Two's A Company: Two Minutes with Wedding Florist | Mr. Pangha from Udaya Decorations Cambodia

Pretty ladies : The team heading Udaya Decoration....

A local florist and decoration company borne from the passion of a group of talented young Khmers, Udaya Decorations serves up floral arrangements and light decorations for all sorts of events, ranging from weddings to birthday parties. They are not short of ideas for your wedding and would certainly help you personalize your wedding in many-a-ways!

We catch up with Mr. Pangha, partner and co-founder at Udaya for a 2-minute chat to talk about flowers, weddings and Cambodia.

How long have you been in the business of designing flowers for weddings and special occasions?

We have been established for close to 3 years in the wedding industry in Cambodia.

Tell us more about your area of specialty in terms of your floral arrangement styles.

Our style is simple, sweet and attractive. We always try our best to create new styles for every client using our own accessories

What are usually the standard arrangements that are requested by clients for their wedding decoration?

When clients request for flowers & decoration for their weddings, generally it'll be set-up for the traditional ceremonies at the bride's house and the standard items here would be the backdrop. For the evening reception, the standard requests that we get would be the stage decoration, aisle and table arrangements.

Share with us more about your working style. What is your working process from A-Z?

As an independent & innovative event decorator, our process is specifically tailored for each client. However, generally it entails the following steps :

First, we would describe our services in detail to the client and understanding the client's full requirements for their event. This will also include showing the portfolio of our previous work to clients to let them have a feel of what they can do with their theme colours, styles, type of flowers, etc.

We will always ask for a budget from the clients and then from here, we will work out a proposal and the quotation. After the quotation is approved and deposit paid, we will lock in the date of the client's event and start our own internal planning, for example, purchase orders of flowers, accessories, etc.

Being in Cambodia, we understand that sometimes, flower stock is a major problem and certain types of flowers are not easily obtainable. Why do you think this happens?

This is a major problem that we face here in Cambodia. Cambodia doesn’t grow much of our own flowers so the wholesalers need to import from neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Vietnam to meet market demands. But you see, the wholesalers only import the most popular types of flower so for most of us in the flower business, we just have to rely on the wholesaler in terms of what they can offer. When clients request for a specific kind of flower, we need to make a special order with the wholesaler, but the worse part is that they cannot guarantee if they can get it in for us or not. That's when we would have to go Thailand or Vietnam to get the specific flowers requested.

In your opinion, what do you think about the wedding industry of Cambodia in general? Do you think there is a great potential for the wedding industry in Cambodia to grow?

The wedding industry in Cambodia is definitely growing. Nowadays, we see more and more modern styles and creativity being requested as compared to previous years. Most of the clients are willing to spend their budget when it comes to flowers and decoration because they want to create something that is "wow" and memorable to their guests as well.

So, strictly from a point-of-view of a florist and decorator, yes, the potential is huge in Cambodia. It is just really about giving time for the Cambodian people to accept new concepts, new styles, new trends, new designs. Even concept like a wedding planner is rare right now. But soon, the Cambodians will start using wedding planners and trusting them to plan their weddings as well.

Very soon, Cambodia will be just like any of the modernized countries, like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand *smile* It'll happen once there is market demand for modernized and personalized weddings. Of course, on our part, we need to educate the market too !

Oh, I definitely agree with you! We need to let the market know that there are other styles to consider, other colours, other materials, other flowers. Right? Anyway, what do you think is the biggest hurdle for the local wedding industry to overcome?

The biggest hurdle for local wedding industry to overcome is the sourcing of flowers. When flowers need to be imported they may not arrive fresh because sometimes, the suppliers do not know how to handle the flowers. When we use these flowers that don't look too fresh, our clients complain.
I just hope that in the future, Cambodia will start growing our own flowers to satisfy the market demands.

I wish and hope for the same thing too *smile* Before we part – can you share 5 Top Tips for the couple when choosing their Wedding Flowers?

- Allocate the correct budget for your expectations
- Think about personalizing your styles for your wedding. What is your favourite colours?

- Share with your chosen florist what you really dream of but be mindful that sometimes, resources may be limited but work with your florist to achieve the best desired outcome

- Think of colour combos that complement one another.

- Again - budget planning! So important!

Yes, yes. Budget planning is so important! Well, thank you so much for your time, Mr Pangha! Orkun Charan and here's looking forward to working more with you for future!

______

Some of Udaya's work....