Courtesy of Floral Divine
By Jill Nagy
Floral Divine, Mindy Ryzuk’s shop at 21 Cooper Street in Glens Falls, focuses on preparing floral arrangements for wedding and other events. She is just coming off her busiest wedding season, from April to October, when she decorates between 10 and 18 weddings.
Ryzuk has been a floral designer for 30 years, mostly with a florist in Allendale, New Jersey, and has had her own business for four and a half years.
Floral design is almost a sideline for Ryzuk. She is also a massage therapist. In fact, her space in the Shirt Factory is divided in two by curtains and a large cooler for flowers. On the other side of the cooler is the massage studio.
For weddings, Ryzuk can provide the whole package: bridal bouquet, table pieces, candles, arches and other large structures. She begins by consulting with the bridal couple. She finds that some people know exactly what they want; others have a color scheme and budget in mind and they work from there.
Most of the flowers come from a distributor in Albany. She also buys flowers from local growers when they are in season.
Also in her catalog are shower bundles, which are bundles of eucalyptus meant to be hung in the shower. The heat of the shower opens the pores of the eucalyptus and scents the room.
Usually, it takes two to four hours to set up the flowers for a wedding, Ryzuk said. While she occasionally calls on friends to help with a job, “typically, I only take on what I can do myself,” she said.
Ryzuk was born and raised in Glens Falls. She spent some time in Colorado and in New Jersey before coming back home to start her businesses.
For information, check out Floral-Divine.com.