Brand Client Feature | Flori, LLC | Woodinville, WA
It’s day five of my weeklong “meet the florist” series in celebration of the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday and hopes to steer you into shopping local this year for your flowers on the new LORA Bloom online floral marketplace or through your local florist directly.
Today I’d love for you to meet Lori Poliski of Flori based in Woodinville, WA. Flori services the Woodinville area and surrounding cities, including Medina, Redmond, Kirkland, Bothell and Mill Creek with a 48-hour turnaround to make sure your arrangement is unique and perfect and ready for delivery.
It will be three years ago this May when Lori opened the doors to Flori. She had other careers in tech and teaching besides being a mother - but it was her love of playing with flowers for thirty years for friends and family and in floral shops in her college days that led her to want to start her own floral studio. She realized flowers is what she is passionate about and thought it was better to start now that never.
This is my second time working with Lori. Our first experience was a seasonal branding shoot in late October where the focus was on sympathy arrangements she had designed as she was about to embark on a new pillar to business and specialize in this area, which I think is great! Was also shot custom imagery for her winter wreath making workshops and detail shots of her gorgeous home-based studio. The Flori Studio is actually where we held the LORA Bloom mini branding session event so a HUGE thanks is in order to Lori for being such a lovely host and letting us into her workspace for the day!
Flori’s design studio, Woodinville, WA
Lori describes her work as natural, lush, and gardenesque which I think you can instantly see when you look at her floral designs. She said she is "most inspired by an overgrown forest, a deserted beach, the barren desert - places not manicured or tamed by humans - where flora and fauna are left untouched and nature does its thing. Big fan of Andy Goldsworthy too - he is a British impermanence artist who creates art in nature that will go away over time. I grew up on a farm and was sort of a wild child roaming fields and the woods either on foot or horseback. I like solitude and getting away from the noise of the busy world and nature is one of the last bastions that technology hasn't put its stamp on unless you count GPS and drones…"
I can vouch for her love of untamed nature and adding it into her work as she was generously offering the other florists the day of the photoshoot event to cut product from her property on their way out to use in their own work. She also created this beautiful easel from I believe birch branches the night before our October shoot to hold and display her wreath products. She's definitely resourceful and extremely crafty!
One thing I love about Lori is that through Flori, she is on a mission is to get floristry back to nature to help the environment and try to be more sustainable. She explained that flowers represent nature and come from nature yet in floristry there are a lot of non-natural products and practices that have evolved over the years. She chooses to not use floral foam because it isn't biodegradable and strives to buy locally sourced flowers or American grown at least 80% of the time as she is a member of the Slow Flowers Network/Society.
She also makes a strong effort to reuse vase mechanics, water tubes, chicken wire for installs and she is always sure to compost. She asks that if you enjoy growing flowers to do your best to plant some native plants and pollinator-friendly plants to help the environment. And she loves to thrift and buy interesting vases instead of purchasing new, which makes her collection of vessels eclectic. If she does purchase new vases, she is all about supporting local artists first and foremost, like Kim Tayler Co. and Second Half Pottery.
When asked what her favorite flower to work with is she said it was a hard question to answer. She has favorites for each season - all of which she grows in her own garden. She calls them her "flower children". In general though, her favorite are "beautiful flowers that have a lot of grit and bloom despite attempts to knock them back but erratic weather or pests. They might look fragile but they keep blooming!"
With Valentine's Day later this week, I asked Lori if she had any advice she could share she said,
"I grew up loving a day that was about giving your friends or classmates a note to say I like you, care about you etc. Handmade. I think that extends to flowers. Give something unique. It doesn't have to be big or in traditional red to say I care or I love you. I have a petite red rose bouquet for sale in a wh
And if you are planning to order from Flori, you'll want to make note that she is taking preorders until Tuesday, February 11 for delivery and even has a 10% off promo on preorders, so order soon! After February 11, you can request to pick up a bouquet from Lori, but it's best to make those plans no later than February 12 to ensure she won't be sold out of supplies.
I want to give a big thanks again to Lori for not only allowing me to help capture a little piece of her brand and products to share with you on the new LORA Bloom site, but for hosting the photoshoot event. And I can’t stress it enough, people - please check out both LORA Bloom and Flori and support local this V-day and all special occasions moving forward. When you purchase local there is an actual person on the other end doing a happy dance.😊
P.S. Want to something incredible that Lori is working on? Head to the Northwest Flower and Garden Show February 26th - March 1, 2020. Lori will be partnering up with other LORA Bloom partners on a display of floral art using mannequins for the FLEURS de VILLEs event that will be featured Pacific Place. Lori will also be hosting a couple of demos and partnering up with Hazel Landscape and Designs on a pop up shop at the NWFGS!
She also hosts and teaches custom floral workshops for groups or parties...wreaths, centerpieces, floral crowns, floral jewelry, terrariums, etc. in her own studio and wil be posting upcoming classes - so stay tuned!
Lastly, Lori is presenting to the Seattle Garden Club in March. The topic will be From the Garden to the Vase - what to plant to cut for your arrangements.
So many exciting things coming up for her in this first quarter of the year!
