When I started my company, I was 19 years old. I had just gotten married (we were high school sweethearts), and my wife and I both don’t come from affluent families. We needed to make it on our own. My father did balloons my whole life, and I got my incredible work ethic from him. I woke up, went to go set up an event with him, went to school, then went to the balloon shop. That was my life growing up!
When I got married, I was deciding what to do for a career, and all I knew was balloons. Being right out of high school, my options were limited. My wife’s mother said, “You bring my daughter beautiful flowers every week, why don’t you do flowers?” And so I did. I walked around selling flowers on Thursdays and Fridays.
Over time, I bumped into a few women who wanted me to come to their homes and fill their vases with flowers. I knew nothing about luxury at the time. I would come in and design flowers in their vases for them. If I had known the values these vases had at the time, I probably wouldn’t have touched them. They were these gorgeous, crystal vases worth thousands of dollars. It’s a good thing I didn’t know!
Eventually, I started going to clients homes weekly with my service-based business. I would come with boxes of flowers and create beautiful, custom arrangements for them.
This became what I was known for. As time went on, my clients would ask me to do their flowers for bar mitzvahs, weddings, and other events. I never said no to an opportunity.
My name began being recognized and known for the service I was offering, not just my talent. As my company grew, I got the opportunity to move to a new location. A spot opened up at a synagogue that was very well known, and the community asked me to go on that panel because of what I brought to the table. It was a huge opportunity. I left my father’s store and I rode the wave. This led me to my first $10,000 wedding. I spent $15,000 on flowers on that wedding, and another $10,000 on manual labor. I had no idea that taking a rose for $1 and selling it for $2 mean that I was losing $2. It helped me learn a tremendous amount.
As my business grew even more, I realized I needed a business partner. I met one, it didn’t work out. Met another, and he stole from me and the company. The third person I met with was great, but wasn’t a fit. Then, along came Caroline Grief. Caroline interned for me for 6 months, and had come to me to see if she wanted to be in a creative field. Previously, she was a very successful CPA, but wanted to get into a field that was creative and enjoyable for her. After six months, we became best friends, and she decided she wanted to partner with me on this venture.
We went from Josh & Co to Birch Event Design. After trying to figure out names every day, around 2am one night, Caroline and I were at the office designing and proposing, and I was looking at the wall. The wallpaper was a beautiful Birch Tree pattern. I looked at Caroline and said “Birch”. She asked “like Tory Burch?” and I said “Yes, like Tory Burch. But instead of a U, it’s an I.” Birch is a beautiful tree, it’s both masculine and feminine, and the name rolls off the tongue. That’s the night Birch Event Design came to life.
Birch started doing five-figure events. We started pushing our limits, and built the company with an amazing starter team. Through all trials and tribulations, losing and gaining, we learned a lot at a young age. Building a solid foundation with incredible employees is what makes Birch the family everyone knows today. Shockingly and proudly, Birch is just 6 years old.
Throughout our six years, we went through many employees, and were constantly trying to find our niche. Were we just floral? Just creative? Should we do planning? Are we as creative as we think we are? Where we ended up finding ourselves in the market was infusing a sense of architecture and unexpected designs into florals, and our incredible service. This is what we became known for. Our service is the most important part of our company, and has been since we started. Customer first. It’s for them, it’s about them, and that’s how we must treat them.
I will never forget where my beginnings are, and I’m very privileged to be where I am now with Caroline and our Birch family. I feel very humbled by the success of Birch in the short amount of time. To be compared to and know such titans in our industry who have been doing this for decades has been a blessing. We are going against big names in the business, and I feel so stupidly humble to know and to be bidding against these names for the same caliber of jobs. The opportunities coming our way with clients and partnerships is outstanding, and Instagram has been a huge tool for that. We have 42k Instagram followers, and tens of thousands watch our Instagram stories weekly. Birch is incredibly inspiring to me, and the craziest part is that I’m privileged to be a part of it.
The Birch Event Design team designs events that wow hosts, guests and fashion influencers alike. Starting with a blank canvas, our forward-thinking designers, florists, producers and strategists partner with you or your event planner to produce a truly memorable event. At Birch Event Design, we know that “something different” means something different to every client. That’s why we begin creating from within your vision, discovering what makes you go “wow!” and designing an event that perfectly expresses that energy. Birch Event Design might explore a favorite dress, movie or hotel lobby to create a world that is remarkably and unforgettably you. A wide-open space. A field of new fabrics. A sketchpad of architecture. Birch Event Design lives for the challenge of transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary; of elevating missable details into delightful finishing touches. Sketching in an empty space, Birch Event Design loves the chance to bring the spark of an idea to awe-inspiring life.
– Josh Spiegel, Birch Event Design President & Creative Director
