Ever since Jennifer Grove started pruning the roses in her mother’s poolside garden as a child. I mean she’s been obsessed with flowers. “I live in New York City now, so while I don’t get my hands dirty in the garden anymore. Yet working with flowers has always been part of my daily work life.”
PR
A career in public relations meant working closely with floral designers to produce stylish decor for hotel and restaurant openings, product launches and charity events. Opening a boutique wedding and event design company meant working closely with brides and florists to turn the “Big Day” dreams into a reality. This usually involved thousands and thousands of flowers.
While designing and planning week after week of soirees, Jennifer grew frustrated with what she witnessed while breaking down her clients’ special events. After spending time, talent and a huge chunk of a client’s budget resources creating perfect table centerpieces overflowing with beautifully styled blooms, she was heartbroken to see so many flowers disposed of at the end of a four-hour wedding reception. When she recognized an opportunity to harness the love, happiness and beauty of the celebration’s flowers to deliver happiness to even more people, she decided to do something about it and launched Repeat Roses.
National Movement
While launching a national movement rooted in kindness, Repeat Roses has also set out to incorporate an eco-friendly sustainability element to the wedding industry. Many newly engaged couples are searching for ways to make their weddings more “green.” Repeat Roses has created a zero-waste service to collect the previously delivered (and now expired) flowers from their partner non-profits for composting.
This full service not only spreads the joy but it diverts a significant amount of event waste volume from landfills where organic waste emits environmentally harmful methane gas. According to the US EPA, methane (CH4) is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted in the United States from human activities. Pound for pound, the comparative impact of CH4 on climate change is over 20 times greater than CO2 over a 100-year period.
Going Green
Imagine if every wedding, charity gala and special event took steps to be more green and sustainable. Repeat Roses is on a mission to bring this to fruition for individuals, corporations and large events. Most recently, the Company repurposed flowers donated by wedding couples in Austin, Texas in order to create event decor and table accents for the Rainforest Partnership’s “Films For The Forest” event at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival. The flowers continued their journey to the Ronald McDonald House in Central Texas where the lush blooms’ beauty brightened up the day for residents.
“I find it heart-warming and compelling to know these generous Austin newlyweds’ first acts as married couples was one of kindness and sustainability,” notes Grove. “Choosing to start their marriage this way is such an inspiring sign of love for one another, giving back to the local community and protecting the world we all live in.”
Words to live by.
Seth- I love this article. Not only is it paying it forward, but flowers have such a profound impact on our well-being that thousands of more people are now gaining the benefits of being around these living works of art. Thanks for sharing. Fran