(Supplied/Fleurs de Villes)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

fleurs de villes

Red Deer florist a major part of travelling exhibit at Calgary Stampede

Jul 9, 2024 | 9:37 PM

A Red Deer florist and her team have earned some much deserved spotlight at the Calgary Stampede.

Calyx Floral Design, which has been around for 17 years, is one of the featured florists in the Fleurs de Villes exhibition.

The Canadian Fleurs de Villes has found success as a travelling exhibition in Sydney, New York, London, Chicago, Miami and Toronto. At this year’s Stampede, it is celebrating country music icons, with one-of-a-kind floral displays.

Travis Mills, Calyx’s longtime owner, spoke to rdnewsNOW about the honour of being involved, and of getting to construct flower-laden models of the late Hank Snow, and recently-turned country music superstar Beyoncé.

“You don’t just get to say, ‘Hey, I want to do this.’ You have to be invited, so we are pretty honoured. Plus, most of the florists are local to Calgary, so for them to reach out to someone in a smaller centre is exciting,” admits Mills.

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“Our Beyoncé creation took well over 60 hours of work, and we found out about this about two months ago. We started researching to come up with an idea for what the outfit should be and how we’d design it.”

Each florist was assigned their icons, which include Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, Dolly Parton, Faith Hill, Shania Twain, Johnny Cash, Taylor Swift and several others.

Mills explains that every two days, her team must tend to the Beyoncé mannequin, replacing many of the flowers each time so that it remains as fresh and new-looking for each visitor. The Hank Snow mannequin was created with artificial flowers, and is every bit as dazzling.

“On the under-side of Beyoncé, there are quite a lot of mechanics, including water containers and flower foam. We created the base of the outfit with preserved rose petals which don’t need a water source,” Mills says.

“The wings were made with what’s called a cordyline leaf, so again, no water needed. We used the sewing machine to turn those into ruffles. The skirt is mainly roses, orchids, and carnations — flowers that are a bit longer-lasting.”

On the legs are skeleton leaves, which are real leaves created using a special drying process, to give the sheer tights look. The upper portion of the outfit is also rose petals, which are flat-ironed and then glued on. The ‘jewels’ on the exterior are peppercorns, she reveals.

Mills says while they continue tagging Beyoncé in every social media post, hoping to get her attention, the chance to be included is up their with the best of her career.

Looking back on starting up her floral business nearly two decades ago, and now being part of Fleurs de Villes, there’s a gratifying feeling.

“This is pretty incredible and was a really cool learning experience. I went in thinking I knew everything about flowers, but as the days went on, I thought, ‘Oh boy,'” she quips.

“It’s a dream come true to be part of something like this. I’ve always loved flowers and always loved designing, so be able to be this creative is amazing; and then to have somebody say, ‘Here, take our money and be creative,’ is pretty unique and fun.”

Earlier during Stampede, Fleurs de Villes gave out awards to its featured florists, and Calyx was runner-up for the Most Creative award. Attendees can still vote on-site for the fan choice award which will be handed out before Stampede ends.

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