We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Taylor Ehle and Taylor Hammer). We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Taylor Ehle and Taylor Hammer below.
Taylor Ehle and Taylor Hammer, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
A common misconception about floristry is that it’s just “playing with flowers.” We get it! We used to think that, too, until we dove headfirst into the industry.
When we first started, you could find us crouched under the blazing desert sun, scrubbing five-gallon buckets with bleach water. Once cleaned, those buckets were partially filled with water and became temporary homes for 75 roses, 30 hydrangeas, or other stunning blooms. Our next task was to carry those heavy buckets, brimming with flowers, into the cooler to keep them fresh.
Then there’s the mess that comes with processing flowers. Once you know, you know. Flowers don’t just magically appear at the shop, ready to work their magic. It’s up to the florist to unwrap them from their transportation packaging, remove the excess foliage, trim their stems, and let them rehydrate in clean water for a couple of hours. Now multiply those actions by thousands to account for the thousands of stems we’d receive in a given week.
We like to joke that floral design should be featured on an episode of Dirty Jobs – because it is! Whether it’s schlepping buckets around, cleaning flowers and vases, or standing up to your shins in dirty foliage, you have to learn how to love the hard work that’s required to make even just one showstopping arrangement.
Becoming a trained floral designer and resiliency go hand in hand. We like to think we’ve paid our dues when it comes to hauling heavy buckets and getting pricked by rose thorns, but there will always be a need to get our hands dirty in order to continue producing amazing results for our clients.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
If there’s a conventional way to become a full-time floral designer, we don’t know it.
For example, I (Taylor Ehle) have a history in costume design, among many other passions, that made me a Jane of all trades but a master of none. I needed to refine a skill that could become a career. In other words, I needed to pick a chair and sit down. When the opportunity to start working as a floral designer seemed to fall out of the sky, it felt like a sign. I was captivated by the artistry of florals–their textures, colors, and the rewarding challenge of bringing a vision to life in a way that felt both tangible and deeply meaningful.
Taylor Hammer, on the other hand, graduated from law school and received her Juris Doctorate. While reading legalese day and night was what she’d signed up for, there was a creative side to her that went untapped. During the pandemic, she took a floral design class on a whim, and it turned out to be a transformative experience. The class revealed a hidden talent and passion for floral artistry that she had never explored before. What began as a personal outlet quickly became a professional pursuit. It was the career change that no one saw coming, and everyone celebrated.
Thistle House was born in 2022 when we (lovingly referred to by our clients as “the Taylors”) realized we were both craving more artistry and individuality in the floral world. In an industry built around life’s most special celebrations, we saw an opportunity to merge our talents and create something fresh.
Based in the heart of Las Vegas, we specialize in creating lush, floral-heavy installations that feel as elevated as they look. Our designs are modern and full of intention. One of our signature touches is hand-reflexing roses to make them look larger and fuller, giving every design an unmistakably luxurious look.
What excites us most is helping our clients feel seen and celebrated. Each event has different needs, and it’s inspiring to collaborate and create florals that perfectly match a brand’s vibe or a venue’s aesthetic in our design style. Our clients trust us to take their vision and turn it into something even better than they imagined.
Recently, we’ve worked with esteemed clients, like The Macallan, on large-scale installations, exploring innovative ways to elevate spaces with texture, color, and a touch of the unexpected. In our installation for The Macallan, which can currently be found at The Lobby Bar at Aria, we blended genuine lava stones with dried floral and desert-sourced branches to bring together a look that’s edgy, modern, and, quite literally, on the rocks.
Looking ahead, we’re focused on expanding our connections with brands and events that share a passion for intentional artistry. One of my dreams for Thistle House is to create an epic floral installation for a music video, but our ultimate vision is to keep building a community of trusting clients and collaborators, helping bring their biggest dreams to life through unforgettable floral design.
We’re passionate about creating unforgettable floral moments that make people feel something–and we’re so excited to embrace the adventures ahead!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
There are a few main qualities and skills that helped us get our feet off the ground:
1. Adaptability and Creativity
Entering the floral industry without a lick of previous experience meant we had a fresh perspective to offer. Previous experiences in creativity, like hand-sewing costume embellishments or constructing new legal arguments, taught us how to think outside the box and adapt to different challenges. In floral design, this means being able to adjust to last-minute changes or transforming a client’s vague idea into something tangible and breathtaking. For those early in their journey, our advice is to embrace every creative opportunity – it all compounds into a toolkit you’ll draw from later.
2. Building Genuine Connections
One of our biggest lessons is that success in this industry isn’t just about talent; it’s about relationships. From creating trusting client bonds to collaborating with other talented vendors, the ability to connect authentically has been key to our growth. For beginners, focus on nurturing relationships by being personable and reliable. People remember how you make them feel, not just what you create.
3. A Willingness to Learn and Experiment
When we started Thistle House, we didn’t have all the answers, but we were willing to learn—from experimenting with techniques to studying large-scale installations by our design heroes and reading books on floral design. Staying curious and open to new ideas has been invaluable. Our advice? Embrace education, whether it’s through workshops, online tutorials, or even just trying something new on your own time. Practicing with flowers in hand consistently made the difference for us.
Our main advice for beginners? Don’t be afraid to start small and build slowly. You don’t need to wait to be perfect or until you feel like you’re ready. Explore your interests, invest in your relationships, and always be open to learning. Every step, even the ones that feel uncertain, is part of finding your unique voice in this industry.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
If you were to look behind the curtain, you’d quickly see that the events industry can turn into chaos if the right preparations aren’t made. Even when we’ve dotted all our i’s and triple-checked everything, there are nights when our racing minds keep us awake. Overwhelm happens to the best of us, but we’ve learned a few strategies to help keep it at bay.
When we feel the weight of a big project or challenging logistics, the best thing for us to do is pause and step away. Sometimes, solving creative problems means giving ourselves permission to go for a walk, dive into a completely different creative outlet, or get active. We’ve found that it’s much easier to tackle challenges after we’ve given ourselves the room to breathe and let go of the thoughts that don’t serve us. Stepping away for a while allows us to return with a clearer mind and fresh ideas that prepare us for success.
The other thing to remember when you start to feel overwhelmed is that good preparation makes all the difference. Learn everything you can about the installation before you show up. Where exactly will you need to unload, how do you get to the installation site, what does the timeline look like, and are there any other details that will help you show up ready for anything? Defining the plan in advance gives us the confidence to make stronger choices and allows us the freedom to adapt if things don’t go as expected.
The goal for every event is to show up as the best version of ourselves and produce epic results because of it. That’s why there is power in stepping back. There is success in preparation. A clear mind and a solid plan make even the biggest productions feel manageable.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thistlehouse.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_thistlehouse/
- Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/xThistleHouse/
Image Credits
Liberty LaFountaine (L. LaFountaine Photo) – LLP_23.jpg LLP_25.jpg LLP_26.jpg LLP_49.jpg LLP_41.jpg LLP_42.jpg LLP_64.jpg
Kristen Joy Photography – DLL-250.jpg DLL-375.jpg DLL-453.jpg
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
