Thursday, March 28, 2024

Pocketful of Posies: Emily Rickard creates floral designs extraordinaire

From azaleas to zinnias and all the genuses and species in between, flowers have always attracted Emily Rickard. She adores the textures, the colors, and the glorious scents. Pocketful of Posies, her one-woman floral business, allows her to work with exotic blooms every day.

“Weddings are my specialty,” says Rickard, “I’ve done other events too, like the retirement dinner for Penn State President Barron, alumni functions, football parties, and even a bat mitzvah, but I particularly love helping brides find their vision.” 

Rickard grew up in Howard, where she still lives and works. From the age of eleven, she assisted in her aunt’s full-service flower shop in Lock Haven. That experience sparked her passion for creating wedding arrangements. “When Aunt Cheryl closed her shop, I was home raising my children, but then a few people asked me to do their wedding flowers. So it started slowly, but when things picked up, I decided to get my license and open Pocketful of Posies.” That was in 2016. 

In 2021, Rickard provided flower arrangements for 116 weddings. She typically does four weddings per two-day weekend, but when Friday nuptials get added to the schedule, she has handled as many as nine during a three-day period. Pocketful of Posies has been hired for weddings all over Pennsylvania, and as far away as North Carolina’s Outer Banks. 

Rickard begins her design process by meeting with the bride in a neutral setting such as the coffeeshop in Barnes & Noble. “We talk it through, and I ask them to send me photos of what they like, what inspires them. But I learned early on never to promise exact flowers,” she says. “Instead, I sell a look. So if for any reason I can’t get a particular flower, I’ll use another that has the same feeling. That way no one is disappointed.”

The consultations usually occur on weekdays after 3:30. Until then, Rickard babysits her young grandsons, three-year-old Kade and one-year-old Beckett. Saturdays and Sundays (and an occasional Friday) are for delivering the arrangements to the wedding venues. Rickard typically prepares her meticulously crafted floral creations from Wednesday through Friday. “I’ve taken over our garage,” she laughs. “It’s full of coolers, buckets, and all my other tools and materials. The extra-long work table came from my aunt’s shop. My grandfather made it.

“Today you can get just about any flowers in any season,” she continues. “I use local growers as much as possible, and two wholesalers who get shipments from Holland, South America, California, Canada … all over. I spend hours on the websites deciding what I want for every bouquet, headpiece, boutonniere, corsage, centerpiece, and any other floral design the brides ask for. When the wholesalers deliver my orders on Wednesdays, I cut the stems, put them in water, and immediately get the flowers into the cooler. A couple hours later, I pull the still-fresh blooms out as needed, and, one-by-one, assemble my designs for each of the weddings. Once finished, they go back into the cooler, ready for delivery.”

Rickard often combines fuller tropical flowers like freesia with orchids, O’Hara roses, lisianthus, and greenery. “I use eucalyptus, agonis, parvifolia, and lots of other greens for texture and to make colors pop,” she says, adding she is “not a fan of carnations and baby’s breath.

Pocketful of Posies is a popular choice for wedding flowers. (Photo by Lindsay Eileen Photography)

“My favorite,” she continues, “is an all-white bouquet. Right now the relaxed boho look with pampas grass and palm leaves is trending, but within the next year or two I see a return to classic weddings with classic white flowers. Vintage is another style that comes and goes. For my brides, I pull out all the stops and order flowers you don’t see every day. Weddings need to be extra-special.”

Rickard’s mother, Crystal Haagan, and her cousin Jessica Galbraith help out as needed. Occasionally, so does Cheryl Myers, who owned the flower shop where Rickard trained. “My aunt Cheryl got her certification through the American Institute of Floral Design [AFID], at a time when that was not easy for her to do,” says Rickard. “Soon after becoming AFID certified, she traveled to Germany and the Netherlands, where she learned to make European hand-ties, and then taught me.”

(Rickard explains that she creates a European hand-tie bouquet by rotating one hand as she adds individual flowers and greenery. The design may start with roses, then two or three kinds of greenery, then freesia, stalk, and daisies—all evenly dispersed in a spiral. The completed handful is tied in the middle with bind wire and the stems clipped. The result is an hourglass-shaped bouquet that, if placed on a flat surface, will stand on its own.) 

“It’s so much fun when family helps out,” Rickard continues. “And when my best friend, Susan Holden, comes along on deliveries, we have a blast. Susan doesn’t have a lick of design talent, but she’s a champ when it comes to placing centerpieces on tables!”

Rickard’s husband, Matt, lends a hand whenever possible. Retired from his previous position as a Bellefonte detective, he now works as a police officer in Lock Haven. Also useful, Rickard says, is being so familiar with the personalities of her three daughters (Arimani, Alayni, and Alexis) and her stepson’s wife, Kira. “They have very different personalities and preferences, which helps me understand my brides,” she says.

“God gave me the talent to assist in giving these girls the weddings of their dreams,“ Rickard continues, “and I try my best to do that. I believe in the power of prayer and I pray for every couple with each flower that goes into every bouquet.” 

In looking to the future of Pocketful of Posies, Rickard has no desire to move out of her garage and into a storefront. “By the grace of God,” she says, “I’m happy with things just the way they are.”

For more information, contact Emily Rickard via Pocketful of Posies on Facebook, or call (814) 308-2708. T&G

Diane Johnston Leos is a State College freelance writer.