Harmony Harvest Farm is a flower powerhouse sitting right in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. Their farm is a production that wows even in the bare of winter, and their business wows every day. This family owned and operated business was amazing to see, and I’m so excited to share their story with you.

The Beginnings of Harmony Harvest Farms

Three women run the business. Jessica Hall is the lead designer and head farmer, her sister Stephanie Auville is the head Frog Slinger and website developer, and their mother Chris Auville is the Chief Flower Officer. Harmony Harvest Farms started with Jessica’s passion of designing flowers for weddings back in high school. Her love for design grew, and while doing corporate green work she asked where flowers came from. The idea for Harmony Harvest Farms started to form when she was told that most flowers are imported from other countries.

Jess continued to build her business of designing flowers. Her mother stepped in to help due to the increasing demand of clients. Chris starting by taking over the inbox, and over time started to have a bigger role in the business. She does all the consults and proposals and is the point of contact for brides talk to.

They found a rhythm together and were able to grow the wedding business quite quickly. Chris is a business go-getter and lives off spreadsheets and data. This allows Jess the creative freedom to be the artist she is meant to be.

“We found a system that allows for strong accountability,” says Jess. “I can be an artist and I can make beautiful things and not feel restricted. We’ve gotten a system down where we can communicate really clearly to our clients what we offer. We firmly believe that everyone should have access to beautiful flowers, so we offer different things at different price points and different service options.”

With this in mind, they decided that they would become flower farmers. They were already livestock farmers, so flower farming was only a pivot. Through networking in the industry they learned design from the best, including Holly Chapple.

Soon after they began, they added a third to their team: Jess’s sister Stephanie. She took over the website development and Frog business. Together, they formed a powerhouse.

“And we’re a very good balance,” says Jess. “We cover the three different main pathways of small businesses, especially in the wedding industry, that you need to take in order to survive, thrive and provide amazing service. We tell our story really well. we’re engaging in our marketing channels. And we put out really quality, beautiful, artistic designs and concepts for our wedding customers. The level of service that they get from us is bar none.”

Part of building their business is always adding new facets. Chris in particular keeps long-term planning in mind . “The vision is always evolving,” says Chris. “You try something and say, you know what, that didn’t work, let’s do something else.” They’re building a design business while learning to develop the infrastructure of growing the flowers. “You know, you don’t put up seven high tunnels and one wedding rental inventory overnight,” says Chris.

The trio built up their business over the years to be one of the most efficient services in the area. Jess has a unique style that brides can fall in love with, but the one thing that makes them stand out from everyone else is the freshness of their flowers.

Fresh Flowers

Harmony Harvest Farm is a 20 acre farm with 7 field acres of intensively grown flowers and 7 high tunnels. It was built from the ground up and will continue to grow, and is a masterpiece to behold. They grow over 200 different flowers and ship nationwide to florists everywhere. They research trends all across the US and the world, while staying fashion forward and providing realistic options for their brides here in the Shenandoah.

80-90% of the flowers in the US are imported from South America, meaning they’re up to three to four weeks old when florists get them. The flowers you get from Harmony Harvest Farm are three to four DAYS old. One of the questions Chris asks brides is who they want to give their flowers to at the end of the evening because they’ll last for several weeks after the wedding. What HHF doesn’t grow, they buy domestic from their extensive networks across the country, so they absolutely guarantee the freshest flowers.

Another question Chris asks is about allergies. The flowers are so fresh and fragrant and they’re so close to your face that they need to be sure brides won’t have an allergic reaction.

“I don’t want them to cry because of us,” says Chris.

“We want happy tears,” says Jess. And happy tears they get.

Working with Brides

“There was a weekend where I had a wedding in Charlottesville,” says Chris. “When I pulled up, the bride comes running out of the venue in her jeans and her hair’s all up and I’m like, ‘What are you doing here already?’ And she goes, ‘Can I see the flowers?’ I opened the back of the car and they were all in there and she’s saying, ‘Oh, so beautiful!’ I picked up her bridal bouquet and handed it to her and I said, ‘This is your bridal bouquet,’ and she literally burst into tears. She said, ‘This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. The tears are just running down her face and I went, ‘Your makeup! Your makeup!’ And she says, ‘I’m good! I haven’t done my makeup yet. Can I take my flowers with me?’ I said, ‘They’re yours.”

The women at Harmony Harvest Farm want to be able to provide fresh flowers to everyone. This especially applies to brides, so they try to work with you to get your dream florals.

