Grace Keeler

Nicole Ko’s journey from student and painter to distinguished New York City florist and wedding vendor has been anything but linear. Nicole’s brand, e_p_h_e_m_e_r_a, has grown exponentially in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, making her a standout figure in the NYC wedding industry and beyond. To get the best sense of her journey, I sat down with Nicole to discuss her path and the impact pursuing floristry has had on her life.

At the heart of every wedding is the ceremony. While its primary purpose is to solidify your marriage in the eyes of the law, it is also a space for the officiant to give a speech or a reading and the couple to exchange both vows and rings. While almost all wedding ceremonies conclude with “I do”s and a kiss, there are plenty of small ways you can elevate and personalize your ceremony so it is the truest reflection of your union.

We’ve all heard the classic wedding rhyme: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. The rhyme, dating back to Victorian Era England, denotes everything a bride must wear or carry on that fateful trip down the aisle in order to have a successful wedding and subsequent successful marriage. Traditions like these often come to mind first when we think of a wedding, and for good reason.

Last month, James Madison University’s Furious Flower Poetry Center (the nation’s first academic center dedicated to the study and celebration of Black poetry) held their decennial Furious Flower Conference. The conference’s theme was “Furious Flower IV: Worlds of Black Poetry”, emphasizing the importance of a global Black poetic community. As a student of literature dedicated to engaging with and uplifting marginalized voices, I attended many of the conference events and readings.

I have been engaging with bookish content online since 2014, so I would consider myself something of a BookTube veteran (BookTube being the book community on YouTube). I have seen waves of creators come and go, but my absolute favorites have stood the test of time and still put out engaging content on their channels.

As an English major, I am no stranger to a heavy writing workload. Essays, discussion boards, and annotations pile up quickly, and nothing feels worse than opening a new document for an assignment and drawing a total blank. So, how do I push through writer’s block? What do I do when I am all out of motivation? I use the Pomodoro technique, switch modalities, or turn my editor brain off.