I began following these two beautiful ladies, the Flower Girls of Thibodaux, on Instagram sometime last year and fell completely in love with their floral arrangements.
As most of you know, I love to feature and highlight local small businesses in Thibodaux and bring light to the talented and wonderful people of this community.
I am passionate about creating in all aspects and learning how to properly arrange flowers was something that I have always wanted to do. Theses two flower girls, Mrs. Joan Melancon and Cyd Toups were so gracious to meet with me, share their story and teach me the tricks of their trade.
Mrs. Joan and Mrs. Cyd, two Thibodaux locals, embarked on their journey in November, 2017. These two ladies planted their love for flowers and friendship, put their passion into play and became The Flower Girls of Thibodaux.
Mrs. Cyd said, “We have been doing bouquets for our sons and their friends for school dances for many years. We have received Inquiries from friends and family for bouquets and arrangements, which led us to the business.”
These flower girls have a whimsical and natural esthetic, which sets there work apart from the typical floral arrangement.
Mrs. Joan said, “We love to take something from nature and turn it into a bouquet that will bring joy to a bride, a flower girl or even a prom date. We appreciate the chance to turn flowers into a beautiful table arrangement- which adds elegance to a dining table or a festive party. Flowers make people happy, and that is what we love doing.”
When I asked them where their passion for flowers derives from, they stated that they share an equal love for beautiful things like; art, fashion, interior design, music, nature and of course…FLOWERS!
Their love for beautiful things is expressed through their work. Each arrangement they create is a true work of art constructed with an eye for design and appreciation for all things botanical.
I had the best afternoon with these two ladies. They provided me with a spread of flowers that differed in size, color, and texture, which made it hard to decide which one was my favorite!
The flowers we used in our arrangement included; roses, tulips, stock, and alstroemeria, leather leaf fern, plumosa fern, gardenia, sweet olive, eleagnus, nandina, rosemary, ivy, garden zinnias, galleria, clematis, and amaranthus.
Mrs. Joan and Mrs. Cyd foraged greenery from their own gardens. How cool is that!?
Like I said before, I have always wanted to learn how to properly arrange flowers. Being a perfectionist, I knew I had to let go of the “perfect” and just go for it!
The most important piece of information I took away from this experience was that there is no highlighted map to arranging flowers.
Mrs. Cyd and Mrs. Joan were such great teachers and helped me each step of the way. We started with a base of greenery creating a wide and elongated shape to build upon.
I’d have to say my favorite greenery was the plumosa fern and sweet olive. I’m a lover of all things “green” and this arrangement was no exception.
Mrs. Cyd told me that arranging flowers in odd numbers (3 and 5) was her particular rule of thumb, which gave me some clarity and direction when choosing flowers and greenery to work with.
In little to no time, this arrangement went from an empty oasis to a beautiful botanical structure. This is the thing I love most about creating.
I was so nervous to mess up the arrangement! After placing a few sprigs and flowers, I began to see that you truly can’t mess up an arrangement. Each flower and leaf can be taken out and relocated to create the shape and look you are going for.
The most amazing part of the process was watching the arrangement come to life with the placement of each flower.
When creating, challenges and obstacles are evident, which I believe is the most important step in the creative process.
Mrs. Cyd said, ” One challenge we face is wanting to work with flowers that are out of season or unavailable. Most of our brides come in with pinterest pictures and since we live in a hot climate we might not always have access to the beautiful flowers in the photos. We have become quite skilled at finding other options. And we absolutely wish to have sweet peas and other seasonal beauties year round.”
With fall right around the corner, the inspiration behind our floral arrangement was welcoming autumn with a combination of bright and warm colors and sprigs typically associated with the fall season.
I can imagine that when you work with a variety of beautiful flowers and greenery on a daily basis, it is nearly impossible to choose a favorite. When I asked Mrs. Joan and Mrs. Cyd what their favorite fall flowers were, they said,
“We love all the deep purples in stock, roses and even flowering kale, the golds of roses, goldenrods and chrysanthemum and the reds/burgundy of celosia, hypericum, zinnias, and aramantus. We also love the greens of hydrangea, berries, and various foliage. We always love working with an assortment of roses and hydrangeas year round.”
VOILA! Our finished product. The three of us had a hand in creating this absolutely beautiful arrangement. Just when we though we were finished….we weren’t! We managed to use nearly every flower and sprig of greenery.
The hardest step to the process is knowing when the arrangement is complete.
It is unbelievable to think that flowers of all different shapes and sizes came together to create one GORJESS arrangement. I mean seriously… how beautiful is this?
Do you love this arrangement and aren’t sure how or where to begin? The flower girls of Thibodaux are the ones to call.
As you can see, their work is impeccable and their whimsical esthetic is truly breathtaking.
From weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, engagement parties, rehearsal dinners, dinner parities, and school dances, the flower girls are ready to make a custom arrangement for you.
You don’t need a special occasion to treat yourself or someone you love to a beautiful arrangement of flowers!
Mrs. Joan and Mrs. Cyd created this fall inspired arrangement before I arrived and pictures truly do it no justice. The colors and wide variety of texture are absolutely breathtaking.
I can’t thank these two beautiful ladies enough for sharing their talent with me. I had the best afternoon with them learning about something I have always been interested in.
If you are in need of two skilled florists who are not only talented but passionate, give the flower girls a call.
I so enjoyed my time with these ladies and am honored to feature them on the blog. They are not only talented, but so kind and passionate about what they do.
I can’t wait to work with them in the future! Stay tuned for winter, y’all! We are already planning something extra special!
