Hello! I’m Mekai and I am the owner and designer of Sparks & Sand Floral Design! We are a full service and elopement florist for the rad and wild, the adventurous, the madly in love, and everything surrounding good vibes. Sparks & Sand originated in Palm Springs, California and made the move to Raleigh, North Carolina but will serve anywhere and everywhere! We love couples that embrace their love and all the quirks that come with it. Sparks & Sand Floral Design is here to make sure that you are represented through your flowers. We like to make sure we perfectly accent you as a couple and don’t overpower. We are here to support our couples and make their floral dreams come true no matter how big or small.
Whether you want simple and elegant garden wedding or a punchy and vibrant disco, we will do it all. If this sounds right up your alley, shoot us a message and we will be more than happy to connect!
xx, Mekai
Serving All of NC and Beyond!
I got my start in the wedding industry purely by chance! I knew I wanted to be in events and was living in San Diego going to school for fashion merchandising, working at Anthropologie, and interning for the founder of Fashion Week San Diego (I enjoyed not having a social life). One of my coworkers (Macey Dooley from Region Design Studio) at Anthro was an event florist that had just relocated from New Jersey and she was asking around for flower and event coordinating help on a wedding she had.
I figured coordinating events was what I wanted to do so I would offer my help and do my best to not mess up the flowers. Macey introduced me to weddings and the flower world and it was love at first rose! After that, I took a chance and applied to work at Native Poppy in Solana Beach, got the job, and lost myself to flowers and the world of weddings. In February of 2020, I decided to move back home to Palm Springs after a failed marriage and started Sparks & Sand. The pandemic happened and I got my start with elopements in Joshua Tree and Palm Springs and still specialize in (and favor) small and intimate weddings!
We offer bouquet & boutonniere packages at $300 for the simple couple. If couples want more but are looking to save money, we offer an a la carte option where we build everything and drop off. This option does not include set up or take down but does include delivery, consultation, and everything else. This has been the best way for couples to get more of what they want but save on the cost of labor! We are extremely flexible and will always be up to make accommodations to assist in the elopement floral world. We will adjust and work with the couple to do whatever we can to get them as close to what they want as possible, no matter their budget!
I LOVE connecting with and meeting my couples. I love learning what makes them so unique and what makes their love so special. Bringing the couple their flowers is another big time favorite. I already am one of those that can’t believe I get to be a part of something so special that when I see the look on their faces when they see their bouquets or ceremonies or tables and they freak out, it’s the coolest thing ever. It reminds me why I love what I do and even if I don’t see how special my work is, other people do.
I recently did a wedding for the cutest couple, Valerie and Corey. They came out to the Joshua Tree area from Seattle, Washington for a fun and funky desert wedding. They wanted a sunset, desert disco vibe. It was so simple and sweet and the couple was the BEST. Valerie wore a pink poufy dress and looked STUNNING and Corey wore this maroon suit with the coolest mustache. We kept the florals fairly simple and did our signature asymmetrical arch with disco balls and two little aisle poufs adorned with (of course) more disco balls. The tables were three long tables put together and we did long garlands of pampas and eucalyptus with pops of pink and orange flowers and even more disco balls! Their guests we’re so, so kind and all stayed on the property with them and were outside looking at the stars when we came to clean up. I don’t know why, but it was just the sweetest thing I have ever been a part of.
Some fun facts about me that anyone who reaches out will come to know, I am a rambler and love to talk to my clients. I get just as excited as you about details of your day and thoroughly enjoy getting to know you, but am also extremely shy and keep to myself. I LOVE working through your vision together and doing whatever I can to accommodate budgets and requests. If you have any questions or ideas, please just throw them out there!
I am extremely passionate about positive living and living a happy life. I have so much to be grateful for and I am really big on positive thinking and manifestations. I have had many points where things were just not going the right way and have been in such major ruts I didn’t think I would get out of. I am a huge advocate for just doing what you love every day even if it’s something so tiny. I would much rather be struggling and barely making rent but surrounding myself with as many things that make me happy as possible than not having much to be happy about. Slowly adding a positive or happy thing to my day wherever I could made such a difference in my day to day life. I literally started by playing happy music at the beginning of each day and not my go-to sad cowboy songs! There’s so much more to it and I know this may sound floaty and a little ditzy but small changes really do make a difference! Little changes make my heart happy.
A: Mekai Ely, Owner & Designer
Q: What’s a fun fact about yourself?
A: I met the love of my life immediately after making the move to North Carolina! If that isn’t a sign it was the right decision, I don’t know what would be.
Q: Is there a wedding detail on your bucket list?
A: Flowering a super fun and funky wedding in Asheville! (Hint, hint)
Q: What is your favorite thing about elopements?
A: I LOVE the intimacy of elopements. I feel like the smaller the wedding, the more I know the couple and can truly understand what is important to them. Couples tend to focus on the details way more with intimate weddings and will maybe ask for their grandmas favorite flower or see if I can tuck a personal photo into their bouquet more often than larger scale weddings. Everything is so much more close to the heart and soul.
Q: Tell us about your favorite elopement!
A: I very recently did the flowers for the coolest and most fun couple. They had a three day long, very intimate wedding at a tiny hotel in Palm Springs. We flowered the entire weekend but repurposed everything from one day to the next, just refreshing flowers if needed. They wanted punchy and bright florals with disco balls and even fruit on the tables! They had neon sign details and even had an I-spy game with disposable cameras. It was so personal and fun. From the wedding party to the guests to the vendors, you could just tell everyone was ecstatic to be there. I just loved it!
We hired Sparks and Sand and I could not have been happier with how the florals turned out for my wedding. The process of planning was so stressful and we had to postpone from our original 2020 date. However, Mekai was a DREAM to work with. She was so helpful and responsive to all of my questions and quote changes. We had some last minute changes to the quote but she handled everything with ease. The florals were GORGEOUS and I could not have been happier. I literally teared up when they arrived to our Airbnb. They were everything I could have ever asked for. She understood fully what I was going for with just a few inspiration pictures. Everything was so easy and the florals were arranged beautifully at the venue. I’m so happy that I booked Mekai!
