The Scoop: Weddings and flowers – name a more iconic duo! Fleur de Lis is a floral shop that offers a wide variety of floral arrangements for weddings and beyond. The shop is based in downtown Baltimore and serves the surrounding areas with a commitment to creating beautiful designs and supporting local flower farmers. Lana Brown, the owner of Fleur de Lis, talked to us about the shop, its bridal offerings, and what couples can do to make the floral designs of their dreams a reality on their wedding days.
When most of us think about weddings, we think about flowers. The duo have been paired for centuries, and historians trace the practice of brides holding bouquets back to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Brides in these ancient times would carry a bundle of flowers and herbs thought to ward off bad luck on their wedding days.
It wasn’t until the Elizabethan Era that wedding bouquets took a decidedly decorative turn. Small bridal bouquets became mainstays in fashionable, upper-class circles, and brides would use flowers as decorations for their elaborate hairstyles. The Victorian Era brought about the wedding bouquet as we know it today, with the distinct difference of couples relying on the symbolic meaning of different flowers to choose their wedding decor.
Today, couples usually don’t contend with concerns about nefarious energy or symbolic meaning when it comes to designing a wedding floral array. Yet wedding florals remain very important to the decor of most weddings and offer bespoke and opulent decorations for a beautiful wedding day.
Fleur de Lis is an award-winning floral shop based in Baltimore that serves the surrounding DMV communities. Fleur de Lis offers arrangements for every floral need a couple may have on their big day. Lana Brown is the owner of Fleur de Lis. She talked to us about the shop and floral bridal trends, plus gave some advice for couples who are beginning to plan their wedding.
“It’s important to find a wedding florist you feel comfortable with,” Lana said. “You want someone who will understand what you imagine, offer ideas, but also hear you out on what you want.”
A Floral Shop With A Local Legacy
Lana’s journey to Fleur de Lis is marked by two serendipitous newspaper ads. “I saw an ad in the paper about European-style floral design,” she told us. “I took three months of classes, and they were super rigorous and hands-on. I got my certificate after the class was over, but I didn’t really know what my next step was.”
As Lana decided what to do next with her design certificate, her husband noticed an ad in the paper. “It was for a shop assistant, and he encouraged me to try it,” Lana said. “I went in for an interview at the shop, and I was hired.”
Lana was surprised to find that she was among the most experienced assistants at the shop. Soon, the owner of the shop at the time noticed Lana’s skills and offered her a higher position. “I didn’t have any experience, but I did have training, and the owner liked the designs I was putting together more than the designs of her lead designer,” she explained. “So I basically became a designer.”
Lana joined the floral shop team in 2011, and by 2015, the owner offered to sell the shop to Lana. “Since I had started, the owner had been discussing stepping back and selling the business,” she said. “And then she offered me to buy it.” Lana jumped at the opportunity to keep the shop’s legacy alive.
“The shop had always been beloved by the community and had been a pioneer in Baltimore for nearly three decades,” Lana told us. “They really led the way with innovative designs, and they were one of the first shops in the industry to start buying farmer flowers before the practice was well-known and common.”
Lana is continuing the legacy of Fleur de Lis by maintaining community connections and offering high-end floral arrangements. The shop’s team is dedicated to creating magical bouquets, hairpieces, centerpieces, and more that make wedding days unforgettable.
Fleur de Lis’ Flowers Make Weddings Magical
Fleur de Lis offers arrangements in a wide variety of styles. “As a designer, I have a natural inclination towards the whimsical,” Lana said. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t do any other style. I just like to focus on the quiet beauty of florals, and I think a whimsical energy lends itself to that.”
Couples planning their weddings can browse Fleur de Lis’ offerings to find styles, colors, and flower types that suit their fancy. The Bridal Bouquet Deluxe is one of the most popular choices for brides and bridesmaids. The bouquet includes approximately 12-18 stems and is secured with an elegant satin ribbon.
Like most Fleur de Lis wedding arrangements, couples have several color choices for the Bridal Bouquet Deluxe. If couples want a specific kind of flower, they can submit a custom floral request to Fleur de Lis, and the team will do what they can to incorporate the flower.
Lana encouraged couples to consult with their florists to create floral color schemes that complement the physical space of the wedding venue and the vibe of the wedding itself. Whether it’s understated greenery or bold tropicals, the floral design a couple chooses can have a big impact on the feel of the wedding.
Fleur de Lis also offers floral hairpieces and crowns. The shop makes partial and full hairpieces along with flower crowns in a variety of color combinations. Corsages and boutonnieres from Fleur de Lis are perfect accessories for a bridal party. The shop makes cuff and wristlet corsages, along with pin-on boutonnieres. The Bridesmaid Bouquet can be customized to match or complement the colors in the bride’s bouquet.
Worn flowers are only part of Fleur de Lis’ offerings. The shop crafts centerpieces for weddings of any style, including small and understated table pieces to luxurious altar and ceremony arrangements. With the help of Fleur de Lis, couples can create floral landscapes of bouquets, hairpieces, and centerpieces to add an element of natural beauty to their wedding day.
The Importance of Finding The Right Wedding Florist
Flowers are a big part of many weddings, and Lana said it’s incredibly important for couples to take their time finding a florist for their wedding. She told us about some factors couples should consider while they research different florists.
“First of all, the most important thing is that you like your florist and feel comfortable with them,” Lana said. “Being comfortable makes it easier to trust that person, and like with any wedding vendor, trusting your florist is essential.”
Lana also urged couples to sign a contract with their florists. “I would never go without a contract,” she said. “Absolutely not. A contract needs to be signed by both parties and that way, you have something documented that makes the expectations clear.”
When it comes to floral wedding trends, Lana said she’s been noticing a focus on greenery and warm colors. “We’ve been seeing a lot of people who don’t want any flowers and just want a lot of lush greens,” she said. “I’ve also noticed an uptick in people moving away from just white flowers and leaning towards those warm, sunset colors.”
As with all trends, wedding floral trends work in a cycle. What’s out now will more than likely be in again within the next 10 years. Couples should choose a floral color palette and arrangement style that they like rather than whichever one is trendiest at the moment. Lana said this ensures couples will be happy with their wedding choices for the long haul.
“Sometimes people come in with an idea we’ve never heard of before. We’re always trying to accommodate our customers, and I’m happy to learn from them,” Lana told us. “We stand by our products and their quality. We want to bring our customer’s dreams to life.”
