MEET NANCY TEASLEY OF OAK & THE OWL

TBC:  What wedding trend would you like to see disappear?

NT:  Honestly, to each their own. I’m not going to begrudge something that makes someone passionate. I would like there to be more freedom for designers to do their thing. To not be held tight to an image a bride has seen on a wedding blog or pinterest. I think if brides come with inspiration and trust their designer to put their own spin on it, everyone will be happy.

TBC:  Name one of your favorite “vendor” sources that you just can’t do without.

NT:  That’s hard… I use Jamali a lot but really wish they’d open a SoCal store so the shipping didn’t kill me. How’s that for selfish? But I think having a location on both coasts would be good for everyone, right?  

TBC:  To date, what has been the highlight of your career?

NT:  Ahh, that’s hard too. I’ve tried to have my own business several times. Most of them in floral design, but I wasn’t quite ready before. So when I finally opened Oak & the Owl, and had a business under a name other than my own, it felt really big to me. I was very conscientious of not starting Oak & the Owl until all my eggs were in a row, I wanted everything to be done right, the first time. So the launch of that has been my highlight.

TBC:  What was your “big break”?

NT:  My big break was probably having my peach bouquets on The Wedding Chicks. I think that’s where a lot of industry people found out about my business, as well as brides contacting me.

You need to have an ease when working with flowers, but you also need to know the nature of flowers, what they need, when they need it. It’s not easy. If you want to get into events, work for someone who does it. See what it’s really like. An event install is a completely different beast than a studio day. You might have to walk 20 arrangements, one by one, a 1/8 of a mile in 90 degree heat to their tables. And that’s after you’ve been up since 4am finishing up the last of the studio work. Until you’ve seen what it takes, and know first hand you’re capable of doing it, you should work for someone. It’s a lot less pressure, and you can watch someone who’s been doing it for years, which is priceless.

NT:  I have music or NPR on pretty much the whole time. I work by myself, which gets lonely, but the music and fun programs like This American Life keep me going. And when it’s time to make the bridal bouquet, I will skip past songs until I find the one that fits my mood the best. If it’s the wrong song, I seriously struggle with the bouquet. I also kindly tell my family to please let me be until I’m done. It’s the one time I can get kind of testy, especially with whining from my cutie pie.

NT:  Her personality, her style, and if done right, have an emotional quality to it. That’s something I strive for, but it’s not easy. There are other designers whose bouquets make me emotional just looking at them

TBC:  If you had to make a career change, what would you do?

NT:  I would really like my business to have a large interiors side to it. I miss working on interiors and I would go back to that, although I want to work for myself. And that is harder in ID than it is in florals. But if I were to go back to the beginning and make a change? If I knew myself like I do now, I would have gone straight to architecture in undergrad.

My house is something I work on a lot though, and it being nice is very important to me. So for that, I’d say my style is classic with clean lines, lots of blue-greens, feminine, with an obvious love for antiques and handmade details. I shop at antique stores for most of my décor, Target and Home Goods are always good for different little pieces and candles. My parents have kept furniture from many past generations, and along with their own passion for antiques, there’s a lot to work with just within our own homes.
 
I have a lot of my maternal grandmother’s furniture. I was very close to her and I love that my bedroom furniture was hers as a little girl. My dining table was the first she and my grandpa bought when they were married. I cherish having her so close.

TBC:  Do you prefer tea or coffee?

NT:  Coffee. Strong dark coffee with caramel.  

TBC:  Do you prefer blogs or magazines?

NT:  Blogs. It makes me mad to buy a magazine that is 80% advertisements. I know they have to do it, I just don’t want to leaf through them.  

TBC:  Favorite musical artist?

NT:  SO hard, I like such a mix. Kanye West (I can hear the collective sigh of disappointment, but I wear my KW pin proudly – I make my best bouquets to him. Lol.), Ben Harper, Michael Frante & Spearhead, Aloe Blacc, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Digable Planets, Florence & The Machine, Cat Power, Regina Spektor, The Be Good Tanyas, The Civil Wars. Etc., it really can go on and on. My main passion music wise has been old soul and funk, Bill Withers, bluegrass, and a lot of Arrested Development. I kept trying to bring them back, but no one was jumping on that bandwagon. 

TBC:  And, I have to ask…what’s your favorite flower?

NT:  Garden Roses, Parrot & Fringe Tulips, Peonies with a bending neck. And then every other flower I have in my studio that I ooh and ahh over. I regularly talk to my flowers, non flower people think I’m nuts when they’re around me. Even my flower friends are always laughing at me.