Last year a friend of mine showed up at her bridal shower wearing a beautiful, delicate flower crown. "It's by Crowns by Christy, everyone knows her," she replied. Except me. I immediately took note in my iPhone and contacted her.
In person, Christy is what her crowns look like: charming, original, and fun. When the time came to relaunch our website, I couldn't think of anyone else I wanted as our newest feature. Christy graciously met me multiple times and I had a blast each time getting to know her and her boutique company. What's more exciting is how fast she's grown (she has a BOOK!) and jumped into other projects, including floral styling and DIY. I can't wait to see what else she has up her floral sleeve. #itsplantporn
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iPP: What is your background and what led you to start Crowns by christy?
Growing up my mom taught me how to sew. We always did projects and I was always crafting. Even when I worked in public relations, I was always volunteering creative ideas: "how do we do this event differently?" or "how do we hang this from the ceiling?" So that interests me more than anything. My business started as a total accident. I worked for an agency in beauty PR. We needed flower crowns for an event and the girls were calling all over the city trying to get flower crowns made and the prices were just so high from every florist--like in the $100 range for just one. And I had made them before in my backyard just for myself and for my friends, just for a fun, summertime beach kind of thing. The girls asked if there was any way I could make them for the event, so I did. And you know, editors that came to the event were just like, "Oh my gosh, you should do this, it's so cool!" And I said, "Pump the brakes, you guys, this is just a fun thing that I did…" and then people started emailing me orders. So I started making them on the side after work and on the weekends for friends and family. One weekend I asked a lot of friends to come over and take their photos because I needed to make a website immediately.
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iPP: How do you help your customers select the perfect flower crown?
I usually go by what you are wearing, including the colors, and I check the seasonal flowers and see what's fresh and available. Your hair length, hair color, head size and shape all totally matter. (If you are a petite girl, you can't wear peonies on your head. )
IPP: WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER TO WORK WITH?
I actually love baby’s breath. It gets such a bad rap but its so perfect in a flower crown. They look so delicate and they’ll last for a few days. I get requests from people doing out-of-state events and last three or four days and still look fine, even if they weddings and baby's breath will dry out a little. Even though I really love ranunculus, after 24 hours they are completely wilted.
IPP: ANY UNUSUAL REQUESTS?
A lot of people recently have been asking about requests for men’s beards. Flowers for beards, apparently it’s a thing!
iPP: What is your spirit plant and why?
Gardenias. It’s a finicky plant but great while it lasts and is like a surprise when it blooms. Growing up we had gardenias in our backyard and it's something that blooms for two or three weeks and that’s it. So you kind of have to enjoy it while it lasts. When I was little, I would pull the gardenias off the bush and put them into a spray bottle with water and try to make my own perfume. So now I love gardenia perfume. It sounds kind of old lady, but it just brings back memories of growing up.
