Daily Herald Article
"Success Story" Column |
Tiny Tim's nuptials make name for floral arranger
 When Linda
Sliwa was preparing for her marriage ceremony in September, her mother noticed something
very familiar.
"After I told
her who I was using for my flower arrangements, she told me she used the same guy when she
got married in 1964," said Sliwa, who had 360 guests at the Palmer House Hilton &
Towers, Chicago. "I said, 'Get outta here."
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At the Aberdeen's Wedding Flowers shop at the
House of Brides store in Schaumburg, florist
Jim Harney discusses his unique bridal bouquets.
Daily Herald Photo/Gilbert R.
Boucher II |
That
guy, Jim Harney, has been in the wedding flower arrangement business for 42 years, and as
founder of Aberdeen Flowers, he has seen nearly every combination, both floral and human.
In fact, Harney
keeps a running list of his top 10 most spectacular weddings.
At one wedding, he
catered to 76 bridesmaids and groomsmen. In another, 134 women came dressed in matching
gowns. And then there were the three sisters who married in a triple wedding.
But the pivotal
wedding for his once fledgling business was the marriage of novelty song artist Tiny Tim
on the "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson in 1969.
"After the
wedding of Tiny Tim on the Johnny Carson show, business zoomed," Harney said.
Tiny Tim's hit at
the time was "Tip Toe Through The Tulips," and Harney spotted an opportunity.
Obviously, Tiny Tim would want lots of tulips for the wedding, but tulips were out of
season.
So Harney called
Holland, Mich., and cornered the winter tulip market. In exchange for the publicity, he
provided 10,000 tulips to the show, which was one of the highest-rated for Carson at the
time.
"The response
was so big, I had to get another two telephone lines," Harney said.
However, the Tiny
Tim wedding was a hard act to follow. He devised "The Tricia Rose," for the
White House wedding of Tricia Nixon. But it didn't generate half as much buzz.
Through word of
mouth and the occasional high-profile wedding, Harney has built his business into the
largest in the Chicago area that specializes in wedding flower arrangements. Putting his
stores in bridal salons such as House of Brides and David's Bridals, he has stores in Glen
Ellyn, Lombard, Naperville, Oak Lawn and Schaumburg -- a dozen in all.
Putting
arrangements together at his headquarters on Chicago's Northwest Side, he makes sure
arrangements are fresh by adding staff later in the week. Aberdeen can swell from two
full-time employees early in the week to 126 part-time employees as it nears the weekend.
And by
specializing in bridal flower arrangements, Harney prides himself on having sources for
gaining access to exotic flowers from around the world.
The downside of
being in the business for 42 years is that no business is perfect and mistakes have
occurred. But Harney has a policy that he said has worked through the years.
"You have to
remember this is the most important day in these brides lives," he said, "so we
bend over backwards to make sure it goes right." |
Business profile:
Name: Jim Harney
Age: 61
Business: Aberdeen Flowers
Revenue: $1.5 million
Philosophy: We do anything to please the bride.
By Mike COMERFORD
Daily Herald Business Writer |
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