Bouquet of the Week: The Indelible Bond of Sisterhood
As part of our recurring Bouquet of the Week series, Garden Collage continues to present a weekly inspirational bouquet that incorporates intriguing new elements into the traditional practice of flower arranging. This week, Garden Collage stylist Chelsea Dowling crafts a bouquet honoring the strong women in her life.
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Don’t flowers just make you happy?! Of course we all have our favorites, but when I selected flowers for my inaugural Bouquet of the Week all I did was go off my emotional instincts. It’s funny when I think about my life: all of the good and wonderful relationships I have are tied with flowers. They symbolize a lot of different bonds with some really incredible women, without whom I wouldn’t be me.
The first flower I chose was the pink carnation, which is completely unconventional I know– but it is my amazing sorority Gamma Phi Beta’s house flower. The bond of sisterhood is like no other, and the pink carnation always reminds me of my sisters beautiful faces and my amazing big sis in particular. Even though we are miles apart now, her wanderlust has always inspired me to see the world and be a part of it– constantly sending love to the moon and back.
Peonies remind me of my college roommate, who I lived with for three years. Whenever peonies came into season our tiny San Francisco apartment was filled with them. She and I took our first steps into adulthood together and created a ‘friend family’ that we still hold near and dear to our hearts. My roommates strength and vivacious personality has always inspired me, and whenever I see a peony I think of our home and all the amazing times we had (and all of the experiences still to come).
The Daisy I chose reminds me of the bond I have with my best friend, my mother, and her mother. We all have matching bracelets with daisies on them, and we used to call it “the circle of trust”. (We got them during a really hard phase in our lives, and I don’t know why but I always think the daisy kept us close through those trying times.)
The unbreakable bond I share with these amazing women has always been associated with daisies. My best friends mom, Therese, has this life motto that has always resonated with me: “Go towards the Love.” By that she meant go towards the people who love you and the work you love, and move away from what causes you anxiety and stress. Go towards the bonds that make you stronger and gears you towards becoming the woman you want to be.
To tie this bouquet together, I grabbed some of the most beautiful and fragrant Lilacs I could find, just to balance out this beautiful arrangement that has come to represent all of the strong women around me. Looking at this bouquet brings a warmth to my heart as I think about all the wonderful women in my life and the infinite ways they’ve shaped me into the girl I am today.
