We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sara Elise Stephens a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sara Elise, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
Unorthodox Floral and Film is a business that grew from a passion. In 1984, my mother graduated from High School and was gifted a Canon AE-1 Program Film Camera. She used it throughout my childhood and kept it even when film went out of fashion. Then, for my own high school graduation in 2012, she passed it on to me. My love affair with film photography began then as I would save up money to ensure that I could get my film developed while perfecting my craft. This took years of on again off again photography as I waxed and wained in my ability to afford sending my film to different labs as well as my time that I allotted to the craft. Finally, in 2020, I allowed myself to start shooting more regularly and really honed in my style. Alongside this passion for film, in 2016 I was randomly asked by my brother to provide floral arrangements for his wedding. I obliged with confidence, although I had never arranged flowers before. This opportunity opened the door for me to realize that I did love arranging flowers. I again did florals for my sister’s wedding in 2019, then again for my own in 2021. My own wedding, alongside a move from a small South Florida beachside apartment to a house north of Atlanta, allowed for me to spread my wings and open Unorthodox Floral and Film in 2021. This business is truly the creative arm of my soul. It allows me to design multiple times a year, display and sell my photography, and create a business that is loudly supportive of my “Perishable Art” mission. Florals are perishable art at their core. They are here for a good time, but not a long time by design. This means that every stem only has one chance to be utilized and it is my responsibility to ensure that its life is not in vain. This may seem dramatic, but event florals have such an impact on the space and environment that it is incredibly important to me that they are treated with the reverence they deserve. In this same vain, film photography is a lost art. In current times, digital photographers are able to tweak their settings in real time in order to obtain the desired effect on their photos. Film photography does not get that same luxury. I shoot film very intuitively, meaning that I rarely change my settings to make a specific outcome and operate on an “it is what it is” model. This allows for the true essence of reality to shine through in my photographs. It is also why I never guarantee film photos of any one event, and only provide them when they turn out as. something beautiful. Creating art in the perishable midset allows for me to make Unorthodox Floral and Film truly Unorthodox.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Hey Y’all! My name is Sara Elise Stephens. I am a floral artist and film photographer based in Atlanta, Georgia and Auburn, Alabama. While this may seem like two random places, Atlanta is my home and Auburn is my hometown, meaning I am able to make both of those places my home base. I am a specialty events floral designer by trade, and a film photographer by heart. This means that the only services I sell are for special event floral design. Unless you count the once a year that I offer prints of my film photography. My specialty is color and seasonality. It is incredibly important to me to remember that floral design is a perishable art form. Flowers are not around for long, so it is important to treat them with reverence as this is their one and only time to shine. With that in mind, I only take on limited bookings and operate on a creative freedom model. What is creative freedom? It allows for the clients to choose a few “must-have” flowers, a color pallet, and a vibe, then I take the rest of the design freedom from there. This allows me to shop locally and choose complementary elements that are in season as well as sustainable in order to achieve the look that the client is wanting, while still flexing my creative muscles. This sets me apart because I refuse to copy someone else’s work. When you hire me as your floral designer, the product you receive will be entirely yours, not a re-creation of something you found on Pinterest. I also am always willing to move outside the box. Micro wedding on an island with no power? Sure! Floral meadow that needs to last a week for a photoshoot setup? You Bet! Dried installation in a greenhouse that will be up for at least two months? Absolutely! My creative freedom and limited bookings allow me to pour my heart and soul into the people who hire me, and that sets me apart.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
My third wedding officially as Unorthodox Floral and Film was one that I will continue to talk about forever. A fellow creative friend who is a photographer reached out to me about what was then a crazy idea. Would I be interested in designing florals for her micro-wedding? The catch is, it is at a campsite, on an island, with no power, an hour from shore, with no vehicles, and limited running water. If I said yes, I was signing my new business up for one amazing adventure, or one absolute failure that would surely cause me to lose any momentum I had as a new business. I said yes. Months of planning ensued. Mapping out the drive from my home to the coast. Pre-ordering flowers from a different state. Booking a hotel room to process everything the night before the ferry. Gathering camping equipment for the overnight stay on the island after installation, because you guessed it, once you’re on the island you have to stay overnight. The day finally came and I loaded up my cart with empty buckets, re-packed flowers, a box of bouquets, and one vase holding the bride bouquet. I sat on the ferry thinking to myself “am I qualified to actually pull this off”. And I did. My husband set up our campsite for the night and I got to work making something magical in the middle of the woods. It rained, then the rain stopped and the wedding went off without a hitch. As I sat at the reception drinking my much-earned margarita, I knew that I had just accomplished something that would propel me forward. I proved to myself that day that I am capable of doing hard things, and the only limit to my creativity is my confidence in myself.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Pivoting is something that floral designers have to do on a regular basis. We are told one thing, then we get somewhere and that isn’t the case, thus we pivot. My most recent example of this came at a wedding in the fall of 2023. The venue was absolutely beautiful and the couple booked it almost a year in advance. At the time of their booking, there was a large cross in the ceremony space that they were assured was moveable as they did not want it to be a part of their ceremony. The day finally comes and my team and I arrive to build our arch that was to go where the cross once stood. Only problem is, the cross is still there. I reached out to the coordinator who then reached out to the venue. During the time between the couple booking and their event, the cross had been made a permanent fixture in the ceremony space and was no longer moveable. This was upsetting to everyone involved, because regardless of your religious affiliation, having something so central to your wedding go wrong on the day-of your event can be heartbreaking. None the less, we pivoted. I talked to the couple and they gave me full creative freedom and trust to be able to design something for them on the fly. My assistant and I sat down on the floor of the ceremony space and started sketching. What we eventually came up with was to design a stain glass window shaped feature to disguise the cross as the truss of the window. We got to work and were able to complete the design with time to spare. The couple was so thrilled that we were able to build them something beautiful, and they still reach out to us to thank us for our ability to pivot from what we were originally making, to something completely new within the span of an hour.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.unorthodoxfloralandfilm.com
- Instagram: @unorthodoxfloralandfilm
Image Credits
Ellen Wagner Photo Haint Blue Collective Carl Elixr Photography Kelsey Justice Photography Lauren Bailey Photography