Foxglove and Grace

I never planned to be a florist. I didn’t want to design for a living. Actually, I am not a creative person by any means. Or at least, in comparison to my peers. I never received any formal training in floristry so sometimes I fly by the seat of my pants. And during the flight, I usually find myself empty, feeling like I don’t know what I’m doing, feeling like I’m just going through the motions. Still after almost three years in the floral industry I don’t feel as though I pull from anything for inspiration. I love colors and shapes and texture is nice but I don’t believe I am the inspired type. 

At least, not like everyone else. My personality is all over the place so it makes sense that my mind would be too. I know florists who find their inspiration through nature, in books or on Instagram, but for me, I find my inspiration in people. Not what they look like, the shape of their body, the color of their skin, the way they speak, but the colors and shapes and textures they represent in my head. 

You see, for me, I find inspiration from a person’s soul. That sounds so deep, it’s really not. What I mean by that is every person emulates a color, or a place, or a sound and I try my best to bring that into my designs. I believe I radiate sparkles and so I planned a fairytale blush styled shoot without even realizing what I was doing. At the end, when I received the images I started to recognize a pattern in my designs. Even when planning my own wedding, as I was showing my mother the color palette I had chosen she exclaimed “oh my gosh it’s a muted rainbow, all the colors are in it. I’m not surprised.” 

For my friend Casey’s wedding I’ve always seen an old soul. She has freckles, the cutest smile, and vintage taste. She oozes calm and quiet and so, unconsciously, I believe I sprinkled a touch of Casey in her designs. Looking back at it, it makes sense. My design “style” has never been consistent. I get asked often what I would describe my style as and the truth is, I really don’t know and I hope I never do. I hope I never do the same thing because I hope I will have different clients every month. Inspiration to me is people. The way they treat others, the way they treat me. My designs just do their own thing because my mind does its own thing. As I grow into a maturing artist, I hope that my designs continue to reflect the people I work for. This business, my business, is about nurturing the meaning of marriage. It’s adding that touch of magic to each wedding. While I can’t say I don’t get motivated by other people’s work, it’s the people I work with and for that inspire my business every day, every month, and every year.

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Mabry Hastings has worked as a florist since 2018. She’s eighteen years old and uses her business to help put her through business school at Texas A&M, though she will tell you her real passion is flowers. Her flower career started as an apprenticeship that ultimately led to her ownership of Foxglove & Grace. Being her own boss was the ultimate goal when choosing to attend business school and she’s grateful for it. While it’s stressful to run a business and be a full time student, Mabry says it helps her connect with her brides even more since many of them are the same age! Mabry is currently engaged and is getting married in January and she’s excited to flower so many beautiful weddings this year!