Perspectives

Following up on the “Flower Shop for Sale” newspaper ad that Reina and her husband, Ferdinand, saw one morning back in 1990, might have been an impulsive, even a naïve, decision on their part. Neither of them had experience in owning a business, let alone taking over a long established flower shop. They visited Fitzgerald’s Flower Shop in Downey, California, met and spoke with the owner and as the saying goes, the rest is history!

Owning a flower shop opened doors to the exciting world of flowers, full of challenging and amazing experiences, not only for them, but for their three  children. They became instant business partners; Ferdinand as the Business and Logistics Manager and Reina as Chief Creative Officer. In 2014, they retired the retail business to specialize in weddings and events welcoming their daughter, Natasha, to the family business as the wedding planner and coordinator.

Born and raised in the Philippines, Reina holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. Today, Reina incorporates unique elements of architecture, design and engineering in her floral creations. She credits her mentors, Phil Rulloda AIFD and his wife Cathy Hillen-Rulloda AIFD of Southern California School of Floral Design and JR Nocon AIFD of Flowers by JR, with catapulting her floral career.

Reina is a published floral designer and part of the Southern California Bride community. When not creating inspired floral designs, Reina dabbles in her many passions to include calligraphy, baking, crocheting, succulent gardening, and at one point archery!

Reina is a California Certified Florist and Certified Floral Designer. She has won numerous floral design competitions and has been recognized as one of CalState Top Ten Design Winners and received People’s Choice Awards, four years in a row.  She has judged various design competitions and is an active California State Floral Association Board Member. She is a member of the prestigious American Institute of Floral Designers since 2002 and recently won the PHILosophy Floral Design Contest, which helped to endow the Phil Rulloda AIFD Scholarship Fund. She was featured, as the PHILosophy First Place Winner, in the Radicle Gallery, during the 2022 AIFD Symposium in Las Vegas.