One common thing HHF does when their arrangements are a bit out of budget is offer bulk flowers. When you can’t afford for Jess to design everything, she can design your bridal bouquet and you can pick up bulk flowers and design the rest. They try to give helpful tips and a color palette to make it super easy. A helpful tip they use is to repurpose bridesmaids bouquets as centerpieces during the reception so you don’t have to purchase two sets of flowers.

“We tell people, especially a bride, that you’ve probably been thinking about your wedding since you were a little girl, but you’ve probably never priced out wedding flowers. So tell me the fairy tale, and that’s what we will price out. Then we can kind of come back to reality together and hear what’s really important,” says Jess. “You don’t know until you have numbers. We try to really be sensitive to the money side of planning a wedding. I think being kind to our clients speaks volumes as us as vendors, just understanding that there’s people at different price points and some people who really love what you’re providing but not be able to afford much.”

HHF speaks to their brides using their language. Instead of talking about the 200 different kinds of flowers, they use pictures and moods to help translate. Their proposals even have pictures. They use Pinterest as a way to communicate. Jess loves when brides come to her with all their inspirational pictures and it’s actually her own work. “I want my wedding to feel casual and relaxed. Okay, like that says a lot to me versus them trying to be like, I know that word carnation so I’m just going to say it over and over,” says Jess.

They encourage brides to be themselves when they start to think about their florals. You are in good hands with Harmony Harvest Farm. They have a system that provides a luxury service, but does so it in a manner that feels very casual and comfortable.

Prospective clients are directed to the HHF website to fill out a simple inquiry. Chris responds and gets more details about the wedding and starts asking questions that most brides don’t think about, like flowers in the bathroom and other details. They schedule an initial consult with Chris either over the phone or at a coffee shop. When she has all the details, they sit down together to review the worksheets and put together a proposal. The couple gets a storyboard of their wedding and a proposal that lays out the contract.

After that, there’s usually a little follow up between Chris and the couple. Once the couple feels good with the proposal, HHF requires 50% to book and the remainder is due four to six weeks before the event. That’s when they do a final consult. Couples continue to build up their Pinterest boards and send important information to Chris via email, where she has built a database with all of the clients they’re working with. By this time, Jess has a better grip on how the seasons are working out on the farm, and that’s when she usually start talking about specific flowers.

“We always tell our brides that there’s no flower emergency,” says Jess. “You need a last minute boutonniere or one less centerpiece? We get it and we will work with you. But we try to have everything kind of nailed down by a month out from the wedding.”

Jess finds the priorities for the couple so she can match the flowers to them. “I always want to know about the couples. How did you meet you? What’s what’s your romantic story? If you tell me that your first kiss happened under an oak tree, dollars to doughnuts, you’re gonna find acorns in your bridal bouquet or something. I want it to really be authentically you, so I asked questions to get their story.”

The Art of Flowers

Just like photographers, florists are artists with their own style. Jess reminds potential clients to review her portfolio so they know her style and are happy with similar work. “I’m your artist, you’re commissioning me, I’ll do what you want, but within my style, just to make sure because my style is not for everybody,” says Jess.

One of the ways that Jess sticks out in the Shenandoah Valley is that she’s very in tune with trends. She’s very innovative, but her work is timeless. This year is her 15th wedding anniversary, and when she looks at her wedding album she loves her bouquet as much as the day she got married. She wants every bride to feel that same way. So yes, Jess is ahead of the market and is constantly looking to the world for inspiration, but her work is beautiful today, tomorrow, and for years to come.

Community

Over the years, the women at Harmony Harvest Farm have built up quite a network. They’re involved on the national level and the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers (ASCFG). They’ve participated in the First Ladies’ Luncheon for the past two years, and two years ago Jess was listed as one of the top 35 up-and-coming designers in the nation.

Beyond other flower growers, they have also built up a community with their brides. Jess knew she wanted flowers when she was in the hospital to give birth to her twins. She made her own arrangements and put them in the cooler and planned out which ones would come to her on which days. By the end of the week, she had a roomful of flowers and nurses with her business cards. Her primary nurse ended up hiring her for her wedding on the twins’ first birthday, so they have pictures with Jess’s twins with their nurse’s wedding flowers. They do almost 50 weddings each year, and one by one, their clients become part of the family.

Although growing a community is one source of pride and happiness for Jess, Chris, and Stephanie, their favorite part is working together. They’ve built up a farm, design company, and community, and every day they continue to grow and get better at everything they do.

“I’d like to believe that the best is yet to come,” says Jess.

There is no doubt that there are more good things in Harmony Harvest Farm’s future.

If you’re interested in learning more about Harmony Harvest Farm or how to hire them, visit her at their website here!

If you’d like to learn about other vendors in the Shenandoah area, check them out here!

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