Growing Profitable Revenue Streams, Part 3: Curated Buckets for DIYers
Finding the right revenue stream(s) for your flower farm is critical, and I’m writing this blog series in the hopes that you will be able to find yours with much less time and effort than I expended. In finding that answer for my farm, I explored (and by explored, I mean I did) 11 of the 18 different revenue streams I cover in the Revenue Stream Compass. This resource covers all the things I’d wish I’d known before I started out; I would have saved precious time and other resources, not to mention lowered my stress levels.
This blog series, on the other hand, tells my personal journey behind these explorations. The first installment covered selling via consignment—because those were the first flowers I ever sold, and the second one covered wholesale sales to florists. This blog covers my experience with selling curated buckets for DIYers, which—despite what you'll read here—is still one of my favorites. But I had to learn some painful lessons in order to get here.
Bloom Buckets: DIY Florals for Hands-On Customers
Selling bulk flowers to DIY brides is a great way to move large volumes of flowers by creating curated buckets in which the flower farmer selects the right ingredients to make the customers’ designs and—my favorite part—curates the colors for their chosen palette. This appeals to budget-conscious clients who love the creativity of arranging their own florals, and bulk sales give the farmer the flexibility to sell what’s in season without needing to design bouquets or arrangements. DIY buckets are one of my favorite sales channels, but they were also the source of one of my most frustrating encounters with a client, ever.
For some customers, we are able to accommodate very specific color palettes. But for the most part, we sell our DIY buckets according to a handful of color palette options that we’ve already provided according to what we’ll have growing that season. For example, customers can choose a white and blush palette (like photo 1) or a farmer’s choice palette (like photo 2).
DIY Drama: Managing Unskilled Ambitions
The initial inquiry was relatively routine, though, in retrospect, there were some red flags. One of the bride’s aunts had floral experience and would be leading a team of friends and family to make all of the wedding florals—including the bridal bouquet. This can be a red flag because bridal bouquets are more difficult to create than most people think, and the garden-inspired look that we are known for is one of the hardest to pull off. As I always did, I gently inquired as to the plan for the bridal bouquet, suggesting that they let us—or another florist—create it, letting them focus the DIY efforts on bridesmaid bouquets and reception decor. But the customer was adamant that they had the necessary skills and could pull everything off.
The second red flag was the number of questions the caller (who was not the bride) subsequently asked, because anyone with the skills to pull off what they planned to do (their plans included a flower-covered arch) would never have asked the questions they were asking. I spent hours answering questions via email and over the phone with the client.
The Plight of the Pansies
When the time came to curate the buckets for the event, I was thrilled with what I had to work with. It was peony season, and so there were several buckets of peonies, but the other flowers I selected were going to be equally important in enabling the client to create stupendously gorgeous arrangements. I was particularly excited about the pansies. Not known for being long-stemmed, pansies—when grown appropriately—can have 18-inch stems (plenty long enough for a bridal bouquet or table arrangement) and have phenomenal vase life. The pansies were streaked with the two main hues (besides white) the bride had asked for—burgundy and lavender. Floating above the rest of the bridal bouquet, those pansies were going to tie everything else together and be the crowning glory of the entire floral arrangement.
Or so I thought.
The curated buckets in the bride’s chosen color palette of lavender and burgundy included a mix of seasonal favorites, with pansies providing the perfect color accent. You can see the pansies in the front of the bucket on the lower right. They perfectly tied together both the burgundy and lavender.
About an hour after the bride’s flower arranging team had picked up the buckets, I saw a van in the driveway. That was strange, because I wasn’t expecting any more customers for the day. I headed outside right as one of the van’s passengers stepped out of the vehicle. In her arms was the bucket with the pansies.
“We came back because we don’t know what to do with these,” she said, as she set the bucket down on the driveway. “Could we get more peonies, instead?” I took a deep breath and counted to three in my head, working hard to calm the swirling thoughts.
The first of these thoughts was the fact that peonies have a significantly different price point than the other, non-focal flowers in the bucket containing the pansies, and so replacing those flowers with peonies would erode my already non-existent margin on the order (given the amount of time I’d spent on the phone answering the customers’ questions). Second, I didn’t have any more peonies in the bride’s color palette—they were all promised to other customers. Third, the flowers in the bucket that was now sitting in the driveway had all been selected, harvested, processed, curated, counted, re-counted, conditioned, and stored just for this customer. A lot of time and effort had already gone into this order, none of which I was going to get back. So, no. I was not going to replace that bucket with more peonies.
As my brain coalesced around a reply that did not belie my frustration and disbelief—keep in mind, working with wedding clients means being good at de-escalating stressful situations—I started by asking a few questions. It quickly became clear that there had been something of a coup d'état within the flower-making support team, and the aunt had been deposed as the lead bouquet designer. Instead, one of the bride’s friends pulled out her phone to show me what they had started to create. It was hard not to show my horror. In fact, it probably did show.
