q + A Wedding Oahu Florist Halu Flowers Hawaii
Kay Salera Photography
Takako Miyahara is not only the founder of Halu Flowers Hawaii but she is also insanely talented at her job as a wedding and event florist. We had the pleasure of getting to know a bit more about her journey.
Q: Tell us how you first started out in the floral industry in Hawaii and how Halu Flowers Hawaii came to be.
A: I actually started working with flowers as a teenager at my brother's flower shop in LA. Next thing I know, there was a true love affair with flowers.
I had the job opportunity to move to Hawaii as a floral manager/design director at a wedding company in 2005, so took the chance for the move and produced many floral creations for destination weddings since then. After working for the company for 13 years, it was time for me to move on. With a deep rooted passion for beauty and flowers, I launched my dream design company HALU Hawaii in 2018 to share my love of floral design with others. I love what flowers do for people!
Q: How do you deliver to client's high expectations when it comes to floral design while also adhering to their particular budget?
A: Each collaboration is unique, but the process always includes listening, dreaming, sketching, looking at images, and playing with flowers until we have a really good plan in place. We do our best to understand each person’s personal style, then infuse their special day with those personal touches. The execution is always a team effort- it's a small team, but my team sure is amazing, we work and laugh hard! As for the budget, we try our best to work with the couple to allocate their budget toward the items that are most important to them. We value the trust of our clients above all else. So much so that with their expressed faith in our work, we are inspired to go above and beyond to fulfill their floral dreams.
Q: Do you find it harder to work with certain flowers or even obtain particular flowers in Hawaii? Which flowers do you recommend mostly for your Hawaii clientele's events?
A: Popular flowers (garden roses, peonies, ranunculus, dahlias, king proteas, etc) are nearly always in season somewhere in the world, but they are far more costly to acquire if they're not available locally. We encourage brides to keep an open mind when approaching flowers. We find that when you let the season's colors and floral varieties steer your design direction, the result is always better. Incorporating locally grown tropical greenery and floral is a great way to achieve a natural aesthetic and they typically hold up the best in heat.
Image courtesy of Halu Flowers Hawaii
Q: What is the craziest, most spectacular floral design you've had to do for an event?
A: My florist days in LA were the most spectacular ever. I had a great opportunity to collaborate on countless Hollywood events including the Golden Globes and Emmys, as well as celebrity homes in LA. On the other hand, the most extravagant wedding that we have done to date was stunningly beautiful and only experienced by 30 guests- how spectacular is that!
Image courtesy of Halu Flowers Hawaii