. Airy Learning Tree. This opportunity came as a suggestion from one of my vendor friends whose venue is being used as a classroom option. I just started this Spring and it was a hit. So I’ll be teaching again this Fall. I really do enjoy teaching. It feels good to share!   Some people may disagree with teaching DIY bridal workshops, but here’s my take on the issue. DIY is NOT for everybody and most DIY projects (particularly wedding projects) need to stay SIMPLE. In Philadelphia, about 30,000 are married every year on average. Even if 10% of that stat are all DIY brides, there’s still enough business to go around. So why are we worried? I also think it is better to educate people because through this workshop, I help them realize how much WORK gets put into doing flowers and they’ll get to appreciate the value even more. AND…hopefully, they’ll share the valuable information with their friends.

You are originally from Jakarta, Indonesia.  How does your SE Asian culture influence your personal floral design style?

Hmmmm….I don’t know if being from Indonesia influences my floral design style per se… 
BUT what I do know is that being from another culture really helps broaden my horizon. It becomes helpful mostly when doing client consultations because I have an awareness of certain traditions in the Asian cultures (although mostly Indonesian, Chinese, Korean and Japanese). For example, I know that no Chinese/Korean/Japanese client would want MUMS (any kinds of mums) in their wedding flowers because it’s their "flower for the dead" - it’s a huge no-no.

I am also bilingual (English and Indonesian), and although it’s rough, I do speak/understand Mandarin Chinese and am learning Korean at the moment. So, sometimes it is helpful particularly when the bride brings in her mother/mother-in-law whose English is not the best -  they feel included when I converse with or at least greet them in their respective language.