Livia Evergreens Wall

I don’t usually take on any floral jobs; in fact, the only one I have ever taken was a massive hanging dried install for Kulinarya Coquitlam last year. I am always happy to pass on any inquiries for flower work to my friends, The Wild Bunch, or to the flower farmers and freelance florist friends in my life.

Claire is a friend of mine and the owner of the incredible Livia Sweets, and she happens to have a wholesale flower account (whereas I don’t). She needed someone to help her build an evergreen wall.

So… how and why did I get chosen to help her build this?

Well… I gifted her an arrangement this past summer out of the dried flowers I had in my inventory. I did a massive call out for this on my Instagram Stories, mostly because I had to clear them out before we embark on our big move down south in 2021 and I wanted my dried flower inventory to go to good homes instead of in the compost bin. I guess she liked my work enough to trust me in the building of this holiday wall… so… thank you for trusting me, Claire!

I could not resist. It has been my dream to do a massive install like this… and… she took a chance on me! I am unlikely to do this on a professional basis and start a floral install business, mind you, but once in a while… for friends… YES! Yes, I will build your flower installation!

Just like the Kulinarya Coquitlam install, I had to bring back Calida for this, as I knew this wall would be a massive undertaking if I did this on my own. Calida is a professional gardener, grower, and freelance florist. Calida is an EXTREMELY talented florist, and am all too happy to help her grow her freelance clients. Yay, Calida!

Here’s a confession: I can make my way around a vase and these massive installs… but I cannot, for the life of me… make a bouquet!!! Craziness! I was working on perfecting the bouquet when I did my stint at The Wild Bunch, but I left far too early in my career over there to focus on my full-time photography practice! SIGH! One day!

Another funny story; we were approached by CTV News Vancouver while we were working on this. Calida, Jordan (Claire’s husband and co-owner of Livia), and I ended up on the 6pm news as part of The Last Word segment with Mike McCardell! What jolly good fun! Thank goodness for my mask covering half my face; I would have not been as courageous otherwise. Calida and I were—like we suspected—, super goofy and awkward in front of the camera. Hahahahaha!

This has been an extremely trying year for all of us, and I am just so delighted to have been a part of trying to keep some holiday traditions alive, like the making of this massive garland, even if, in reality, our holiday gatherings this year will be massively pared down. One day, we will be able to celebrate in groups again, but until this pandemic blows over with the advent of a globally-available vaccine, we must all do our part to make sure we don’t spread this virus around. In the meantime, moments like the making of garlands and wreaths, flower arranging, experimenting in the kitchen, and doing basically anything that sparks some joy in our lives… whatever that looks like—so long as we do it safely and from a distance—is super important for our mental health.

So on that note, here’s to brighter days ahead! We can do this.

xo,
Issha