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Master Florists Past and Present

FlowerSchool strives to immerse aspiring florists into the New York floral industry. With 20 years in the making, you can be confident that FlowerSchool has a strong network of top-players who are at the top of their game.  Below is a list of some of our faves!

The Depth and Diversity of our instructors is one of our biggest strenths!

After a decade as a professional photographer Calvert ('Cal') made the transition to a floral entrepreneur in 2006. 18 years later, Cal has published 2 books, and made a prestigious name for himself as an educator and expert of the floral industry. 

Author, Lead Instructor & Executive Director of FlowerSchool

Calvert Crary

Juan M. Villanueva, owner of Villanueva Designs, is a second-generation florist from South Texas who for the past 10 years has successfully served Manhattan and its surrounding areas with his stunning installations. We call him FlowerSchools best kept secret!

Floral Instructor

Juan M. Villanueva

The owner of Belle Fleur New York, Meredith is the premier leader in haute couture floral and event design. Her luxurious events have been featured in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and New York Times.

Internship Affiliate & Wedding Design Instructor 

Meredith Waga-Perez

Claudia Hanlin revolutionized the way couples find and hire wedding vendors in the New York Market when she founded Wedding Library in 2000. Featured in Bride's Best and Martha Stewart's Best, Claudia created a "one stop shop" with all of a betrothed's needs. Including wedding dresses, invitations, and more, Wedding Library is the largest wedding planning business in NYC that all exists under one roof. 

Event Design Instructor

Claudia Hanlin

With a background as a professionally trained ballerina, Designs by Ahn is a top-tier floral and event design company which choreographs colors and textures to tell a beautiful story. We often send Floral Design Program students to Designs By Ahn for exceptional internship experience.

Internship Affiliate & Master Class Floral Instructor

Victoria Ahn

Born and raised in California farm country, Lewis Miller developed a respect for nature early on. After seven years of successfully pursuing his interests in design, flowers and event planning, Lewis moved to New York in 2000 where he worked for one of the city’s top floral boutiques. In March of 2002, Lewis’ vision of a country life in a metropolitan setting inspired him to create LMD New York, Lewis Miller Design.

Master Class Instructor

Lewis Miller

LaParis Phillips draws inspiration from fashion, nature and art while using flowers as the medium. Brooklyn Blooms believe that everyone is an individual and deserves to have florals tailored just for them, even down to the vessel. By using curated seasonal blooms in interesting found vases, Brooklyn Blooms creates “beautiful things out of beautiful things” with you in mind. Brooklyn Blooms is a tried-and-true internship choice.

Internship Affiliate & Master Class Instructor

LaParis Phillips

Celebrity Floral Designer Oscar Mora, of Oscar Mora Floral Art & Design, is most noted for his stylish integration of modern and classical design, which have been hailed as “exquisite” by top fashion designers such as Valentino and L’Wren Scott. Many celebrities including Sarah Jessica Parker, Karl Lagerfeld, Madonna, Nicole Kidman, and Marc Jacobs have received his customized floral creations.

Master Class Instructor 

Oscar Mora

Ingrid Carozzi is one of New York’s most sought-after florists and the owner of the acclaimed Tin Can Studios in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Ingrid has been covered in publications such as Vogue, Martha Stewart Weddings, Design*Sponge, The Knot, and more.

Master Class Instructor

Ingrid Carozzi

Christian Tortu was the Creative Director of Flowers at Takashimaya in New York City and largely considered to be the leading seller of flowers in New York City. He currently has three signature flower shops in Japan. Christian has designed flowers for many of the couture houses in Paris as well as weddings of royalty.

Master Class Instructor

Christian Tortu

In 2000, Atsushi opened his iconic flower shop “jardin du I’llony” in Kobe. By 2002, he opened his second shop  “florist jardin du I’llony” in Ashiya, working with luxury brands like Cartier and Hermes. In 2009, he expanded his vision producing FLOWBULOUS, a floral inspired magazine, and opened his 3rd and most recent shop in Paris in 2015.

Master Class Instructor

Atsushi Taniguchi

Kiana Underwood is the owner of Tulipina, an internationally renowned floral design studio that specializes in creating bespoke experiences for luxury weddings and events. Kiana’s work can be seen in Vogue, The New York Times, Brides, Elle Décor, Town and Country, and many more.

Master Class Instructor

Kiana Underwood

Along with being the decorator for in-house events, Van Vliet and Trap creates the stunning colossal urn arrangements and the bouquets in the Great Hall at The Metropolitan Museum of Art which Remco personally designs every week. 

