In-Depth Interview with Floral Designer Cape Lily -Munaluchi Bride

Being the daughter of a florist, Sylvia has grown up in the floral industry, bringing a lifetime of experience to her company Cape Lily, officially founded in 2016. Cape Lily is a wedding & event floral design company with a focus on seasonal, unique florals, while also offering immersive travel tours to beautiful botanical destinations. Cape Lily’s style is natural, elegant, edgy and a little wild. Motivated by “creating memorable experiences that have an impact on peoples’ lives,” Cape Lily is sure to make all your floral dreams come true.

Read all about Cape Lily in this informative and inspiring in-depth interview.

Name: Sylvia Lukach
Business Name: Cape Lily
Founded: 2016

Describe your business. Our business has two parts: Wedding & Event Floral Design with a focus on seasonal, unique florals, and Immersive travel tours to interesting botanical destinations like South Africa. Sometimes this can lead to fun synergies like planning a client’s wedding flowers as well as their honeymoon.

What did you do before starting your business in the wedding industry? I’m South African so my first job was actually in marketing for the South African government in the UK. After that I was a management consultant in the UK and US for many years specializing in IT services but I always knew I wanted to own my own business. Flowers and travel were my passion outside of work and areas I knew enough about to start a business in so one day I finally pulled the plug on corporate life.

How long have you been in the wedding industry? My mom was a florist so I’ve grown up in the industry but I’ve been doing it “for real” since 2016.

How would you describe your style? Elegant, natural, a little wild and edgy if the client allows. I like to create things that look a bit different and make people stop and think about the flowers.

What motivates you? Creating memorable experiences that have an impact on peoples’ lives. With flowers, this means designing striking pieces that create the ambience and a special feeling that people carry with them long after the event.
Bigger picture, owning a business that generates value to customers is extremely motivating – creating raving fans is my ultimate motivation and a sign that the work we do matters.

Why should brides/grooms choose you? Our focus is on customer experience – rapid response times and a simple uncomplicated process. The flowers will be beautiful and unique, yes, but more importantly your experience with us will be fun and drama free, leaving you time to enjoy your engagement.

How does your company define and measure success? Customer satisfaction is our number one, balanced by annual revenue targets. If we’re doing well on those two metrics it means we have a healthy business.

What do you enjoy most about your work? I love the creative process and storyboarding ideas for wedding flowers. The possibilities are endless so seeing
what emerges as a blend of the couple’s vision plus my own knowledge and style is always fun. I love the challenge of owning a business, constantly re-evaluating what’s working and what’s not and I’m a sucker for receiving positive client feedback. I frame all our thank you emails and postcards.

Describe a proud moment while working in the wedding industry. This year we were featured in Florist’s Review Magazine, a major floral industry publication. While all press is great, being recognized by your peers is definitely the best compliment.

What’s the best compliment you’ve received for your work? The best compliment is when people see Cape Lily flowers at an event and recognize the brand. That tells me that our style is consistent and recognizable, which is hugely important to me.

What are your business goals? This year we’re working to grow the number of flower workshops we do (e.g. flower crown bridal showers and team building events) so that the lifecycle of our customer relationship extends beyond just the wedding day.

What’s your favorite part of the wedding industry? I love how collaborative all the vendors are and in particular having friendships with other florists and flower farmers all over the country and the world. Flower people are generally very down-to-earth and lovely people.

What’s your least favorite part of the wedding industry? The inevitable last minute rush when there’s minimal set up time at a venue and the nightmarish logistics we often face in NYC.

Describe your vision of the “perfect” wedding. One that accurately reflects the couple’s personalities, where they get the time to enjoy everything on the day
because all the planning is taken care of, and of course, florals that are strikingly unique adding that special sparkle that has all the guests talking. And finally, the DJ gets the music just right and it’s a great party!

Where do you find the most inspiration? Definitely from travel and observing different cultures. In my day to day, by taking time to be in nature and reading a range of flower, gardening and lifestyle magazines.

Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know? I’m a firm believer in transparency when it comes to pricing. If we work together you’ll understand the cost of each line item and what goes into that. It’s a myth that wedding flowers cost more than other flowers, you just tend to have more flowers on your wedding day than other days.