Member Profile: Coral Shorrt
Image courtesy of Angelique Smith Photography
Member name: Coral Shortt
Business: Green Goddess Flower Studio | Cape Town, South Africa
Area Serviced: The greater Cape Town Metropole, Cape Winelands and Peninsula
Business Hours: By Appointment only
Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Years in business: as Green Goddess – 4 years, but in the wedding flower business, 7.5 years.
Services Provided by Green Goddess: Wedding & Event Flowers, Event Design (sourcing of lighting, linens, decor, glassware, furniture, etc.), Prop Rental
How long have you been a Chapel Designer? 1 year
Where did you become a Chapel Designer? Chapel Designers Australia
Image courtesy of Debbie Lourens Photography
How has your membership in The Chapel Designers Organization affected your business?
Being a member of Chapel Designers has been an incredibly uplifting experience. There are several specific factors to mention. 1) I never dreamed that I would be able to develop relationships with and come into contact with some of the wedding & flower industry royalty such as Holly Chapple, Isha Foss, Francoise Weeks, Courtenay Lambert, all of whom are Chapel Designers and subscribe to the CD philosophies. In addition, through Chapel Designer conferences, there are many other flower design teachers that I dream of meeting and learning from one day. 2) The CD forum is an incredible source of encouragement, affirmation & guidance for issues like: business development, styled shoot submission, mechanics & recipe questions, staffing and pricing, sourcing of materials, home/work balance trials etc. in which members share of their experience, knowledge and resources in an incredibly generous manner. Whilst being in South Africa does limit what I am able to make use of, the overall output from the forum is priceless and I have been gifted with advice and other information or support on many, many occasions from a huge pool of talented designers the world over. 3) Our work has been exposed to a huge international audience as a result of being a Chapel Designer which is always good for SEO, track record and just general exposure. 4) Holly has our back! For example: she has contacts with international but US based blogs and has batted for us more than once, to get a shoot exposed on a blog with a huge international following, allowing our shoot to make it to the top of the pile and get noticed in a way that might not have happened on its own.
Image courtesy of Hannah Mentz Photography
What do you enjoy most about being a Chapel Designer?
The amazing sense of being part of a huge flower family and knowing that someone, somewhere in the world is in your corner any time of the day or night.
Image courtesy of Debbie Lourens Photography
What are your hopes and dreams for the future of your business?
I have a business partner Chantell, who is not a Chapel Designer directly, but she feels like she knows them all. My dream for our business is to become a leading, trend setting floral designer of choice for all upmarket and luxury weddings in the greater Cape Town area. We want to supply our clients with new and innovative designs, pushing the local event design boundaries and our own boundaries, to create weddings & events that are distinctive, beautiful and bespoke. I also dream of developing a commercial cutting garden, in which we grow flowers & foliage varieties not accessible on our general flower markets – that can move with the trends and fulfill the big gap in our market for unusual species, and keep our work looking fresh and unique in a very populated market.
Image courtesy of Ronel Kruger Photography