At an International Special Events Society (ISES) meeting in LA, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting an inspirational woman, Paula Estes, who is a talented botanical artist and floral designer who combines imagination and creativity to design unique, one-of-a-kind special event stationery, greeting cards and green wedding invitations. Her company, Petalos di Pauli , based in Orange County, California, is one of the premiere suppliers to the special events industry of eco-friendly invitations embellished with botanical elements. Paula has taken the art of stationery to an artistic level that makes each piece of stationary a work of art as well as a keepsake.


“When working with real flowers to create your special event stationery and invitations, it’s never too soon to get started. I meet some clients a short three months in advance of their event, while others are in contact with me a year out to begin the creative collaboration process.”


Paula Estes transitioned from a stressful high tech career to a more satisfying high touch one when she left a career in Information Technology to create her Petalos di Pauli. “I like to say I found my inner artist” laughs the ebullient Paula. “My own home garden inspired me to create greeting cards for family and friends back in 2002 embellished with a variety of botanical elements taken right from my garden.”
This inspired generosity initially directed at Estes’ mother and grandmother, who, she reports “flipped out” at her creative efforts, eventually blossomed into her creating a line of greeting cards embellished with everything from flowers to seeds and pearls, marketed in eclectic boutiques nationwide.

By 2005, Paula had discovered a new creative calling, Petalos di Pauli, the business she oversees today from her Cypress, California studio specializing in the design and creation of eco-friendly special event stationery embellished with botanical elements taken directly from Paula’s garden. Eight additional host gardens throughout California and Nevada as well as Los Angeles’ famed downtown Flower Mart also serve as botanical resources.


“I still have the first piece I ever created, a bookmarker decorated with sage from my garden and it still holds its color to this day” Paula reports with pride. Her projects over the last few years have ranged from the creative – “one client had a very specific story to tell and wanted to incorporate silver bicycles, lady bugs and butterflies, all on the same wedding invitation” – to the challenging – “some clients are very open and say, ‘just show me everything’, not realizing there are over 10,000 design elements to choose from. The possibilities when creating with botanicals are limitless.”

Paula takes special pride in the handmade craftsmanship and quality material that goes into each Petalos di Pauli creation. “We find out most people recognize they’ve just received something more than an invitation, announcement or greeting card. They’ve received a piece of art they’ll wind up keeping and cherishing for a long time to come.”

It is always such a joy to find artists like Paula to collaborate with. It is the quality of the vendors that we work with that truly allows us to shine when we produce weddings and events for our clients.