Blooming Business
When Emma Lauter designed the florals for a friend’s wedding a decade ago, she wasn’t planning on starting a business. But when guests began to ask her to create arrangements for their events, “I realized this passion could become something far greater than I imagined,” she says. The result was EMMAROSE FLORAL. When it comes to floral design, Lauter lets the blooms set the tone. “I have found that simple can be best, and a few varieties are often all you need,” she says. “I love the idea of allowing natural beauty to speak for itself.” Her arrangements favor restraint over excess, highlighting texture, movement, and seasonality rather than spectacle. “Flowers teach us that beauty lives in presence,” she says. “Nature reminds us that beauty is not meant to be possessed, but experienced.” emmarosefloral.com
We Love
When printmaker, artist, floral designer, and candlemaker Louesa Roebuck talks about beeswax, she does so with reverence. Her love and appreciation for the balm produced by honeybees is tied to her family’s beekeeping heritage in Ohio, including apiarist and beeswax candlemaker
A. I. Root. “Everyone has a nostalgic sensory response to the scent of beeswax,” Roebuck says. “It’s comforting, golden, warm, and ancient.” Rather than work with synthetic aromas, she makes candles that celebrate the smell of beeswax and, she says, “occasionally the botany adorning each candle.” The majority of her candles have a gothic look, but Roebuck refuses to be typecast.Her custom creations for a Wicked cast party included one for Ariana Grande—a springy and feminine candle reflective of her character Glinda. louesaroebuck.com
Perfect Setting
Tucked into a corner of The Post, Montecito’s boutique shopping center, you’ll find SCENERY, a floral design studio founded by Tedde Minogue. The art historian approaches her arrangements with a discerning eye, often incorporating ceramics into the work, which she calls “vessel-forward florals.” The result is a deliberate interplay between bloom and container, with florals and vases in harmony. “Scenery is here to cultivate beauty, and the ritual is a part of our process, but our customers [are] as well,” Minogue says. “I love seeing what people create from blooms we’ve selected or what a certain vase looks like in their home.” 1809 E. Cabrillo Blvd., Santa Barbara, sceneryflorals.com
Must Have
Candle in the Wind, $175, highcampsupply.com
Gather Ye Rosebuds
Forage Florals embraces local blooms.
FORAGE FLORALS in Santa Ynez started in 2014, “from a love of working with natural materials and creating arrangements that feel organic and artful rather than overly structured,” says founder Jill Redman. Staying true to its namesake, Forage believes in being “collaborative with nature,” creating locally sourced arrangements that embrace imperfection. The flower studio also functions as an event space, hosting private parties, receptions, corporate events, retreats, and more. “The goal is to create arrangements that feel effortless and natural,” Redman says, “as though they belong exactly where they are.” forageflorals.com
Written by TM
Photography - Emmarose Florals: Elizabeth Messina; Louesa Roebuck Candle: Mariana Schulze Studio, Scenery: Emmy Laine Pickett; Forage: Sister B Studios
