Meet Becky Beckingham | Owner and lead floral designer.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Becky Beckingham and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Becky, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
As a young girl, the annual planting of “the garden” was always special time spent with my dad. Now my dad’s garden wasn’t your ordinary garden, my dad’s garden contained gravy plants! That’s right, gravy plants! My love of mashed potatoes and gravy was indescribably large, therefore, dad made sure I was the one to drop the gravy seeds into the perfectly straight row he had hoed just for this special plant. I’m not sure when I chose to not believe that gravy didn’t actually come from a plant, but I do know that my dad and I to this day still joke and smile about planting those magical seeds.

My mom loved all things pink, including roses, (moss roses were her favorite), dahlias, tulips, petunias and sweet peas. I once told her that the fragrance of sweet peas reminded me of Hawaii, she smiled and said one day she would find out if that were true; she also shared with me that she called me “Sweet Pea” when I was a baby. I’m going way back in TV history for some of you by telling you that was the name of Popeye and Olive Oil’s baby who wore a sleep sack that cinched at the bottom, apparently, I wore the same thing! I loved it when she would refer to me as “Sweet Pea” or “Petunia” growing up and it makes my heart happy to recall those days. Further into teenage years, whenever my sister or I had the dreaded ‘cramps’, mom would always pick pansies or monkey faces as she liked to refer them as and place them in a very special small milk vase and set them beside our bed to make us feel better…worked like a charm every time.

The rock and flower garden that mom and dad planted every year was vivacious, so full of colorful flowers, herbs, trees, some of my grandpa’s driftwood that was collected over the years during camping trips and a fishpond that was fallen into every single summer by one of us kids or neighborhood kids! Many hours were lovingly spent by both parents weeding and pruning everything to perfection…my love of weeding was not so generous, but the fresh flowers that I was able to cut and bring inside to arrange made me so very happy! Dad is now 85 and still growing and tending his flowers that continue to be beautiful, he places them tenderly on my mom’s grave and makes sure her pink rose bush is properly watered. I miss her so very much but love that she was a huge part of my love of flowers.

At age 22, I moved to a small town in Kansas, the cutest flower shop named “Happiness Is” became my new employer, I was so excited that someone actually wanted me to make floral arrangements for them, that I would have paid them to let me work! I learned so much working there and ventured out on my own a few years later and began doing faux flower arrangements for friends, family and businesses, 33 years later I’m still at it.

My husband Phil and I have 3 beautiful granddaughters, Neveah Rose, Isabella Eve and Emma Jo along with our youngest grandson, James David. Like all moms who have more than one child, I called them every name except their own, this is especially true with Isabella and Emma! Emma was Isabella, Isabella was Emma, you get it, right?! One day I told my girls that I renamed Emma, she’s now going to be called Ella, the combination of Emma and Isabella. While pondering a name for my flower business, I knew I wanted to incorporate our granddaughters’ names, but Neveah, Isabella, Emma weren’t the easiest to combine! I knew my mom loved pink roses; Neveah’s middle name is Rose, perfect…Ella Rose Petals came to be.

So from gravy plants to Ella Rose Petals, it’s been a beautiful journey, I hope I can become a small part of yours by making your vision come to life in creating your wedding florals.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Thinking about what makes me the happiest and most proud of my business…I started it from scratch over 30 years ago! My first wedding I created florals for was a high school friend in 1984 and funny story about that, her colors were peach and teal which are back in popularity today! I worked so many craft shows, sold to friends and family until I moved to southwest Kansas where I worked in a small floral and gift shop, I thought I had died and went to heaven! I knew in my heart that someday I would have my own floral business.

I pride myself in my quality of my arrangements using high-end real touch florals combined with my own style. It’s been a busy year getting my rental and purchase business launched; I am over the moon happy to announce I have 27 wedding booked for next year! It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been FUN and I love my job oh so much.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Some of my favorite hangout places in Monument and Colorado Springs, hmmmm….Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, The View House, Torchy’s Tacos, Lolly’s Ice Cream, Monument Lake, Palmer Lake, any coffee shop, Ivywild Brewery, Edelweiss German Restaurant, downtown Colorado Springs shops, Red Leg Brewery, Crush Wine Bar (Castle Rock), The Barn (Castle Rock)…

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My best friend and husband, Phil, encouraged me to create Ella Rose Petals while we were walking on the beach in Oregon; he sweetly expressed that I should put my love of flowers and talent to work and officially become a wedding florist. I was hesitant as I didn’t have the confidence in my work, however, with a few more hours of encouragement, I hopped on my computer, registered my name, created a website, opened an Etsy shop (I’ve since closed because I’m too busy with weddings!!!!). Four years later, I revamped my business and started offering rental and purchasing services for brides and grooms as well as hotels, realtors, doctors offices etc.!

Website: www.ellarosepetals.com

Instagram: ella_rose_petals

Facebook: Ella Rose Petals

Image Credits
Poppy Photo