Chicago - May 01, 2006

Flower Girl

Cornelia McNamara Flowers

You pull together a gathering for twenty in under twenty. Mix a martini on the fly. And can charm the paint off a wall with your deft small talk. (“Fantastic varnish. Gloss or semi?”)

But pity your poor table. Hydrangeas in a vase do not a centerpiece make.

Sounds like someone needs to see florist Cornelia McNamara. The Chicago native and Art Institute grad has just returned home after a stint sharpening her scissors in NYC under power flower brokers Avi Adler and David Stark, working for the likes of 50 Cent and Janet Jackson.

But you don’t have to be a Grammy nominee to get her attention. McNamara attacks projects big (galas), small (dinners), and in between (showers, bar mitzvahs). Work with her to choose a color scheme, and she’ll riff on the hues. The results: masterpieces with depth and movement made from the season’s choicest blooms.

She’ll turn your wallflower of a centerpiece into the life of the party.

Which so befits a hostess who is no shrinking violet.

Cornelia McNamara Flowers (773-292-6020 or corneliamcnamara.com). By appointment only.