I've been hearing about the Society of Wildflowers conference since around spring 2023. I was invited to teach a class so I blocked out 5'ish days in July 2024 and here we are! I am not going to talk about the behind the scenes and being a volunteer, in this post I am going to focus on the conference and what it had to offer.
This conference (SOW=Society of Wildflowers) was held at the Art hotel in Laguna beach. The employees were very nice to interact with and were always jumping up to assist if we needed something or bring us popsicles in the afternoon.
Here's a view of the front lobby and registration area. The conference started Wednesday however there were no classes or meals. Attendees could go to the Sawdust festival or Pageant of the Masters if they wished to.
The artisian shop was set up in the lobby as well. I took pictures though before too many artists put their wares out. Sorry about that, there was some really cool stuff!
I did manage to capture a little bit...
Thursday morning started with breakfast. I did not get a great photo of the setup but you can see there was also hard boiled eggs among other things on the table. On my plate, there's an egg folded over with some cheese inside, fruit and muffins. It's been a long time since I have been to a conference that has provided meals included with the cost of attending (or volunteering/teaching) so it was nice to only worry about getting 1 meal a day on my own vs. all 3.
Before I go further, I want to talk about entering to win giveaways. As you can see in the food photo above, these papers were set out at breakfast for anyone who wanted to participate. I liked being able to scan the QR codes of prizes I really wanted to win, doing whatever I was supposed to do (give a follow to the brand usually) and that's it. It did get switched up a little on Friday when we had to take a picture of our completed paper and email it in. It took some extra time but was manageable.
A pause to admire the decor...
Opening words by Crafty Chica
and
my friend Cassandra who shared a beautiful poem for the conference.
My first class of the day was by Michelle and she taught us how to make crafty paper! This is something I've been intrigued by and it was really cool to learn the process.
Michelle was a great teacher and explained everything clearly so it made the process really easy.
Another break for pretty decor...
I helped set lunch out and it looked amazing. The pineapple was so fresh and sweet, the purple flowers were such a nice touch. I enjoyed the chicken more than the beef but it was nice to try both meats.
I wasn't teaching my class on Thursday (just Friday & Saturday) so in-between helping with various things, I was able to sit and do some quick learning in crafty classes.
I did get to assist my friend Rachel in her ice-dying class and even got to make a bandanna of my own!
My friend LaWanna taught the string art class so I sat and put one together when an extra spot became available. Pretty fun to do and I liked the variety of dried flower options.
I took a watercolor class and learned some different techniques. That was really cool.
After classes I helped set up for the evening party. This included stretching clear, flat, balloons that would eventually be inflated and set afloat in the pool. I also helped activate floating lights. It all ended up looking really pretty.
Mocktails before dinner and this one was so delicious. I was over the moon with the toasted mallow!
It's a Mexican fiesta! This meal was crazy delicious.
I wish I had had room inside my stomach for another round!
The evening activities consisted of a mermaid in the pool (I didn't capture any photos of this), henna and face painting, drinks and more fun activities that I did not participate in because I was busy with volunteering aka getting the dinner cleaned up and put away. That took quite awhile.
You can't see this robe very well but I helped make the fluffy tulle pom poms that were all over it and attendees could wear and pose with it on.
A couple extra photos from the day. Awesome sponsors!
If you don't want to miss out next year, you can snag a ticket here, on sale until September 1. On September 1, the price will go up. The conference will be July 16-20, 2025 in Laguna Beach.
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