“How’d You Get Into Florals?”

Well, in order to really answer this I’ll have to jump in the way-way-back machine. When did I fall in love with flowers? Well, it appears the answer is: REALLY early!

Yep, that’s me (the big baby in the carrier) next to my sister in front of our parents’ hydrangea bushes outside our childhood home.

Or when my grandmother sewed me a custom flower costume for Halloween in 1996.

I didn’t come from a florist family like a lot of florists do, but flowers and plants were always a part of my life. My jam was the performing arts. I studied Musical Theatre in college and worked professionally in theatre as an actor and singer (and pretty bad dancer) for the first half of my twenties.
[My favorite roles I’ve played are Juliet in Romeo & Juliet and Kayleen in Gruesome Playground Injuries]

Taken by Carla McDonald during my year working as an Associate Company Member at a theatre in Memphis

As I hit my mid-twenties, though, I faced a classic quarter-life crisis. I loved acting, I loved theatre, but I just couldn’t see myself doing it professionally forever. Part of it is that I knew it would always be an uphill climb; even Broadway stars go back to auditioning once their show closes. The part of me that craves stability just couldn’t stomach the thought of being “old” (probably, in my head at the time, 40) and still wondering where my next paycheck would come from. I had committed to a masters program in acting, and I backed out a month before I was supposed to start- yikes! Not a great look, but I knew it wasn’t the right move for me.

Then one night, I saw an Instagram story that in many ways changed the trajectory of my life:

Yes, I still have the screenshot saved! My now-husband was sitting next to me and urged me to apply (when I vaguely said, “I will! This weekend…,” he was like “no, do it right now!” and the rest is history).

I started at Stems Brooklyn as an unpaid apprentice just to learn the basics.

Here’s a picture I took of myself in the bathroom on my first day, probably one second after I learned how to process a rose:

For the next few months, I basically was like “can I hang out here for free and learn everything about floristry?” It seemed to me a better deal than paying thousands for flower school, and the chance to learn on the job was invaluable.

By that summer, I knew I was hooked. When a role opened up in the shop at Stems, I quit my job and became a paid employee. Simultaneously, I started freelancing for other floral studios, so that I could try my hand at event work. I charged a VERY low freelancing rate to reflect my lack of experience and treated it like job training.

What I learned was that I LOVED weddings- something about the fast pace of a wedding production day reminded me of theatre: all the different vendors working together in the same way that the costume designers, scenic crew, actors, and lighting techs all make a production come together.

The day you acquire a toolbelt is the day you become unf-ckwithable as a florist.

I started taking my own events later that year (that’s a whole other story for another blog post)- remind me to post photos of the 2019 baby’s christening party I designed!

Eventually, when my dear friend and mentor Zara left her longtime position as the head of the weddings department at Stems, I took over. For the 2022, 2023, and 2024 seasons, I had the absolute privilege of working with dozens of couples, planners, and families on some of the most important days of their lives.

My focus was pushing our focus on sustainability even further- I partnered us with several flower co-ops, where we could access flowers from dozens of farms in one fell swoop. Our weddings during the growing season boasted as much as 90% local flowers! I got to dream up so many amazing installations, all using foam-free mechanics, and became a better designer and a better leader than I was when I started.

I’m so proud of the work I did there, and I’m forever thankful that I had such rich soil in which I could grow and blossom as a person and a florist.

My last wedding with Stems- a gorgeous Indian fusion wedding at The Foundry in Long Island City.

In 2025, six years after diving into floristry, I officially launched Imogen Floral, my own studio. A year later, I’m thrilled to say we had a glorious first year. Lovely, trusting couples, amazing planners, and tons of locally sourced flowers- who could ask for more?

I started my own business to bring my love of romantic, lush floral design to more couples- and to show the world that sustainable floristry doesn’t look any one way. Local flowers can be elevated and luxurious; we don’t have to sacrifice aesthetics in order to show care for our earth and the future of our planet.

Thanks for being here, dreamers!