Flowers play a big role in the milestones of our lives. With their beauty, they help us celebrate at times like weddings and a non-verbal expression of comfort to accompany our grief at funerals. The gesture of giving flowers is what matters most, whether you pick the flowers from your garden or take a quick trip to Kroger.
In the right hands, flowers can become art. Every spring, Newfields hosts Art in Bloom, a four-day festival where dozens of creative floral arrangements are displayed throughout the campus.
Cascading bouquets, fruit arranged in ikebana and large arrangements that seem to defy physics are some of the inspiration for florists everywhere.
I talked to five Indianapolis floral designers around Indy who bring talent and inventiveness to their work. But what goes on behind the scenes is not always so glamorous.
It’s a physically demanding job that includes late nights and early mornings. They do a lot of cleaning, cutting, ordering, transporting and lifting of flowers, all to make your moment more special.
Renaissance Flower
Flowers have always been a part of Vania Reyes’ life. When she was a child growing up in Mexico City, her father would give her, her sister and her mother roses every week.
In 2022, she started making floral arrangements for family and friends as an art student at IU Indianapolis. Today, she leads her own home-based business, Renaissance Flower, creating designs for weddings, fundraisers and same-day deliveries.
Her sculptural arrangements are tall and ornate and go beyond the flowers themselves; she’ll even use elements like LEGOs, mesh and fruit.
Favorite flower: Victoria amazonica, also known as the largest water lilies.
Favorite flower to work with: Tropical flowers.
Least favorite flowers to work with: Hydrangeas, baby breath and roses.
Dream location for your flowers to be displayed: Local restaurants, women’s shelters and luxury designer fashion show runaways
Flower arrangements created by Vania Reyez, owner of Renaissance Flower, a home-based flower business. Reyez uses mesh and fruit to create sculptural flower arrangements. Credit: Dinna Gonzales Photo
Willow and Star Flowers
Allyson Wells was 7 years old when she started caring for her own small flower garden in her backyard.
This love for flowers continued and she took a chance on starting her own floral business in 2019, while working as an English teacher at Carmel High School. Willow and Star Flowers started as a summer pop-up and expanded into a full-service shop in Northview Mall in Nora.
Her five-person team creates bouquets and arrangements for everything from weddings to corporate luncheons. One unique feature of Wells’ business model is her intention to source the majority of their flowers from farmers in the Indianapolis area.
“We’ve got all of these great flower growers in Indianapolis and I wanted to make it easier to buy locally grown flowers,” Wells said. “One of the reasons we prioritize them is that it reduces the amount of waste.”
Favorite flower: Tulips and lisianthus.
Least favorite to work with: Sunflower.
What’s in your future? A second location and raising awareness of my floral business.
Flowers line the counters and walls at Willow and Star Flowers, on April 21, 2026, on the north side of Indianapolis. Credit: Erika Haskins for Mirror Indy
Blooms by Katy
Katy Ruiz used to make crochet flower bouquets in high school. Now, the 22-year-old home-based florist makes massive rose bouquets. She’s garnered over 8,000 followers and almost 700,000 likes on TikTok alone.
Her clients often ask her to make bouquets for their girlfriends or for wedding proposals, birthdays and graduations. She enjoys making pink bouquets because the color pairs well with others.
Favorite flower: Wax flowers and roses.
Least favorite to work with: Peonies and hydrangeas.
What’s in your future? Opening a floral shop and doing weddings.
Katy Ruiz poses for a photo at a fall market. The 22-year-old owns Blooms by Katy, a home-based floral business where she makes floral arrangements for graduations, weddings and proposals. Credit: Provided photos/Katy Ruiz
Dandelion Floristry
When she was a teenager, Daniela Lo and her family moved from the Philippines to the United Arab Emirates, and then to the U.S. Her first job in Indianapolis was working in the floral department at Kroger on the east side.
Today, the 27-year-old makes bouquets and arrangements for special holidays and private events through her floral business, Dandelion Floristry. Last summer, she designed table centerpieces for the Butter Fine Art Fair at the Stutz.
Lo describes her work as minimalist, focusing on monochromatic design. She uses flowers from wholesale vendors in Colombia and Ecuador.
Lo said she is excited to grow Dandelion Floristry.
“I want to have my own physical shop where people come in on a sunny day, browse through flowers I’ve personally sourced, or a space where I can have workshops and events for people who love and admire flowers just as much as I do,” Lo said.
Favorite flower to work with: Peonies and garden rose.
Least favorite to work with: Asters.
Dream client: A beautiful couple getting married on a European summer vacation like in Spain or Rome.
Floral arrangements created by Daniela Lo, owner of Dandelion Floristry. Credit: Daniela Lo
Naptown Floral
Dominique Carrington found floristry while studying art education in Minnesota. When she moved back to Indianapolis, she sought the help of two seasoned florists to learn ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, and how to care for flowers.
Carrington, a studio florist, started Naptown Floral in 2019, where she creates custom high-end designs. Her arrangements have appeared in commercial and editorial photography, art shows and weddings. Every year, without fail she has a Halloween bride. She also hosts floral craft community events.
Her printmaking background allows her to take an unorthodox approach to certain projects. She cuts, spraypaints and bedazzles her flowers.
Even as the industry tries to develop more sustainable practices, Carrington admits that her works don’t shy away from toxic materials like floral foam, oil paint and mineral spirits.
“I have accepted it as a necessary evil for some florists and I’m that florist,” she said. “I think of it as a printmaking process.”
Favorite flower to work with: Protea and anthurium.
Least favorite to work with: Gerbera daisies and hydrangeas.
What’s in your future? Start group projects for other florists as well as teaching newer people in the business the mechanics, but also how to break some floral rules.
Left and right: Models pose with floral designs by Naptown Floral. Center: A Naptown Floral arrangement at a 2021 wedding. Credits: Michael Schrader/Pink Bike Media, Jasmine Norris Photography and Chloe Gianna Photo
Let’s talk more flowers
If you’re looking for creativity, affordability and quality, here are other independent shops and designers in Indianapolis to check out.
- Fiore Design Studio
- Rosebud Flowers & Gifts
- Bokay Florist
- Flower Boys
- Tolen’s Florist
- Watt’s Blooming
- Kendra’s Floral Kreations
- Eagledale Florist
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Mirror Indy reporter Mesgana Waiss covers arts and culture. Contact her at 317-667-2643 or mesgana.waiss@mirrorindy.org.
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