Hello There! In this blog, I interviewed Seattle/Woodinville, WA based floral architect, Holly Yee, of Holly Yee Floral Architecture. We absolutely love her style and she is always a pleasure to work with. I met Holly through Wedding Network Seattle, where she had joined the committee alongside me. There is something about Holly that makes her so easy to talk to and she has an incredible talent that is impossible to gloss over. For a team get-together (back in 2019 when we were allowed to do such fun things), we went to Holly’s studio in Woodinville for a super fun floral workshop. We definitely have it on our ‘must do again’ list.
I asked Holly a few questions - read on to hear what she had to say!
Holly Yee - photo by Char Beck
Q: How long have you been in business?
A: I officially started my floral design business in 2011 in Colorado where I was living at the time. My business started as “Designs Abloom” and then became “Polkadot Blossoms” for a hot minute, before I settled on “Love Letters Floral Design”. I renamed my business with the move out to Washington to something more personal and that embodied the word “architecture” as I do a lot of drawing/drafting.
Ashley’s comment: (that is over 10 years of expertise, folks)!
Q: How did you get started in floral design?
A: I first started working with flowers back in the early 90’s. I lived on kauai for about three years when I was in elementary school and during that time I took a lei making course at a local community center. I discovered that I really enjoyed making things using a medium as beautiful as flowers. I think I was 11 years old at that time.
My family and I moved back to Wisconsin and in high school I had received a corsage for a midwinter dance. Afterwards, I remember taking apart the corsage to see how it was made. For the next formal dance at my school I decided to sell boutonnieres and corsages, and promoted my business by hanging up fliers in the hallways.
I then did the flowers for my first wedding during this time when my cousin got married. After that my journey into the world of flowers slowly evolved until I decided to make a formal business in 2011.
Q: What do you love about what you do?
A: I enjoy a lot about floral design! Most of the time people think that getting to play with flowers is the best part. But I prefer the conceptual design over the production part. That’s really the area where I get to be most creative and imaginative. Plus, it involves collaborating with the client and working together to come up with some amazing designs for their event. Plus, the after-glow from a wedding - when you’ve done a great job, the client is thrilled, and the event turns out beautiful - cannot be matched. It makes up for the sore hands and tired body.
Q: You used to live in Colorado. Is there anything you miss most about Colorado? What do you like about Washington?
A: Yes, I lived in Colorado for 11 years before moving to Washington at the end of 2018 for my husband’s job.
Oh goodness - what do I not miss about Colorado?! It’s a beautiful state and a fantastic place to live. There are so many adventures to be had in Colorado, especially in the mountains, there are tons of glorious, sunny days, and the atmosphere/vibe of most of the cities and towns in Colorado is outdoorsy, welcoming, laid-back, and fun. It was an amazing place to live!
The thing I miss most are my friends and family back in Colorado. I had forgotten how hard it is to move to a new place, but I think Covid made it exponentially harder with living in lockdown most of the last year. I miss having an established community and interacting with people in person!
But I am really appreciating the natural beauty of Washington. The trees here are SO tall! And the little critters that are everywhere - birds, spiders, snails, frogs - are fun to discover. I love watching them, listening to them, and photographing them. I’ve also developed a great appreciation for the masses of crows. They are so loud and interesting. And sometimes they congregate by my studio before they head home for the evening. I can always tell when they are outside, because it gets really, really loud.
Q: If you weren’t a florist, what else could you imagine doing?
A: I used to be in the nonprofit sector planning fundraising events. If I wasn’t doing floral design, I would probably be back in the event planning world. But this time I would want to go into planning surprise parties, if that could even be a business niche. Pulling off a fabulous surprise is so much fun!! I’ve been doing that a lot in my personal life and just love it!
Q: What is your secret sauce that makes you so awesome at what you do?
A: Oh goodness, well I am super creative, I have a really good eye for design, and I love coming up with fun ways to make arrangements unique. And I have become really skilled at drawing proposed floral arrangements during the conceptual part of my process. It’s fun to look back and see just how close my sketches were to the actual physical arrangements. Sometimes the arrangement that I sketched several months in advance looks almost exactly like the arrangement that is made for the specific event.
Ashley’s comment: I have seen Holly’s sketches and they are AMAZING!
Q: What is one thing you wish all couples would ask before booking you?
A: I can’t think of a question per say that I wished couples would ask before booking, but in an ideal world everyone would understand how much work, effort, and time goes into floral design. I think as humans we are bad at estimating how much time things take, and we tend to over simplify and underestimate things. It’s like when I watch the Great British Baking Show. You think, oh, a cake or some cookies or a muffin...that shouldn’t be that hard to make. But then even with 4 hours of alotted time to make the said pastry, the contestants are running around, stressed, and working really hard. Sometimes it’s like that with floral design.
Ashley’s comment: This is a really good point!
Q: What have you been doing to cope during these strange times?
A: I’ve been taking time to be creative in other ways. I recently learned how to use a sewing machine. I started making jewelry again. And practicing my photography more.
Q: Is there a wedding venue that is on your wishlist that you haven’t shot at yet?
A: I really want to work at Rein Fire Ranch. It’s just a lovely venue. Twin Willow Gardens was also on my list, but I am excited to say that I will be working there this year for the first time.
Q: Anything else our readers should know about you?
A: I am excellent at 80’s/90’s music trivia! ;)
Ashley’s comment: A kindred spirit!
There you have it! Reach out to Holly if you have any questions of your own :)
Photos by Char Beck
Cheers,
Ashley
Principal Wedding Planner and Co-Owner of It’s Your Day Events
Who is It’s Your Day Events?
We are a Seattle, Bellingham and Bremerton, WA based wedding planning, wedding coordination and design agency. What we do is at times difficult to picture because the services we offer are intangible. When you are scrolling through beautiful photos, with stunning flowers, and amazing cohesive design; the magic behind that is the planning, design, and coordination. This is what we do.
We professionally organize, plan, and coordinate the details.
We dot the i's and cross the t's.
We triple check it all once more.
Then, when the day comes, we watch the wonderment and happiness on your face as your wedding day unfolds, just as you dreamed it would.
Contact us for any wedding planning, wedding coordination or design needs!
