As Katyna Xedous, co-owner of Nelly's Flower Shop in Brooklyn, NY, explains: "Florists are designers. It's artwork that we create."
She certainly proved her point this Mother's Day when she and her sister Eleny made a giant DoorDash hot bag filled with goodies for actress and television personality La La Anthony, on behalf of La La's son Kiyan.
"We definitely had a lot of hours mapping out what we were going to do. We took trips to the hardware store for the mechanics. For the bag itself, we did 350 roses," Eleny says. She also meticulously glued on baby's breath flower by flower to make the white DoorDash logo.
Katyna and Eleny are the daughters of Nelly, who first opened the flower shop and gave it its name. The flower shop was Nelly's own mother's dream, which Nelly was able to finally bring to life. "It was really three generations in the making," Katyna says. Katyna and Eleny grew up "grew up in the store running around," and while they initially pursued different career paths, eventually they decided to take it over. "We would always come back to the store, and we realized that this is kind of where we feel the happiest."
Nelly's has become a Brooklyn institution. "We grew up with our community. We have our clients that come in, that we remember them from years ago," Eleny says.
There's a chance the shop may see the next generation continue in the family tradition. "I have two daughters, just like us, a blonde and a brunette, and we are training them to come to the store," Katyna says. "If they love it it's here for them, and if not they can explore their own dreams."
Order from Nelly's Flower Shop
