Meredith Cooper, owner and lead designer of Forage Floral Design, was in the peak of event season chaos as we planned the style photo shoot for our April issue. However, she still made the time to be a part of the feature, which pairs party-ready looks with springtime blooms.

“I was so excited to create a few bouquets for the inRegister shoot,” she says, “I wanted to focus on the beautiful flowers we sell here at Forage, so many of which are locally grown.”

Each bouquet completed the looks from local boutiques, solidifying the spring soirée and wedding-esque theme, a nod to stacked social calendars during this busy time of year.

“Tulips just scream, ‘Springtime is here,’ and I knew that they needed to have a dramatic moment on their own,” Cooper says of the arrangement pictured above, of which the flowers were grown locally by some of her farmer friends in the Felicianas. “The other bouquets are a mix of posy style, locally grown, carryable arrangements, with one all-white bouquet as a nod to bridal because that’s so much of what we do here in our studio at Forage.”

Cooper finds inspiration for her creations in anything and everything. For her, the art is in showcasing and honoring the true nature of each individual bloom.

“From the way that colors blend in the sky at sunset to the shape of a blade of grass,” she says. “I’m always thinking about sculpting shapes out of flowers, and sometimes that’s tough, but I always try to honor their unique attributes. Each twist and turn is a mini celebration to be viewed and enjoyed.”

Lately, Cooper has enjoyed taking bouquets out of their usual setting–either at weddings or in a vase on a countertop. Mini bouquets are becoming popular for school dances, in lieu of a traditional pin-on or wrist corsage, and Cooper says this is a great opportunity to coordinate flowers with outfits.

“I’d recommend keeping it simple,” she says. “Take one element from the dress, look for a fun floral to coordinate, and try not to go too matchy-matchy. If you’re wearing a solid, I’d recommend a mix of colors in the bouquet so the blocks of colors don’t photograph too heavily, and the opposite if wearing a print. But just have fun with it!”

And that was the plan behind this most recent style shoot for inRegister. With music blasting through the halls of the Louisiana Old Governor’s Mansion, each of the looks, and their coordinating blooms, came to life. To see all of the looks, check out the full feature here.