Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
What started as a passion in Wetumpka several years ago, helping out friends in their flower shop, has turned into a hometown dream come true for Kristey Taunton. Owner, operator and main designer of her team of three, consisting of long time employee Teresa Vosika and Mysti Shamblin at the Millbrook Florist.
Taunton opened the Millbrook Florist on Highway 14 just over 15 months ago, where her specialty is curating the perfect selection of flowers for any occasion. However, Taunton stated that her strength is in the funeral and bereavement work she does.
“I just love helping people, especially in their time of need. Funerals are my specialty and that’s really where my heart is. I feel it’s an honor to do people’s flowers for their loved ones when they’ve passed away. But it wasn’t until I lost somebody close to me and I had the flowers there to comfort me that I really felt that strong connection with how important this work really was,” Taunton said.
Funeral arrangements are typically more traditional, which is where Taunton’s floral background lies, whereas weddings, graduations and other occasions leave a little bit more room for creativity. Although, nowadays the traditional trends are slowly switching to ones of more creativity for any occasion.
“When you’re grieving there at the grave, and you have this beautiful creation to look at it just slightly softens things. It’s hard to explain how that works but there’s a peacefulness in looking at the beauty of flowers,” Taunton said.
While Taunton has the traditional florist background, she stated that she’s started to incorporate more contemporary and artistic work in her everyday operations.
Everything can be ordered and seen through her website, www.themillbrookflorist.net, where the beautiful bouquets and creations are all made by Taunton and her team. They also offer delivery in the River Region for a minimum of a $45 order. The Millbrook Florist always has a Deal of the Week, which is a seasonal designer’s choice, there really is an option for everyone’s price range.
Taunton also started doing a monthly giveaway, through the Millbrook Florist Facebook. The public can nominate a local business through a Facebook post in the comments. In the comment, the nominated business name and why they are being nominated must be included. Those two aspects to the comment are the only criteria to nominate that business.
At the end of the month, Taunton and her team will present the winning business with the giveaway bouquet.
Throughout the seasons, Taunton stated that she receives her flowers at a wholesaler in Montgomery, where every flower in her shop is looked at and approved by her specifically.
“All florists usually order from a local wholesaler, some do choose to get some through the mail, but I don’t like that because I like to look at my flowers before I buy them to make sure they’re good quality. The wholesaler in Montgomery, they get their flowers from all over the world. They mostly get their flowers from places that grow good strong flowers that have been doing it for decades,” Taunton said.
The flowers that have been scientifically perfected in almost every way are actually grown outside of the U.S., Taunton confirmed. Places like Colombia, Ecuador and Holland have the perfect soil and climate for everyday and specialty flowers that the U.S. just can’t grow.
“Unfortunately, American soil is not great for flowers, and the flowers aren’t as strong. You’ll see a big difference between grocery store flowers and florist flowers because of the soil. An example of this is Walmart, they have their own greenhouses and you’ll notice their stems on their roses are usually squishy, whereas ours will be twice as big and the stems will be two to three times thicker. That’s from decades and decades of these people perfecting the growth,” Taunton said.
However, Taunton stated she supports local and American made whenever she can with baskets, sprays, stands, ribbons, vases and other supplies throughout the shop to not only support local but to support U.S. made products.
“People just don’t realize that flowers are a perishable product and all the manufacturing that goes into this. The greenhouses in these other countries, the decades that they have spent perfecting these hybrids of flowers, to get that perfect. There’s a lot that goes into this industry that people may not think about,” Taunton said.
At the Millbrook Florist, there’s an arrangement option for everyone’s budget. Whether that’s a yellow arrangement for a friend, something red to say I love you, or a white arrangement to show trust, the Millbrook Florist brings the hometown feel to every delivery.
