Samantha Bates

Samantha Bates AIFD, CFD, CF is the owner of Especially For You Floral in Downtown Ponchatoula Louisiana and fully accredited designer with the prestigious American Institute of Floral Designers. She has been in the floral industry for 12 years and has established a flourishing wedding and event business in her retail shop. She was named by Florist Review magazine as one of The Top 35 Under 35 in the floral industry in 2017 and was a featured designer in the book Creativity: A Global Floral Introspective. She was selected, competed and made it to the Final Four of the FTD Americas Cup twice with the winner representing the USA in the World Cup, won the Jim Johnson Cup twice and overall first place winner of the Louisiana Champion of Champions Cup.

 

Recently Samantha placed second overall among 25 competitors from 18 different countries in the International Gateway to the Americas Cup in Orlando. In her down time, Samantha loves to experiment with different mediums to create floral armatures and spend time with her husband Cyrus and their 2 rescue puppies, Poppy and Moo. 

​

As a competing florist, we spend thousands of our own money and a week of our design and build time during the busiest season of the year. Your donation helps us create beautiful pieces so more and more attend this fundraising festival. Thank you for helping me reach my goal for St. Jude!