We're thrilled to announce that Polly Berginc of The Bloomery has been accepted into AIFD.  Even more exciting--her acceptance letter arrived the day of her daughter's wedding.

AIFD is a highly selective organization of the world's best florists.  To gain membership, an applicant must undergo a stressful design test, judged by the membership panel.  Just getting to the test is almost a year-long process, and only about 30-40% of those who test are accepted.  Polly was accepted after her first try, which is uncommon.  This year's test was even more grueling because the air conditioner broke in the testing room, raising the temperature to uncomfortable levels.  That's all right--the a/c breaks in flower shops sometimes, and we're still expected to perform at our best.  Once inducted into AIFD, a member must earn continuing education credits to maintain his or her membership.

Polly will be one of only five AIFD members in western Pennsylvania, and one of 26 in the state.  Polly will be inducted next year at the National Symposium in Palm Desert, CA.  Until then, we can only refer to Polly as an AIFD Registered Candidate.  After induction, Polly will be able to use the letters "AIFD" after her name.  That means we have about 10 months before we have to order her new business cards.

For more information on AIFD, check out their website at http://www.aifd.org.  We'll have a real press release soon.  But we couldn't wait to spread the word.

<update 2006-08-25>

AIFD posted its press release today at http://www.aifd.org/2006aesresults.htm.  64 of 115 who tested were accepted.  There is a full listing of all invitees, and some more background on AIFD.