Victoria, how would you describe your signature style?
I would say that I don’t have a signature style, but if I were to ask other people, I know that they would say it’s lush, creative and detailed. But I truly mean it when I say that my signature style is kind of getting inside the client’s head and understanding who they are and start thinking the same way they do. I’m one of those people, I get bored doing the same thing over and over again. So I think that’s why I don’t have a signature style. I love doing a variety of things. I love doing very textured and organic and loose events and then going into something lush and luxe, and then turn around and go into something very minimalistic and modern. So that’s what keeps me alive as a designer and keeps me learning, keeps me challenging, keeps me growing. I truly thrive on doing things that are different.
Is that something you want people to take away from your workshops?
I would say the main thing I want people to take away is that everybody is super unique and everybody is very talented in their own way. And to me, the goal is always to help people to find themselves. I don’t want them to learn to do something because somebody else is doing it. I want them to be inspired and challenged to look deeper into their heart and soul and become a better designer naturally. To evolve personally. If it’s the style that they’re looking for, hold on to that. If it’s a challenge they’re looking for, to become more confident and secure in what they are, what they’re doing and who they are. I truly believe that flowers are art and copying is never producing a true masterpiece, you know? So it’s a matter of figuring out, okay, so what really truly makes me, me, you know? And also, learning something that may not be your natural style will make you a better designer. Even if you’re never going to do it again, I feel like you’re going to be so much better. You’re going to be so much stronger. And yes, the passion. That’s something I think is worth nurturing through the classes, through the experiences, like there’s so much more to it. It’s not a skill that you learned and you’re like, okay, I’m good.
“My goal is truly to understand the client, so when people walk in the room they totally see the clients through everything we’ve done.”
Is that your favorite thing about teaching then? The passionate and experimental side of it?
I would say my favorite thing about teaching is really that moment where people just, you know, you can see the sparkle in their eye and you know, oh my gosh, I can do it. I never thought I had that in me. I’m seeing people with the same set of flowers, the same ingredients and you walk through the room and you can see completely different designs. I would say that’s my favorite side of teaching. I learn as much as I teach. That to me is the biggest gift of teaching.
What’s the biggest learning curve you’ve experienced?
I feel like I’m much more confident. The funny thing is I have let go of certain details. And what I mean by that is that it’s not that I don’t pay attention to details. I mean that sometimes you really need to look at the big picture when you are actually designing because you have a plan and there is a reality. And reality dictates how things need to go. For instance, we had a wedding a few weeks back. It was a beautiful design on the water, but the wind was so ridiculous. We could not do like 25% of the designs. So we bolted everything to the ground. The whole plan had to change, and we had to be very calm and collected and just keep coming up with alternative solutions and not be stuck on details, and keep in mind the big picture. Like, what is the experience that we have promised the client? How can we create it even though the wind is taking everything from under us? In the beginning of my career, I might have been in tears. But now, I really feel that no matter what’s thrown at us, we still come up on top. The client is happy and nobody knows that we’re actually on plan Z plus one. So I would say that the biggest thing has been learning to adjust, adapt, change on the spot and figure it out.
That comes from lots of experience, doesn’t it?
It comes from practice. Correct. So like I always say to the team right now, freak out later, you know, we can cry and laugh and whatever, right now, we’re just making it happen. And also, as a person, I feel like I have a thicker skin. What is truly personal and what is not personal? Yeah. That’s really important. I feel like, especially when you’re doing flowers as a business a lot of it is human psychology. So for yourself, for your clients, for your team, you’re constantly figuring things out and playing the mediator. I feel like I read people much better than before. And because of that, I feel like I’m a much better person.
Is there a job or a project that brings you the most joy to reflect on?
Oh, that’s a really, really hard question. It’s always something we recently did because every project builds on the one before. So the first job that comes to mind is this big wedding we did recently, because it was extremely challenging logistically, first of all, because the property was really big. I’m very proud that despite everything that was thrown at us, we produced a beautiful wedding. And when you look at the photos, nobody knows. Like right before the bride and groom came, the whole champagne tower flew on the floor and broke into pieces. People were coming in off the buses, and we were picking up the pieces, and the champagne tower was then really small, but they didn’t notice. I constantly think, what is the end goal? Like the end goal was not to have the most beautiful, the tallest champagne tower. The end goal was to have that moment for the bride and groom. If it’s 12 glasses instead of 57, so be it. You know, what the end goal is, this experience, and it can be achieved in different ways. Don’t get fixated.
Where do you find your inspiration?
