We fell in love with Olivia Howard Designs when Olivia came to Deity Events and created a masterpiece on the Deity ceremony backdrop in the Loft. We noticed during her installation process, Olivia had a bit of a different approach to her creations. Her new approach created something we had never seen before. A whimsical, eye catching centerpiece to the wedding that brought so much joy to the couples and their guests. We knew right then and there we needed to see more of Olivia’s designs, but we also were curious about her unique perspective in the floral industry. We can’t wait to share Olivia’s story with you, so without further delay, here is our interview with Olivia Howard.
“Flowers truly found me and I’m an accidental florist! I worked hospitality in NYC for 7 years and after a florist fell through for an event at the restaurant, I picked up flowers and started arranging. I turned in my notice the next day and found a job at a local flower shop where I learned the biz. I’ll never forget my first morning in the NYC flower market at 4am saying to myself,
“Yup! This is it and what it feels like to love what you do.”
I freelanced for about a year learning the trade. During that time I worked for a company that took flowers from weddings and large events to repurpose them into smaller arrangements that would go to hospitals and women’s shelters bringing joy. Every weekend we would make and deliver anywhere between 50-120 small arrangements from those events.
I fell in love with sustainable floristry and repurposing. With that, I also was able to work with unique flowers each week. Think of Food Network’s Chopped, but for a florist. You’d have no idea what you were walking into and what flowers you would be using and then in 4 hours crank out 75 arrangements. It was the adrenaline rush I thrived on!
After the owner sold the shop, I combine my love for events and florals creating Olivia Howard Designs in 2019. OHD is a boutique floral design company that offers custom designs for each wedding and event. I’m very hands on working with each client from first phone call to finalizing florals; and you’ll see me and Eric (especially if a ladder is involved) on wedding day!
How would you describe your signature floral design style?
Growing up in North Georgia I am inspired by nature.
Everything whimsy!! I love designing with dimension and different shades of color of within the palette. I’ve learned that this allows the flowers to photograph beautifully.
A subtle signature I have is using a lisianthus in each of my designs as a little nod to my husband. While dating, Eric would pick up lisianthus to bring home to me. At the time he thought they were little roses and I thought it was adorable, so that’s our flower.
What inspires your creative process when designing wedding florals?
The mood board! I curate a color palette and design a mood board for each of my clients. Once we have that I let the flower market, colors and season take over. I personally go into the market the week of every event and hand pick each bunch of flowers. It’s one of my favorite parts!!
Are there any particular trends or themes you’re currently drawn to?
I’m really loving Ikebana style in the floral frogs. It really allows each bloom to stand out and shine! The style is also so beautiful, like its growing out of the vessel.
How do you approach sustainability and eco-conscious practices in your floral design work?
OHD is proudly foam free! I use chicken wire and reuse water tubes, with buckets as hydration. Each of my ceremony designs has the ability to be repurposed for reception saving flower waste and money for the couple!
Things go wrong it’s a part of life. Can you think of a particular challenge and how you over came it?
The heat and summer is always a battle keeping flowers and branches alive. One year we had an extremely hot summer and wedding day. The flowers were happy and safe in water. However, the branches I had to use because of a greenery shortage were in the back and when we arrived to the venue they were all dead and scorched from the heat.
Thankfully working on the fly is one of my super powers.
I was keeping it together and trying not to panic while brainstorming options… it always works out on wedding days some how, some way. As we are unloading arrangements on the loading dock a pick up truck backs up to the dumpster by our dock and throws away beautiful greenery from a previous event (yes the greenery that was a part of the shortage I wanted originally). I mean there was SO much greenery this truck was dumping, and I was about to repurpose it. Four hours before ceremony I went into that dumpster for all the greenery and put together one of the prettiest installs I’d done. The planner and bride text me afterwords saying how gorgeous everything was and the pictures were stunning when we got them back! Wedding days are truly magical.”
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