Mary McCorkle: Event Producer turned Floral Designer, Owner of In the Brambles & Cuber

She started off in the event world, but as time went on she realized, “I wanted to do more of the set, creative work I was hiring others to do and I need a break from spreadsheets.”

She hit pause on the event freelance life and looked to pivot. She dove into hobbies and took a chance at entry-level jobs. Mary was willing to take a pay cut to see what was out there and to find her dream.

“I needed a break and the universe felt it” and it brought her to the floral world. She found a part-time gig that taught her flowers and it ended up turning into a full-time, salary job managing a flower studio. Eventually, she transitioned to freelance on her own and to open In The Brambles.

“It was exciting to be on the other side, finally.”

Her experience with events naturally set her up for the workflow and to aid her clients. She is able to provide insight from her own experience in production and, most importantly, she understands the pace and pressures of the industry. It takes that production mindset to source florals and materials, fabricate with a deadline, and get her hands dirty to giant production pieces. In the industry, we’re used to rolling with the punches and doing what needs to be done because that is where our passions are.

Mary shared, “I miss the big installations because they’re bigger than life. There’s always an extra challenge in terms of mechanics and I love getting clever with it.” With the installations, her clients arrive with a palette, a mood, and a story that they are envisioning. She works with other amazing, local florists, because “it takes a team to bring a vision to life.”

In addition to working on large productions, she sells directly to customers — it allows her to have a connection with each person. It has been a meaningful and special relationship with customers because who doesn’t love getting flowers?

“I always welcome that sense of play and I always ask people besides color and style, give me three keywords that aren’t necessarily visual, but more mood that evokes a feeling” when creating a piece.

When she begins to design and make a “freestyle designer’s choice” boutique, she goes to the market and lets it inspire her. She’ll start with one random piece, whether it’s a certain flower, a location, or a prop in her life, and she builds from there. The pink feathers in her current work spawned from a past production and, in the vein of ArtCube repurposing materials, she let the feathers guide this piece. “They’re too fun to not love.” She went full-on over the top from this vibrant centerpiece and partnered it with the plush florals.

Right now for Valentine’s Day, she created a piece inspired by her friend’s store, Ruby Red’s Vintage. Mary went into the store to immerse herself in the environment and built flowers into that aesthetic. Ruby Red’s Vintage is decked out with a red rug and 70s vintage. “I let the deep burgundy and reds of the vintage-inspired piece… when I went to the market, and then there were these pops of blue to bring out the vintage denim.” They are holding a pop-up there this week so you can walk on in, grab a saucy Valentine’s Day outfit, and a boutique for you or someone special (I’m a big advocate for buying flowers for yourself!).

Follow her trail of petals on Instagram: @InTheBrambles & purchase her pieces on ArtCubeMarket.com. The last order for Valentine’s Day is by the end of today, February 12th, so don’t miss out on these floral gems!

“I joined ArtCube in 2016 and I’ve used it ever since and I’ve recruited an awesome floral assistant off of this and had amazing jobs, there are these moments when the stars align.

I posted a floral studios closing post — she asked what I was doing the next weekend,” and now they’ve worked together ever since.

Mary McCorkle

Mary McCorkle is an Event Producer turned Floral Designer who prefers to work with her hands and is exploring the healing qualities of plants.

In The Brambles finds inspiration in the unconventional, across cultures, in color studies, artful maximalism, and high contrast designs.

Licensed & passport ready for wild productions, Mary produces independent projects from plan-to-petal and also collaborates with other florists, production designers, & agencies in NYC and nationwide.