Canaan Marshall is an Atlanta-based designer known for his vibrant, extravagant floral creations full of garden roses. We’ve loved seeing how our varieties become part of his arrangements, adding unique personality and texture. His designs feel abundant, expressive, and full of personality, bringing together his Southern roots, a love of travel, and an instinct for creating spaces that make people feel something.
For him, floral design isn’t just about making something beautiful; it’s about creating spaces that evoke genuine feelings and inspire the audience to connect deeply with his work.
Canaan first visited Alexandra Farms in 2023, but he’d already been designing with our varieties for years. Even after all this time, he continues to find new ways to incorporate Alexandra Farms garden roses into his beautiful designs, sharing his work with us and showing how much personality these flowers can bring to a space.
Cosmic. Beautiful. Bold.
That’s how Canaan Marshall describes his work, and after looking through his designs, it feels pretty accurate.
He began his journey into floral design in his hometown of Macon, Georgia, while helping with fundraising events at a local museum. “I always found myself focusing on the centerpieces for the tables because I believed they brought the entire space together,” he says. “That’s really where my love for floral design began.”
Southern roots, with a sense of wanderlust
Canaan describes his design style as having “a Southern flair with a little bit of my wanderlust side mixed in,” inviting the audience to feel intrigued by his blend of roots and exploration.
Travel plays a big part in how he thinks about design, whether through color, texture, atmosphere, or simply seeing something from a different point of view. “Traveling and visiting different places always inspires me to approach things differently and see design from a new perspective.”
That same way of thinking carries into his process. For weddings, he usually starts with color. From there, he builds the space’s story, bringing in different elements until everything feels connected.
“Color helps set the tone,” he said. “From there, I pull different elements that help tell the story and create a storyboard for each space. Then I begin incorporating things like linens, compotes, florals, and other design elements that bring the entire vision together.”
But there’s one question that matters most to him: How do you want people to feel when they walk into that space? For Canaan, that feeling shapes the design from the beginning.
Growing with Alexandra Farms
Canaan has worked with Alexandra Farms garden roses since 2018, when his flower broker, Ellen, introduced him to them. Over the years, our garden roses have become a regular part of his work, especially Pink O’Hara, White O’Hara, David Austin Wedding Roses, and spray garden roses. “They are absolutely beautiful and absolutely cosmic to me,” he said.
When working with Alexandra Farms’ garden roses, Canaan layers them to create movement, depth, and dimension, letting the flowers open naturally and show their full beauty in each design. “I like to use garden roses in layers to create depth and dimension.”
He also likes to let the flowers do what they naturally do best: open. “I like to cut them and allow them to open naturally,” said Canaan. “I’ll also reflex some of the outer petals to help enhance their shape and give them an even fuller appearance.”
And when we asked which garden rose he could never get tired of using, he didn’t hesitate. “White O’Hara. Definitely,” he said.
Finding inspiration everywhere
Canaan’s inspiration comes from many places. It can be a trip, a season, a texture, a color palette, or simply the feeling of being somewhere new. “I find inspiration everywhere,” he shared. “Through travel, my surroundings, colors, textures, and even the feeling of a particular season. I’m always looking at things and thinking about how I can interpret them through flowers and design.”
That sense of curiosity is part of what keeps his work feeling fresh.
After working with Alexandra Farms for so many years, Canaan says he has had the chance to use many varieties. Now, it’s less about finding the next flower and more about finding new ways to create with the ones he already loves. “I just hope to continue working with your blooms and finding new and creative ways to incorporate them into my designs.”
What’s next?
Right now, Canaan and his team are getting ready for fall weddings and the holiday season. For him, each new season is a chance to craft something unique. We know we’re not the only ones looking forward to his next bold, beautiful creation.
“It’s always exciting moving into a new season because it gives me another opportunity to create something different,” said Canaan. And if his work so far is any indication, that next chapter will probably be exactly what he described from the start: Cosmic. Beautiful. Bold.