Peer into any of the four picture windows at Alamo Plants and Petals and you will get a glimpse of a floral paradise. Take time to venture into the shop and you will discover what their clients already know—this floral company does things differently.

Located in a charming house in Alamo Heights, Alamo Plants and Petals has a lot of experience pleasing their suitors. In business for more than 25 years, the company has built a loyal clientele and certainly, a stellar reputation by specializing in what their customers want. No more is this intuition more evident than in how the shop works with the hundreds of discriminating brides and grooms who ask them to harvest an array of floral creations for their wedding day.

“Our goal is to come up with a unique floral blend for our couples that will really make the event extraordinary,” says Ann-Marie Dylla, owner of Alamo Plants and Petals. “We take into consideration what the couple has told us and use that information to craft ideas that will help create ambiance for their wedding and maximize their budget.”

In fact, Ann-Marie and her award-winning staff are experts at brainstorming and have helped many a bride and groom create dramatic floral pieces and vignettes for their ceremony and reception sites. She believes their keen eye for floral design helps them decipher how best to use flowers, fabrics, or props to accessorize the bride, her party, and the location beautifully.

“We choose flowers, colors, and textures that complement the bride—not detract from her,” says Ann-Marie. “In addition, we consider everything from the bouquets held by bridesmaids to floral displays throughout the location to be frames for the bride and, again, help her choose flower varieties and colors carefully.”

Indeed, the suggestions made by Ann-Marie are the result of years of experience knowing what works and what doesn’t and is the basis for advice she offers for other decorative options that the couple may not have thought of. Consequently, this floral expertise has generated an impressive client wedding portfolio full of dramatic floral arbors, topiaries, and wreaths fashioned over the years that truly demonstrate how well the company reads the personality of their couples.

And, while many believe that there is nothing new left to do in bridal flowers, this vast portfolio is evidence that distinctive treatments are the shop’s specialty. Ann-Marie and her staff, for example, once created a full-length table covering made of galax leaves intricately attached to one another as a stunning foundation for a wedding cake. In other instances, less-than-dressed stair rails, door ways, ceilings and sign-in tables were embellished with classic urns, grapevine garlands, or elegant candle trees to generate the specific atmosphere the couple wanted to make their wedding site shine.

Clearly, the exquisite beauty of their work can be found in the roses they import from Ecuador, the orchids that arrive from Thailand, or the organic field flowers supplied by a local gardener, but, truth be told, the secret of their success lies in the creativity and commitment to service that thrives at this flower shop. From the sales floor where many of their treasures are displayed to the bridal hall where nuptial couples pour through photo albums to the design center where talented floral stylists arrange the buds and blooms, Alamo Plants and Petals is a bride’s best friend.

And the feeling is mutual. “Weddings are our favorite kind of work,” says Ann-Marie. “We feel that it is a privilege to be included in the plans for these once-in-a-lifetime events. Our promise is to put out heart and souls into each affair and create wonderful and lasting memories.”