Emily Thompson is a floral designer based in Brooklyn. Her fantastical creations have graced everything from weddings to the White House during the holiday season. She recently spoke with us about the business of blossoms, the inspiration of mythic landscapes and how a month in a flower shop during college got her where she is today.

What surprised you about designing the First Family’s Christmas decor?

The White House curators ok’d some designs I thought were fairly outrageous, given the context, such as replacing the crystals in the chandeliers with raw quartz, and dumping giant moss and lichen-covered rocks all over their mantelpieces. This was mildly shocking to me. Then—predictably perhaps—they changed their minds about the chandeliers. The rocks, however, stayed.

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