Adrianna Duran-Leon AIFD, of Albuquerque New Mexico, was contracted to provide the flowers for Season 18 of the Bachelorette on ABC. This season follows Katie Thurston as she searches for love. Focal Points interviewed Adrianna about her time with the production crew. Enjoy this Behind-The-Scenes peak at the process!
Was it a complicated process to onboard with the production team? Or, did they make it easy on you?
It was pretty straightforward because of COVID. They would email me a list of what was needed after calling me to discuss what they had in mind. They were flexible with colors and flower varieties because they knew about the supply chain struggle. They would provide me a wish list and I would get as close as possible. I was fortunate enough to be able to source most of what they wanted in the very short time frame they gave me. My local supplier DWF and the manager Tom, did a wonderful job of bringing in what I requested, so it was rare that I had to substitute anything.
Did you have to sign non-disclosure forms? When were you able to tell people that you were providing the flowers for the show?
No, surprisingly they didn’t have me sign a non-disclosure. They made it very clear from the start that I had to keep my involvement with the show discreet, and to not announce or post about my involvement with the show. That was easy for me to do! They did tell me I could start posting things once the episode aired.
Obviously, you provided the iconic roses for the Rose Ceremonies. What are some of the other arrangements that you made?
I had to make 4 huge urn pieces that were used for a high tea on the show. Sourcing the urns and all the flowers on short notice was a beast of a project. With the industry-wide shortages, it was tough finding enough urns that matched. I had to go to 4 different Hobby Lobby’s to find them all. I had to source one urn per store! Then I had to spray paint them and sort out how to transport them.
They had me make a garland and 2 pieces for an arch. Another garland and 2 pieces for a horse drawn carriage.
While filming a crew members’ Grandmother passed away, so they had me make a large sympathy arrangement in honor of that occassion. I added in one of my pressed flower pieces as a keepsake for the crew member.
They had me make multiple hand tied bouquets for different situations. The Art Director told me that one particular bouquet had the crew fighting over who would get to keep it after the shoot. That makes you feel good to know your work is being fought over!
How did Covid impact your participation with the show?
Both good and bad. Because of COVID, they had a VERY strict protocol in place. I was not allowed anywhere on the premises, other than the valet parking area where I would meet my contact. Most of the time it was the same person, but it would change on occasion. They had what they called a “bubble” and it was just that; if you weren’t a part of the cast or crew, you were not allowed in. They kept a very safe environment for all the cast and crew. Most days, as I waited outside for my contact, they had a COVID testing spot for all cast and crew. In my time waiting there, I learned that ALL cast and crew had to get tested once a week. My contact also told me that if it weren’t for COVID, the show traveled to a new location for each new episode. But COVID grounded them. So, with that, COVID allowed me to make all the pieces for the show, where I would have only been afforded the opportunity to do much less.
One of the negatives of COVID was that I wasn’t allowed to set up any of the pieces that I designed. I still haven’t seen good pictures of some of the items such as the arch pieces and the arrangements for the high tea. I had typed instructions for them to follow, in hopes that it would look half-way decent upon set up.
On the day that I delivered the garland and the 2 pieces for the horse carriage, my contact came rolling up in his little pickup truck. After I gave him instructions, he put the pieces in the BACK OF HIS TRUCK! The Tamaya Resort and Spa, where the show was filmed, is a large piece of land with lots of roads that you can go up to 40mph on, so imagine my face (under the mask) of him loading all my hard work into the bed of his truck! Before he loaded them in his truck, he grabbed one cage and plopped it on a table that was outside. He said, “Oh! This would be a great centerpiece!” I stared in horror as this piece was designed for the horse carriage, not a table piece! I told him I’d be happy to run back to the shop and make an actual centerpiece, but he declined. I did see one photo of the horse carriage and it made me cringe. They took one of the pieces that was meant for the side of the carriage and slapped it on the front. It looked like a headlight…the garland was haphazardly strung around the carriage, and they ripped flowers out of something and poked a bloom here and there around the garland. Since this scene was all taking place outside, I asked if I could set up these pieces with plenty of distance from the crew, but I was told that was not an option because of COVID.
All of these scenarios have had me hesitant to say too much about me doing the flowers for the Bachelorette because I didn’t get to set them up myself.
What was the process for getting the orders from the production team? Did you have sufficient lead time to get them everything they needed? Or, was it more last minute?
Everything was last minute, even the iconic rose boutonnieres. I pestered my contact constantly about the boutonniere counts because I wanted to be sure I had enough red roses on hand. The roses had to be tight too! No blown open roses allowed. They also have to be on a magnet, I didn’t have many magnets so I cleared out what my wholesaler had, then had to rush ship in more. Getting them to save the magnets to reuse was impossible. I haven’t used magnets a whole lot, but I got very good at using them!
What compounded the timeline was that I was smack dab in the middle of moving my store to a new/old location. It was a challenge in so many ways, but I’m grateful I was given the opportunity.
I could also get an order from anyone on the crew, at any given moment, and would have to drop what I was doing to fulfill their order.
Was working on this show a good experience?
Yes, though I wish I could have set flowers up myself. That would have been way cooler! I have since bugged production about getting professional photos and haven’t heard back. They were a very nice group of people to work with and all very kind. At this point, they have filmed multiple seasons beyond my season, so I know that getting me photos is low on their priority list.
