Country Light Candle Company, www.countrylightcandle.com
Pouring candles is a lot like pouring concrete; at least that's how my
husband explains why we ventured into the candlemaking business over 10
years ago. He would pour house foundations in the summer and wax pillars in
the winter. We started out using palm wax because we liked the natural
properties of the wax plus the crystalline finish that creates such a
beautiful display while burning. That's how we came up with our company
name - Country Light Candle Company - because the glow from a palm pillar
looks just like a harvest moon on a clear Autumn evening.
It took us over 5 years to create the perfect palm wax pillar. All palm
waxes are not alike! We always say that palm wax candles are for the true
candle lover as a perfect burn requires regular attention to the wick and
flame. We have found that minimal fragrance and color ensures the best
overall experience.
After a while, I took over the candle making in the spring, summer and fall
months and added soy wax to our line. Besides the pillars, we now offer wax
melts, votives, jar candles and tea lights. My daughter, son-in-law, niece
and even my little granddaughter help on a regular basis as does my husband
during the winters and in the evenings throughout the rest of the year. In
fact, every spring, I have to go back to our candle workshop and hunt for
every utensil, color chip or mold that gets moved, reorganized or replaced.
During the early years, we did mostly craft shows at neighborhood schools
and festivals around Central New York, however, business has grown so much
now that we don't do any of those any more. We offer our candles strictly
gifts to compliment our line of candles.
Our fragrance offering grows every year due to requests from customers for
this scent or that scent. We've even expanded into aromatherapy candles
using pure essential oils because of customer requests. Even with the
requests coming in all of the time, our tried and true scents are always the
biggest sellers. Cinnamon Sticks, Pumpkin Pie, Ginger Peach, Sugared
Shortbread, French Vanilla Pear and our signature scent MAGI always top the
list every year. Before the spring bulbs appear, we receive orders for
Calla Lily, Lilac, Lavender Mist and Purple Hyacinth. The most popular
summertime scent is by far our Caribbean Coconut! Pineapple is a close
second.
Our busiest time of the year is September through March as we concentrate on
the Fall and Winter holidays and then weddings. Our Premium Soy Votives and
Tea Lights are our most successful products all year round. We have many
commercial customers who use them not only because of their natural
qualities, but because of the extra long burn time.
We are very much involved in the wedding industry as we do custom colored
tea lights for the brides who want their candles to match their wedding
theme. The customization is very popular but also very time consuming as
soy wax does not take to color very well. Because the natural color of
liquid soy wax is a champagne color, the liquid color of a tea light is
usually different than the hardened color. For example, a pink tea light
will look salmon or peach when burning. Add fragrance to that and a totally
different color may show up! So I very often get asked to match the liquid
color to a dress or flower which is always a challenge. Doing business with
restaurants, caterers and event planners, I know that it is never a good
idea to have scented candles at a wedding. However, no matter how much I
try to talk brides out of it, a majority almost always prefer their tea
lights scented. Wedding Day, Jasmine and Lily of the Valley are the usual
requests but I always push unscented or at a minimum, our Frosted Snow Drops
because it is such a light and pretty floral with a vanilla musk undertone.
I have yet to have someone say they dislike that scent.
So this small hobby of my husband's has turned into a full time job for us
and something that we hope to enjoy all through our retirement. We look
forward to every day and are always amazed at what we have accomplished over
the years. Throughout my career before this, I have always worked with the
maintenance of computers and software. I have to say that being a
candlemaker is so much more rewarding. My customers are always sniffing,
smiling and saying mmmmmm or ahhhhh. What a joy!
D. R. Boyce
Copyright © 2008 Country Light Candle Company All Rights Reserved
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