Dozens of floral designers created a moving tribute to honor the victims and their families. Mayesh Wholesale provided the flowers and foliage.
For floral designers attending a four-day wedding conference in Las Vegas this week, shock over the country’s deadliest mass shooting quickly gave way to action.
Marisa Guerrero, AIFD, of Debbie’s Bloomers in El Paso, Texas, was among an estimated 5,000 wedding vendors in Las Vegas for Wedding MBA, and she was one of dozens of floral designers who volunteered to create a memorial for the victims. Mayesh Wholesale donated the flowers and foliage.
“It was so touching to see so many in our industry step out of a convention they paid to attend to try to lend their talents to comfort the families of the deceased,” said Guerrero, adding that the floral tribute was situated in front of the Las Vegas Convention Center, where victims’ families have been meeting. “Florists know how important flowers are to the healing process.”
Sharon Hearne, the manager of Mayesh’s Las Vegas branch, said she had one reaction to the designers when they arrived asking for help: “Take anything and everything from the cooler that you need.”
“We’re devastated,” she said. “The shooting happened half a mile from us. We’re in shock and heartbroken. We all know someone who has been affected. This was just a small thing we could do, and we were really happy to do it to help the families.”
“A lot of people think about Las Vegas, and they think we live on the Strip and party and gamble,” she added. “But that’s not the reality. We’re a really strong community and people are coming together, to give blood, to do anything. This was a contribution we could make. We’re all devastated.”
The outreach was organized quickly by Sarah Campbell-Angers of Intrigue Design & Decor in Annapolis, Maryland. Guerrero said more than 100 designers initially offered to help — in the end about 20 people were needed for the design work.
A previously planned event Tuesday night at Wedding MBA, hosted by The Knot and WeddingWire, also became a fundraiser for the victims and their families.
After the shooting in 2015 at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, Manny Gonazales wrote about florists’ roles in helping grieving communities.