A "Hazardous" Arrangement
The “bouquet” was a combination of four massive peonies—each one a different variety. With barely any other flowers to break up the shape, the peonies essentially formed a square, with each quadrant a different color. You may not believe that a group of peonies could look bad. But you would be wrong, and this “bouquet” was proof. The more I looked at it, the more it reminded me of a chemical hazard sign, with it’s four quadrants of different colors combined into a diamond shape. I asked the young women what the bride thought, and their answer made me certain that this poor bride was being railroaded by her overconfident, highly opinionated friends. When I looked over at the aunt, her facial expression confirmed my hunch. It registered a combination of frustration, concern, and helplessness.
I immediately realized what I needed to do. In case you’re wondering, no—I was not going to make the bride’s bouquet. Even if they offered to pay double my usual fee for a bridal bouquet, that train had long ago left the station. Instead, I pulled up the image, below, on my phone. This bouquet, I explained to them, was made from flowers grown at the same time of year, including peonies. While the color palette was different, it’s the combination of sizes, shapes, and textures that comes from combining multiple flower types together (all six of the flower types that make up the Bouquet Blueprint to be exact) that allows the peonies to shine and provides the visual complexity that gives a bouquet movement and sophistication.
The photo that helped turn the tide. Photo credit: Anne Lord Photography.
There was a long pause as the bride’s friends stared at the photo. Their rush to explain why my flowers “wouldn’t work” evaporated, and one of them asked if I could airdrop the picture (yes, absolutely!). The aunt seized the moment, pointing at the image and saying something like, “This is what I’ve been trying to tell you.” The energy in the air had completely changed by the time they left—with the original bucket in hand. Still, I remember feeling bad not just for the bride and the aunt, but also for the pansies. Even if the bride’s bouquet ultimately looked okay, I knew those pansies would never be appreciated for their ability to be the crowning glory on a beautiful bridal bouquet.
Why DIY Buckets Weren’t a Good Fit (Until Lauren)
When I first started offering DIY buckets, I thought they would be an easy win—flexible for customers, great for moving large volumes of flowers, and a low-pressure way to be part of someone’s special day. But in reality? My lack of organization and inability to set clear boundaries turned what could have been a profitable revenue stream into a time-consuming drain. I found myself answering the same questions over and over. Without a solid FAQ or email templates, I was constantly reinventing the wheel when it came to the answers, and spending hours on “just a few questions” that should have been billed as consulting.
The turning point was when Lauren joined the team. She originally came on board to help in the fields, but it didn’t take long for me to see that her incredible organizational skills and natural ability to set (and hold) boundaries were exactly what I lacked. Lauren stepped in and did what I couldn’t: she put systems in place. She created clear guidelines for what was included with DIY buckets, set limits on the amount of back-and-forth communication, and confidently turned “extras” into add-on services. It wasn’t just a tweak—it was a complete transformation.
Lauren has become a treasured friend and confidant, and her unmatched organization, people management, graphic design skills, and business instincts have transformed Sweet Piedmont Flowers and Sweet Piedmont Academy in countless ways. DIY buckets are just one example of how her strengths balanced my own limitations—a powerful reminder that understanding your skills (and gaps) is key to choosing revenue streams that truly fit. Photo credit (middle and right): Erica D. Photography.
It took me far too long to recognize that my personal strengths (growing beautiful flowers, curating color combinations, and connecting with customers) weren’t enough to make this revenue stream work on their own. Without the right structure and boundaries, pre-Lauren DIY buckets became a money-losing, exhausting fit for my business—even though I loved the concept and the creativity involved. And that’s the thing—what makes a revenue stream profitable and enjoyable isn’t just about the flowers. It’s about whether the person running it is a match for what it demands.
Before You Dive Into DIY Buckets
If you’re considering DIY buckets, consider saving yourself the headache of getting set up and knowing what to do and download my DIY Bucket Toolkit ⬇️. It’s not just about growing the flowers; it’s about having the right systems in place. That’s why we've put together a DIY Bucket Toolkit that includes 10 valuable tools to help you build your products, set up your systems, support your customers, and increase your revenue. Things like:
Stem Count & Composition Sheet to help you build build and sell the right size buckets in every season
Product Page & Order Form Guide to help you identify what information to collect to fulfill orders smoothly and set expectations clearly
Bouquet Bar Builder to help you create a unique, marketable product offering that generates even more revenue and is customizable to your business
Revenue Retention Guide to help you keep sales regular, stay connected with your repeat customers, and use an easy, seasonal marketing schedule
The DIY Bucket Toolkit
✅ The easy-button for creating an awesome DIY Bucket offering and selling it ASAP:
Bucket ingredients in every season
Seasonal color palettes that SELL
How to take quality product photos
Ideal sales language for product pages
Done-for-you customer support pages & FAQ
Bouquet Bar and Wedding add-ons that generate more revenue!
🌸 TEN tools and templates are INCLUDED!
A Bigger Question…
But the bigger question is this: How do you know if DIY buckets (or any revenue stream) is the right fit for you? That’s exactly why I built the Revenue Stream Compass. Not every revenue stream is right for every farm—or every farmer—and finding the ones that are can completely change your business. Join the Waiting List for the Revenue Streams Compass to be the first to get access when it launches.
Next up in this series: Farmers markets—an absolute game-changer for my business, and one of the most powerful ways I built a loyal customer base.