Master Class Instructor

Remco Van Vliet

Matthew Robbins runs the New York–based events design and planning firm Matthew Robbins Design with his partner Luis Otoya. Matthew has been a contributing editor for Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine for over 15 years, as well as contributing to InStyle, New York Weddings, Food and Wine Magazine, and Martha Stewart Living, Huffington Post, Style Me Pretty, and more.

Master Class Instructor

Matthew Robbins

Ariella Chezar is a master floral designer whose work has graced the covers and pages of Martha Stewart Magazine, Real Simple, O Magazine, and many more. Ariella is an accomplished author, having written and published Flowers For The Table, The Flower Workshop, and Seasonal Flower Arranging. This master florist has even designed for The White House.

Master Class Instructor

Ariella Chezar

Angel Salazar Design creates bespoke custom florals for luxury spaces. Working with an ever-growing list of premium brands like Vanity Fair, Armani, Gucci, and many more, ASD proudly provides clients with unforgettable, exquisite floral experiences. FlowerSchool often sends Floral Design Program students to ASD for internships!

Internship Affiliate 

Angel Salazar Designs

Notable Alumni

Paulina Nieliwocki

Blue Jasmine Floral

Paulina graduated from FlowerSchool in 2017 and since then has become an extremely notable florist. Being inspired by the natural shape and curve of the stem, Blue Jasmine's stand-out style has been featured in Florist Review 3 years in a row. 

Michael Giannelli

East Hampton Gardens

“We saw a huge opportunity to create a unique shopping environment unlike anything in the Hamptons which specifically relates to the garden, outdoor living and entertaining.” - Michael Giannelli, KD Hamptons Magazine, by Kelli Delaney

Carlos Franqui

Floratorium 

Floratorium is a flower and art studio whose passion is to set our florals free from the confines of the vase. ​Floratorium is also the original creator of the Art of GLAMffolding™, transforming the inevitable city requirement of store front scaffolds into works of art.

Raquel Goldish

Primrose Floral Design

Raquel Goldish opened Primrose Floral Design Inc. in 2019 and is the founder of RE: Create Events. Her work has been featured in Mishpacha Jewish Family weekly. 

Apple

POME Florals

"Flowers are much more than beauty to me. They are a reminder of growth, color, diversity & the interconnectivity of all living things."

Emily Swartz

Fleurvoyant

Emily Swartz is a talented alumni from the FlowerSchool, graduating in Summer 2022. Fleurvoyant represents not only the natural beauty of flowers but their ability to connect us back to nature. 

Summer Robbins

Summer Robbins Flowers

Nestled in the rugged countryside of Bend, Oregon, Summer Robbins Flowers is a bespoke floral design studio that creates thoughtfully designed floral arrangements for weddings and events. Oregon Bride Magazine Best Florist Outside Portland 2017 .

Brittany Sullivan

The Flower Slinger

Brittany is an NYC trained florist who has worked for some of the top design studios in New York. She was recently named one of Florists’ Review 35 under 35 “rising stars in the flower industry”. 

Nichole Wilder

Wild Fig Floral

Wild Fig Floral specializes is garden style floral design inspired by nature. Always sourcing the most exquisite and freshest flowers. From the stem to the vessel, WildFig Floral is a unique, lush and imaginative gesture of beauty.

Marianna Coppola

Creations by Coppola

Her nostalgic memories of her seaside hometown– Monte Di Procida, Italy– is known for its jagged cliffs, dramatic vistas, and lemon tree orchards. This serves as the inspiration for her floral arrangements. Her passion is in crafting love stories through flowers.

Lelian Chew

The Floral Atelier Singapore

An extension of The Wedding Atelier, a successful regional luxury wedding and celebrations planning company, The Floral Atelier is a couture floral boutique offering event styling, bouquets, arrangements, residential and corporate subscriptions, and more.

Jennifer Haf

BLOOM Floral Design

BLOOM is Michigan’s boutique event floral designer inspired by flowers in their natural form. From their own cutting gardens to the flowers they source from around the world, each event is custom designed to delight each and every client.

Urban Poppy is Savannah’s very own full service bridal boutique dedicated to providing the most beautiful floral arrangements and creative decor for your nuptials.

Aurea Sanabria Molaei

Flower Bodega

A New York City-based, modern floral design & content studio that recently opened its first flower shop in the Nordstrom Flagship store. Flower Bodega's clients include Vogue, Marc Jacobs, NYFW, Le Labo, 818 Tequila, and more. 

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