

Today we’d like to introduce you to Suzanne Grycel and Erin Iler.
Hi Suzanne and Erin, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
There’s an emotion that is created when someone receives a custom bouquet of flowers. Hope, happiness, healing, a memory of time past. . . each hand-picked floral design is created with the receiver’s heart in mind. We want to create timeless floral arrangements that cannot be replicated because each person is unique just like the flowers we are using. Flowers have deep roots in our family history. It started in the 1940s with Erin’s great-grandmother and Suzanne’s grandmother. Since then, the love of plants, gardening, utilizing herbs for family recipes has seeped into our daily lives.
Iler Meadows is a family-owned wedding florist based in Monrovia, CA. We are a mother-and-daughter duo who are hopeless romantics. We create each wedding as if it were our own.
So, let’s tell our story. In January of 2020, we were asked to design a wedding for a family friend. We gifted this floral creation as a surprise to the bride and groom. It was a moody- blush and burgundy winter wedding. We designed in a kitchen on a cold winter night. Little did we know that three years later, we would be a blooming floral business that has received numerous awards for our unique floral designs in Southern California and beyond.
When the Pandemic hit, our ideas to start a business completely halted. We did not know at that time how we would be able to launch this passion into a business.
Fast forward to January of 2021- another dear friend helped us launch (with no monetary cost) @iamthekelry our website. The goal was to start slow and design micro weddings and bouquets for special events. We did one photo shoot in a beautiful meadow and literally hoped for the best.
From the soft launch of our website, we did holiday floral specials and began to reach out to other businesses in the wedding industry to see if we could begin some collaborations.
Thank you to Lisa Sigala Clark at Saint Clark Bridal Suite for truly believing and mentoring us. She took us under her wing and began to promote us to all of her clients and other wedding vendors that she worked with. We design out of Suzanne’s outdoor art studio that truly feels like we are working in a beautiful botanical garden.
All of our consultations take place in Erin’s she shed amidst drying florals and botanicals that we source locally.
The team at Iler Meadows will create a vision board that works with your ideas and wishes for the day while being mindful of your budget. They can create arrangements with either fresh or dried flowers. Their fresh flowers are sourced from growers across southern California, and they also work with selected vendors from the Los Angeles Flower Market. Some of the arrangements they can create include bouquets, aisle and altar decor, and centerpieces.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
One of the biggest challenges was launching during a global pandemic. We didn’t have a brick and mortar store front and honestly, businesses were not fully open during that time. So, we had to get creative on how to build our brand. So, we started to host our consultations on zoom, we did multiple photo shoots for free (to have more exposure) of our floral designs, we also did many giveaways on our social media to gain more followers on our site. We also prided ourselves that no wedding was too small! Since it was mostly micro weddings, we had time to hone our craft and really focus on unique floral visions.
When we initially started it was just the two of us from sourcing our florals, prepping stems, designing, transporting, setting up, clean up, and the list goes on. As we started to gain momentum, we realized that we needed assistance. However, the major challenge was finding the right individuals with the qualities we were wanting with our floral business. Thankfully, after some trials and errors, we are proud to have found part-time assistants that truly help bring these floral visions to life.
Another challenge was how to source our florals responsibly. We truly believe in sustainability and we wanted to provide high-quality florals but also know where the florals are being sourced from. We worked with multiple vendors at the Downtown LA Flower Mart until we found the ones we truly wanted to have a lasting business relationship with. We are proud to also say that we work with many local flower farms in Southern California. We also grow many of our own botanicals and herbs that we use in our floral designs. We have turned our own yards into a workable source for wedding floral visions. We are mindful about what we plant and cultivate on our own property’s so that these botanicals can be used for arrangements.
Another major challenge has been the inflation in Southern California and beyond. What we were able to design a year ago for a budget-friendly wedding has almost doubled in cost (with our wholesale pricing.) However, we are mindful of each couple’s budget and try to create a wedding of their dreams. Through our complimentary consultations, we are able to have honest conversations about what is in season, cost-effective ideas to bring the floral vision to life.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We truly feel what sets us apart is that we can bring every couple’s unique vision to life. This last year was a definite reflection of stretching our artistic abilities in the world of floral design. From boho to rustic farm style, from classic to tropical, from French romantic to minimalist, we have researched and worked with an array of fresh floral stems and botanicals. We are known to walk the unbeaten path, down country roads, though chaparral to a beautiful ocean cliff, we are ready to bring the floral inspiration to life.
Iler Meadows also prides themselves in making connections with each client. We take the time to consult and learn your vision for your unforgettable day. The team at Iler Meadows will create a vision board that works with your ideas and wishes for the day while being mindful of your budget. They can create arrangements with either fresh or dried flowers. Their fresh flowers are sourced from growers across southern California, and they also work with selected vendors from the Los Angeles Flower Market. Some of the arrangements they can create include bouquets, aisle and altar decor, and centerpieces.
WE also celebrate diversity with all of our couples. We celebrate a variety of religions, cultures, and traditions. Love is love and we promote all couples in their wedding journey!
We are a full-event floral business. We initially started with just creating unique arrangements. However, if a client works with Iler Meadows, we provide an array of services, from bridal bouquets to arch decor, to ceremony and reception arrangements, floral installations, sustainable floral services (sourcing all CA natives), and the list goes on. . .
We are extremely humbled and proud by the amount of support and followers we have received in two years. We went from having 20 followers on our social media to almost 1,000 followers. We have been featured as a preferred vendor for the following vendors: Something Borrowed Something New, Saint Clark Bridal Suite, DSide Production based in San Diego, Cassidy Photography, Evelyn Events.
WE have also received awards from the following: The Knot Best of Weddings 2023, Couple’s Choice Awards 2023, and The Best of Zola 2023.
What matters most to you?
By far, Relationships are at the forefront of our business. We truly believe we need to develop a rapport with each one of our clients before we begin to talk florals. We are usually contacted for an event that is one of the most important days of an individual’s life. With that being said, we take time to get to know each client through a consultation and hear their story. We truly want to have trust and honesty with every couple.
We value our customers, the flower farms we work with, and the assistants we choose to work on the Iler Meadows team. We believe that with every floral vision, we put a bit of ourselves into the final product. We hold very high standards for ourselves which transpires into our floral design and creations.
We also honor the story of each couple. We are hopeless romantics and we want to bring each couple’s story to life through our floral designs. We love to hear about cultures and traditions and we incorporate that into our floral creations.
We hold true with Walt Disney’s words, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
Pricing:
- Bridal Bouquet $250- $350
- Arch Decor $900- $2,000
- Table Garlands $75-$150
- Sweetheart Table $150-$300
- Table Arrangements $90-$125
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ilermeadows.com
- Instagram: @iler_meadows
Image Credits
@marlynaphotographs @howieephotography @cassidyophotos @musemomentsphotos