Meet the Mother-Daughter Duo Behind These Insta-Worthy Paper Flower Walls

QUESTION: What inspired you to start New York Paper Flowers?

Gabriela: I was inspired to create paper flowers after stumbling across tutorials on Pinterest! I became obsessed with the idea. I talked about it with my mom for a year and tested out different methods, and then the perfect opportunity rolled around: my sister-in-law Lauren's bridal shower. I knew this was the moment to not only get this flower wall idea out of my system but, more importantly, to create something really special for her.

I told my mom what we were going to do, and she thought I was crazy! It was crazy–the amount of time and work that went into it was wild! But Lauren’s reaction to the wall made it all worthwhile. From that moment on, brides and moms-to-be were contacting us daily, and we have been creating ever since!

QUESTION: What’s it like to run a business as a mother-daughter team?

Gabriela: We are best friends, so it’s a piece of cake! We are a great team, which is an important dynamic for any business partners to have. We agree that it’s also SO special to create these walls from nothing more than simple sheets of paper for other families to gather around and enjoy. It’s so beautiful to us.

What most people don’t realize is that the “set-up crew” is my mom and me. It’s a really powerful feeling to walk into these events carrying these huge panels full of paper roses–that moment is our favorite part!

QUESTION: Can you walk us through the process of creating your paper flower walls?

Gabriela: We start by choosing the right paper and shade, which is actually one of the trickiest parts. There are hundreds of options and textures available, and we really can’t tell how a single sheet of paper will look as a rose until we make it! We quickly learned that a flat piece of paper will look roughly 3-4 shades darker before being cut and folded.

Once the paper is chosen, my mom, who is the main paper crafter, will cut, curl, and glue each petal by hand. That’s what gives our flowers their natural, true-to-nature look. Once the flowers are formed, they’re arranged onto 4’ x 4’ panels to create an 8 ’x 8’ flower wall. Believe it or not, it takes approximately 240-265 flowers in sizes ranging from 4.5” – 20” to build a full-bloomed wall!.

Depending on customization, it could take 6-8 weeks from start to finish or as short as 1-2 weeks (if it’s one of the selections we already have in stock). We also have an inventory of walls that we offer as rentals, and each one is named after the client for whom we originally created the wall.

For the Something Navy shoot, we created a wall that we are naming The Esme & Ruby Wall! We are so proud to be part of this collection, so we decided to name the wall after Arielle’s children, who I’m sure motivate her the way my mom and I motivate each other!

See more of Gabriela and Carmen’s beautiful work on Instagram.