Where do I even begin with this week’s feature, y’all? I had never met Karin of Cote Designs before the Illume styled shoot, but my friend Lauren just raved about her. All of Lauren’s accolades could not have prepared me for the gracious, generous and just plain fun woman Karin is, friends! After spending a little under an hour around her, I felt as though I’d know her for ages. Her heart for community over competition, and her undeniable skill just blew me away. 

Karin is the creative talent and driving force behind Cote Designs, a full service floral studio in Akin, SC. For our styled shoot, Karin contributed our incredible wall installation, all florals for our bouquets, and even taught me how to create my own bouquet for the shoot!

Despite the frigid temps that day, Karin cheerly designed the most beautiful arrangements, taking the retreat’s color palette and aesthetic into full consideration for each little detail. Her car was loaded to the brim with fragrant blooms, and I’m pretty sure most of us just spent the morning swooning over the sheer variety of florals she brought!

As if creating multiple arrangements and installations for the shoot wasn’t enough, Karin even taught me how to properly assemble a bouquet for one component of the shoot! I wanted each vignette we styled to represent one of the facets of the creative industry, from designers to photographers to florists and everywhere in between. For the floral component, I wanted Karin to help me lay out flowers and supplies that were true to form, and not just pretty to photograph. She went the extra mile and lead me step-by-step from behind the camera how to assemble the bouquet we used for many of these shots! Although my fingers were mostly frozen at this point, she patiently led me through the process, and gave me an even deeper respect for floral designers.

Karin, I cannot thank you enough for sharing so freely of your time and talent that day! It was an absolute honor to have you as a vendor for the shoot, and I’ll never forget your creativity and kindness.

Photos by Lauren Carnes Photography & Jade Reilly Photography | This post is part of a special feature series highlighting the incredible vendors who contributed to the Illume Retreat Styled Shoot