There’s no way he saw this coming.
But when the pandemic hit and stopped medium-sized and giant meetings and almost every single business in the house, the opportunity to make corporate plans from Cloth-Flame owner Matt Cooley may be one, if not the only, designed to accommodate this switch switch.
Since 2016, Cloth-Flame has specialized in hosting outdoor events, in the most unlikely environments and situations: think of forests, mountains, hills, vast plains in the middle of nowhere and even in the back of one of the world’s herbal wonders.
After a break this spring, Cooley’s wedding business has grown. Many couples have postponed their marriages in the hope that situations will change, but find that classic permanent rooms are already booked until 2021 and have been informed that they are planning for 2022. The same goes for dealerships ranging from photographers to catering.
Here’s what brings some to Cooley, who can get their marriages to take pre-position without the restrictions of physical facilities, other people’s internal limitations, and other parameters.
“It just so happens that we’re in the business everyone turns to to get an answer to their experiences, micro-marriages and leaks,” said Cooley, owner and director of Cloth and Flame with his wife Olivia Laux. “We didn’t know the coronavirus was coming. But our own hobby for the charming open outdoor spaces has been rewarded.
During the first 3 months of the pandemic, Cloth-Flame hosted 4 weddings, with 42 occasions originally scheduled. But Cooley said the calendar filled up more often with weddings in the fall. He expects this style to continue as Arizona enters its most productive outdoor season.
He said the company was booking more occasions a day than ever before, smaller and more concentrated.
Since its launch, the company’s revenue has increased 100 percent year-on-year, Cooley said. He’s on track to make two hundred occasions this year before COVID-19.
“We moved temporarily from busy mid-season to a company whose sole goal is for everyone to be taken care of and have their questions answered,” he said.
Cooley’s organizes occasions in places such as the slopes of the Alaskan mountains, the Arizona deserts and the Oregon forests. They held floating dock celebrations in Puget Sound, Washington, and built long tables overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.
They stole tables at the grand canyon base. For this event, Cooley worked with the Hualapai tribe for six months before making sure the environmental impact was minimal without open flames or waste.
Needless to say, executing excessive constraints and sensitive cases is a general thing for the course.
“Our team loves challenges and navigating those. Making things happen within constraints is the idea that all of our team works around,” Cooley said.
Progress over the past 4 years has led Cooley and Laux to become land managers, manage 51 barns in the western United States, and paint with owners.
In addition to simple access to sites, special partnerships with providers that don’t necessarily fit restricted dates create an exciting formula for couples who need an intimate but memorable wedding now.
Cooley talked about a recent wedding in Flagstaff. They built a transition site in the middle of the tremble poplar in the middle of the Coconino forest for about 25 others. They may not use the long dining tables in Cloth and Flame due to distance, so hand-built tables can accommodate 4 other people, but can be connected to accommodate six or eight. They grouped other people with a circle of relatives with whom they were already quarantined and separated the tables 6 to 10 feet away. A guest had his own table.
The furniture located to imitate an old-fashioned dinner-theatre, where everything faced a central point, in this case, a dance floor where visitors gave speeches and paid homage. Masks were provided and microphone linings replaced after each speaker. A wonderful moment has passed through everyone.
“It seems impossible, but it’s not when you start answering questions,” Cooley said.
When Tasha Wood and her now-husband, Cole McFarlane, were making plans for their nuptials last year, no place or organizer they approached had the answers to achieve the intimate wedding of their dreams.
An online survey led them to the Cloth-Flame website, and the Calgary couple’s search was completed.
“We knew we were looking to be small and avoid the chaos and expenses of our entire wedding guest list. Many providers did not offer what would work … When we looked at Cloth and Flame, we knew without delay that this was exactly what we were looking for and everything we were looking for,” Wood said.
Wood’s parents spent the winters in Arizona and the state’s family circle was at home. They said “yes” last October at the Cloth-Flame site in Peralta Fabric, deep in the mountains of superstition. After a rite in the early afternoon, its 18 visitors enjoyed a four-course brunch surrounded by 180 degrees of mountain perspectives in one aspect and the hills and massifs of Saguaros in the other.
When Wood’s arrival left the luxury bathroom trailers, she said she felt she was leaving her trailer on a film set. Upon arrival, several visitors described the setting as “awesome”.
The exquisite scenery also meant that the couple did not feel like doing ancient rituals such as cutting cakes or throwing bouquets, or worrying about decorations. He also made wonderful photos and videos that the couple showed to the circle of relatives and friends when they returned to Canada.
“We enjoyed the wilderness of Arizona, so the fact that they presented the opportunity to create a wedding in the middle of Arizona’s nature rather than a view of Camelback Mountain from a fence or above a pool … was just orange apples.” Wood said.
While their marriage took a stand at a time when no one was talking about the new coronavirus, Wood said that the way Cloth and Flame had structured their warm birthday party would represent paintings under existing conditions.
“It was very unpublic and we felt very cared for. The plan that Cloth and Flame provided allowed us to focus alone on our wedding, enjoy the atmosphere, with our families and worry about nothing else,” Wood said. “We looked for him to be exclusive and they delivered all those things.”
Cooley and Laux in the past owned Float Balloon Tours, which featured hot air balloon rides that ended with a meal prepared by a chef in the desert, supposedly nowhere.
People started asking them if they could just skip it and go straight to the food. The couple began promoting them on their own. Without delay, they saw the possibility of further promoting this concept.
Cooley and Laux presented Cloth and Flame around a business model. They sold Float Balloon Tours last year.
Because they pay to rent the land, the assets act as a source of income for the owners. In addition, 10% of dinner proceeds are donated to coalitions running to maintain migration routes and wilderness areas. Cloth and Flame also organized a long-term fundraiser for a series of dinners for local chefs and restaurants that raised $25,000.
The fugitives, Cooley said, are getting cold the way other people look at them. No more images from stairs to bedroom windows and clandestine trips to a wedding chapel in Las Vegas.
“We’ve had a lot of exploratory calls, while we dream that other people want to reconsider their original experience,” Cooley said.
In a survey through Knot, 96% of engaged couples said they postponed their marriages. Of these, 65% postponed their marriages later in 2020, while the rest are unsure or opt for a 2021 date.
Many of a $78 billion marriage industry, according to IBISWorld, are in shock. Cooley hopes to interfere to relieve some of the pain.
“People want to celebrate those moments and it’s vital to locate the time and area for that,” Cooley said. “And we are fortunate to have those sites and the ability to provide the best reaction to the other people who want them right now.”
That: and calls
Where: 1 N. First St., Phoenix
Employees: 15
Factoid: The plan industry is expected to grow by 7% until 2028, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Details: 480-428-6028, clothandflame.com