After making a gift for her mother from a tutorial she saw on TikTok, senior Elizabeth Garcia soon found the start of her new business. She started her flower business and quickly gained customers interested in purchasing her ribbon rose bouquets.
“I wanted to make flowers for my mom and I just wanted to make something cute that would last forever,” Garcia said.
In May of last year, Garcia created the Instagram account @flowers.by_eli specifically for her to promote and for people to purchase her ribbon rose bouquets. A lot of orders she receives are typically for birthdays or Mother’s Day but she makes bouquets for any occasion upon request. Her most common order is pink, white or purple flowers but she is excited when people order bouquets she doesn’t typically make.
Behind the ribbon roses, a tedious and challenging process takes place. Her bouquets consist of different numbers of ribbon roses she handcrafts herself. The most difficult thing she faces in her business is how time-consuming it is while trying to balance school and having a part-time job all at the same time. Garcia explains how it takes around 16 hours for each bouquet but seeing her customer’s reactions make it all worth the while.
“My favorite one was this red and yellow bouquet that had 24 flowers,” Garcia said. “I just really like the different choice of colors since most people never choose those kinds of color combinations.”
After high school, she is considering expanding her business after adjusting to college life. She enjoys making roses but worries about her full schedule and hopes to be able to accomplish both things at once. Garcia wants to try her best to balance her academic responsibilities while keeping her business going.
“My favorite thing is seeing people’s reactions,” Garcia said. “I like seeing their smile or how much they like it and how they’re giving it away to a loved one or someone special.”