It comes in so many different shapes and sizes. Sometimes it’s the venue. Sometimes it’s a photo. It can be completely random. It could be just a color, or a piece of linen, a really beautiful piece of fabric, and you start dissecting it in terms of movement and color and texture. You just build the whole event around that. It’s not just about flowers. It’s about creating an experience. And sometimes flowers are a big part of it, but sometimes I would be the first one to say, let’s do fewer flowers. Let’s bring in some linens because they’re going to help us tell the story. If you have this gorgeous $350 centerpiece, and you put it on a polyblend linen that’s see through, there’s nothing I can do to make those flowers look pretty. They look out of place. It brings everything down. But if you have a beautiful linen, thoughtful details in the tablescape, you put a few floral flairs and it looks like a million dollars. It’s kind of looking at the big picture and saying, do these elements work together? Or do we need to shake things up? Or if your end design is very kind of moody and dark, whatever, let’s figure out how we can afford some really good lighting. What’s the point of investing money if you’re not going to get the end result the way it should be?
How do you find the balance between being honest and bringing their dreams to life?
I’ll be honest, sometimes I lose clients because I tell them something they don’t want to hear. But I’d rather lose the client and be honest with them and have them go home and think about it, than disappoint them. Because if they come in and their vision is too big for their budget, I tell them. I’ve also had people who have a vision that doesn’t fit their venue. Let’s say they want something hanging dramatically and their venue only has an 11 foot ceiling, so I can’t do anything dramatic. I don’t tell them no, I don’t drop the bomb without giving them a solution. So I’m like, okay, with these circumstances, I cannot do this to the degree you would like, but if we do this, it’s going to give you that. And then we decide to go in an alternative direction. I just feel like it establishes trust from the start. Everybody wins. And I hope it also shows that it’s not about me, it’s about them.
A big part of Madrid Blooms is that we’re really trying to push sustainability. How do you incorporate sustainability into your daily practices?
I will be completely honest. This is our weakest link. Just because in America, when you do so much commercial work, infrastructure is not set up. Just even recycling. A lot of times we do recycle at the studio. And a lot of times the recycle company comes in and puts it all in a dump. It’s really, really horrible. We are trying to work on it as much as we can. From the container selection to the farmers we’re working with. We’re actually working on finding our own recycling for flower stems and botanical products. There’s just no infrastructure. You pretty much need to build the infrastructure yourself. I think there’s more infrastructure in Europe than in America. To make it truly sustainable here we have to start small. From trying to separate everything in the studio. I have a program for kids too, and we’ve been giving them our old flowers from events and they’ve been doing a lot of arts and crafts and then they compost it, things like that makes me very very happy. We’re not just giving flowers a second life but we’re also inspiring a new generation. So we’re trying, we’re trying. I’ve been talking to the guys from Blooming Haus, designers from MADRID BLOOMS 2025. That’s been quite an inspiration. So yes, we’re working through some of the ideas because of them.
You mentioned the difference between Europe and America there, what kind of influence has growing up in Ukraine had on your style and approach to your work?
From my upbringing … I don’t know if it’s just Ukraine as a nation, but growing up with a father who was just very… My father was an engineer, and his approach was, if you have a hat on your shoulders and two hands, you can figure out anything. Like he would not take a no for an answer. If you say I cannot do something, he’s like, I don’t agree with that. You know, go find the book, read up on it, do some research, you’ll figure it out. And what that created in me is ingenuity, coming up with ideas and alternatives and thinking outside the box, because when you grow up with very little, you have to get creative. You know, there are so many resources, and there is a tool for everything, there is a book for everything. And now being older, I’m grateful to my dad that he pushed me into areas that were not my comfort zone.
OK, Victoria, we’ve come to our very last question, when people see your work, what do you hope that they feel?
Well, when it’s let’s say a wedding or a party, I don’t want people to say, oh, this is Victoria’s work. I really want people to say this is Mary. It’s so Mary and Jo. So my goal is truly to understand the client to the point where people walk in the room and they totally see the clients through everything we’ve done. So their personality, their taste, their style shines through in the most beautiful way possible. And I want them to see us through the intention, details and the quality of work that we produce, but not through the style. So like we talked in the beginning about the style. That’s pretty much the goal for me, for people to see the clients through what we’re doing. I truly, truly feel like I have a gift that I want to help people to tell the story. Their story. It’s not my story to tell. It’s their story to tell. So they should be the main character. I’m just like a director of a movie that they’re starring in, and helping to be very personal and authentic to them.
