Shoppers at Americana Manhasset can enjoy 17 autumn-themed floral displays Oct. 8-12. Luxury floral event company Fleurs de Villes is working with Long Island and Manhattan-based florists to curate colorful installations across doorways and mannequins with guides for each art piece to create a museum-like experience.
The company hosts floral installation events globally, but this will be its first time hosting an event on Long Island.
“Unless you were invited to a wedding or a funeral, sadly, you couldn’t see large-scale floral installations freely. So that’s what we’ve done,” said Karen Marshall, co-founder of Fleurs de Villes. “The idea was that we want to see flowers ourselves. We recognize that on Instagram and Facebook and TikTok, you can see flowers from all over the world, but there’s nothing like seeing flowers in person, is there?”
This will mark the global debut of the brand’s autumn-themed series, Fleurs de Villes AUTUMN.
“When we look at how the whole idea of Americana Manhasset had evolved, and it’s this luxury pocket in a very beautiful community, we thought, yes, absolutely, we can do something different and something unique there,” Marshall said.
All installations will be created by artists from Long Island and Manhattan, including Baron Floral Designs, Fashion & Flowers LLC, Flowers In Wunderland, Glen Head Flower Shop, Hactac Events by Denise A Grant LLC, Lorena Eni, Lunaluxe Events, Manhasset Florist & Beyond, R&G Floral Design and Events Inc, Simply Nia Design and Unique Flower Creations.
Because the exhibit will highlight fall flowers, viewers can expect to see chrysanthemums, dahlias and foliage incorporated in the work, Marshall said.
“Most people think of flowers as a springtime thing,” she said. “We love the fact that we’ve got this in autumn.”
The event will also feature demonstrations and “all kinds of talks” over the weekend, Marshall said.
Fleurs de Villes began in 2016, when Marshall and co-founder Tina Barkley noticed there were no places to see flowers in person, Marshall said.
“If you think about it, from birth to death, every single major life event, happy or sad, is marked with flowers across all cultures and all socio-economic groups,” Marshall said.
The company showcases the work of community florists in various cities around the world. Upcoming locations include Quebec City, Boston, Vancouver and Toronto. The company concludes its Downton Abbey-themed exhibit in London on Oct. 1.
“We’ve been called the Cirque du Soleil of the floral world, which is quite fun,” Marshall said.
