Samantha Bates :: Gateway

Bio

Samantha Bates AIFD CFD CF is the owner of Especially For You Floral in Downtown Ponchatoula and fully accredited designer with the prestigious American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD). She is the 2014 Louisiana State Designer of the Year and currently serves as Past President of the Louisiana State Florist Association (LSFA). In August 2017, she was named by Florists Review magazine as one of the Top 35 Under 35 and was the 2018 & 2020 winner of the Jim Johnson Cup. In the Spring of 2018 she was hand selected as one of 10 competitors to compete in the FTD Americas Cup competition in Washington DC in July. She competed her way through 3 rounds climbing to the Top 4. In 2022 she will compete again in the Americas Cup in Las Vegas.

What Is Your Approach To Design?

I love repetition in design so I enjoy starting with a small idea and replicating it until it forms a larger scale design.

What Do You Love About Competing?

I love pushing myself to see what idea will come out in a high pressure situation. It’s exciting and you always learn something new about yourself and design.