Life’s most meaningful events are meant to be celebrated. Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, retirements, new homes, new jobs and new babies—all these occasions are more meaningful when shared with family and friends. When you want those extraordinary moments to be celebrated with the style and flair that they deserve, it’s time to turn to the talented women of Petal & Forrest, who know everything there is to know about planning the most special of special events.

Since 2003, Freda Cruél, Dawn Hall, Rachel Levinsohn and Judy Moran have been sharing their distinctive design sensibilities with clients throughout the Lansing area and beyond. Together, they make memorable events even more memorable with their unique blend of fresh ideas, traditional elegance and unexpected touches.

According to Dawn Hall, “We are longtime friends with similar work backgrounds in creative fields.  When Rachel’s sister was getting ready to plan her wedding, she asked us for help. We had a great time working together to put together a wedding, which was, I have to say, just fantastic. I began to think, we could really turn this into a business.”

Judy Moran adds, “We started out thinking we could do maybe one event a month. Actually, we thought we’d be lucky to even have the opportunity to do one a month. We started out small. In fact, our first ‘shop’ was in Dawn’s basement.

“My concern was whether we’d be able to stage the kind of sophisticated and stylish events we wanted to and make a profit. Would we be able to keep our high standards and still make prices affordable?”

Rachel Levinsohn was put in charge of researching both what they would need to start their business on a sound financial footing and how to price their goods and services in a way that would allow them to maintain their impeccable standards, provide their customers with good value and make a decent profit. Levinsohn says, “We started out from day one knowing that we never wanted to be in debt.”

“And,” Moran adds, “we never have been. Thanks to Rachel’s guidance, we’ve made money from the very beginning.”

According to Hall, “We have tapped into everyone’s individual strengths and talents and learned together both how to run a business and how to stay true to our creative vision. We started out as friends and we’ve remained friends. We communicate with one another honestly, and that makes our work a pleasure.”

“We’ve found that whatever we are doing, it’s always better when we work together,” Moran adds.

“We don’t go in much for titles in our business—we’re all partners,” Hall says. With laughter, the four women decide that Levinsohn’s title should be “Financial Wizard”; Moran’s will be “Creative Goddess”; Hall should be known as “Marketing Guru”; and Cruél will henceforth be called “Woman of Wisdom.” It’s obvious that they know one another well and share strong bonds of affection and respect.

And what has happened to their original plan of producing 12 events a year? Today, it’s more like 80 events a year!

“About 85 percent of our business is wedding related, and, during the peak wedding season, we often have three to five weddings on a single weekend,” says Hall. “We also work on wedding receptions, bridal and baby showers, graduations, birthdays and anniversaries, as well as corporate events like holiday/annual parties, product launches, grand openings, retirement celebrations and recognition meetings.”

Petal & Forrest, as their website says, “turns up the volume on special events.” They are responsible for the overall look of an event, which might include flowers, linens, lighting and décor—as Moran says, “everything you see when you walk into the venue.” And, rest assured, that look will be sensational.

As to their wedding clients, Hall says, “We love our brides and feel honored that they are including us in their special day. It’s a joy for us to be part of this most important occasion.”

“We can honestly say,” Cruel adds, “we’ve never had a ‘bridezilla.’ Every one we’ve worked with has been wonderful.”

According to Moran, “For all of our events, but especially for weddings, it’s all about the details. We don’t work from a standard FTD book; every bouquet and floral arrangement we create is unique. Whatever the event, our design will be something no one has ever seen before.”

Petal & Forrest’s “back room” is full of unusual vases and other containers, mirrors, natural elements and antique and one-of-a-kind pieces the women have picked up at antique shops, design studios and even garage sales. Hall remembers, “One bride wanted her wedding to have a casual, vintage feel. We searched and found dozens of milk glass containers, all different, to use for the flowers. We managed to create just exactly the look she wanted.”

Petal & Forrest are not strictly event planners; they don’t choose the venue, create the menu, cater the event or arrange for the entertainment. However, they do consult with their clients on these elements and maintain a “friends list” of providers whose work they know and trust. They work with their clients to choose the professionals who will help create the perfect event. Hall says, “We want the journey to be just as special as the big day itself.”

Asked about wedding trends, she says, “Despite the economy, it seems to us that weddings are becoming even bigger and more elaborate.”

Adds Moran, “We have done weddings that include not just the wedding itself but also a cocktail reception immediately following, then a sit-down dinner and, at the end of the evening, an elegant lounge set up for drinks and dancing.”

Following up on her comment about the economy, Hall says, “We started this business when the economy was just beginning its downturn. But we have done amazingly well. We doubled our revenue in the first three years and now are seeing our business increase by 50 percent annually. We just haven’t experienced the economic woes that some of the area has seen.”

In fact, they are doing so well that they will soon be moving (their fourth move up) to a larger facility at 1491 Haslett Road. They hope to be completely moved by the end of January, 2009.

“We love Lansing, and we appreciate the opportunity we’ve been given in this community. We want to make Lansing even more wonderful by creating great events,” says Hall.

Besides the work they do to benefit the business, they make sure that Petal & Forrest benefits the community as well. Each year, they plan and present one large charity event at no cost to the nonprofit they choose. They have contributed their time and talent to the Humane Society, Lansing Christian School and Sparrow Hospital, among others.

According to Levinsohn, “We can’t do all of it ourselves anymore. We have hired and trained a group of responsible employees who help us with setup and teardown of our events. Of course, at least one of us is at every event to make sure everything goes perfectly. We pride ourselves on our meticulous attention to detail, and that will never change, no matter how many events we design.”

Petal & Forrest’s website is as beautifully realized as their design expertise in everything they do. The photographs displayed there give a sense of the easy elegance and unique capabilities of this group of young entrepreneurs. They are, as their motto declares, “guardians of good taste.”