Business & Tech

Falls Church Florist Supplier to the Stars

Galleria Florist has supplied flowers for several events for Hollywood stars and politicians.

Carol Beales never guessed she’d be designing floral arrangements for celebrities and politicians when she opened Galleria Florist LTD more than 10 years ago.

The floral arrangements for President Barack Obama’s Peace Ball and the flowers for the nuptials for film stars Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith all came from the Falls Church florist’s shop. Beales said although her high-powered clients have not set foot in her shop, she smiles knowing her floral arrangements are a part of their big events.

“I’ve done work for the first President Bush and the second one, too,” Beales said. “I never expected to do flowers for any of the big people I have done them for. You never know who is going to call.”

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Piecing together mystical, colorful floral arrangements isn’t something new for Beales. Before opening her own shop, she was a florist in a grocery store. Seeing how much fun it was to work with flowers, Beales went to school to perfect her talents. Now, Beales creates floral arrangements for weddings and an assortment of other events.

With autumn knocking at our back door, Beales is keeping up with the seasonal change with a variety of locally grown flowers. Saturday, Beales’ storage cooler was full of oranges and yellows and other colors associated with the season. Even if there is a particular flower you’re looking for, Beales said she doesn’t have a problem getting anything.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

“I have a lot of sources,” she said. “I can get flowers in from Israel, Australia, Europe and Spain. I have a vendor who gets flowers in from all over and they’ll call me when flowers come in from all over to ask if I want any of them.”

With friends in catering, Beales said she designs floral arrangements for events of all kinds. Whenever she creates special arrangements that put a smile on a bride’s face or make an event pop, Beales said she is glad she decided to open her shop more than a decade ago.

“It’s had its ups and downs," she said, "but it’s been a lot of fun.” 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here