How Lizzy Kates Is Redefining Alternative Wedding Floristry Through Gothic Romance and Personal Storytelling

Can wedding florals have dramatic installations and moody aesthetics? Couples searching for alternative arrangements for their big day often settle for something that doesn’t fulfill their vision.

However, one florist designing around the horror aesthetic believes that a wedding should feel like the couple who planned it. Dark, romantic, theatrical, soft, strange. And all of it is welcome at Gothic Ties.

Lizzy Kates, a Scranton, Pennsylvania-based florist and owner of Gothic Ties, makes the dream of alternative wedding floristry a reality. 

Kates launched Gothic Ties in 2024, but her background in wedding florals goes back to 2021. Since then, she has designed and delivered more than 350 weddings and events. Her company serves clients across Eastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, the Poconos, Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg, and Jim Thorpe, as well as New Jersey. Kates is also open to travel for the right wedding.

Why Alternative Floristry

The wedding industry is large, but it tends to feature white flowers, blush palettes, and green accents. For couples who fall outside that visual template, options are limited.

The Knot Real Weddings Study (2026) found that more couples than ever are prioritizing personal expression over convention when planning their weddings. Gothic, dark romance, and maximalist floral styles are becoming increasingly popular among young couples. However, the supply of vendors who can genuinely execute alternative or gothic-themed events is only a fraction of the demand.

Kates, who grew up watching films like Practical Magic and Romeo + Juliet, stories where love and darkness coexist, understood the aesthetic instinctively. She also understood that couples like her had nowhere to go.

“I love being there for the clients that are just like me and want to add a little bit of drama, romance, and authenticity to their weddings,” Kates says. “Clients who want to break away from the standard color palettes of most weddings and be authentically themselves.”

How Gothic Ties Changes the Approach

Gothic Ties is not a gothic-only studio. That is an important distinction. Kates describes her work as alternative floristry, which encompasses a broader range of themes, including gothic, horror, renaissance, fairy tale, celestial, and many others. The common thread is a refusal to design by default.

“Gothic doesn’t have to be synonymous with darkness; it can exude a captivating moodiness.”

Kates’ process starts with listening. Before anything else, she asks clients to send images, Pinterest boards, and event details. From there, Kates builds arrangements that are specific to each couple.

Her background in Film Studies and Video Editing has influenced her approach to design. Attention to detail, spatial composition, and the ability to set a mood through visual choices all carry over from filmmaking into floristry. 

Gothic Ties also operates as a woman- and LGBTQ+-owned studio. Kates welcomes couples of every gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and faith. Her business is a space for self-expression, a place where couples are encouraged to show up as themselves rather than as a version of what weddings typically look like.

What Gothic Ties Offers

The studio provides a full range of wedding floral services, including bridal and wedding-party bouquets, boutonnieres, wrist corsages, ceremony pieces, floral arches, table centerpieces, large installations, curated rentals, including a stained-glass arch and a crescent-moon arch, candelabras, velvet drapery, lanterns, and other decor. 

Gothic Ties sources flowers from local farms and wholesale growers to get specialty blooms that support alternative aesthetics. The studio also maintains a rental collection, an option Kates highlights for couples who want a cohesive, polished look without purchasing and storing pieces themselves.

Couples she has worked with are especially delighted by Kates’ passion for romance, something that “exudes in every detail of her work.” They also say: “Not only is her style beautifully unique, but she is so lovely to work with and really works with you and your budget.”

Vision For the Future

Couples who do not fit the conventional wedding mold deserve a florist who does not either. Lizzy Kates carries not just the vision but the specific talent to execute a seemingly impossible Pinterest board. With alternative weddings on the rise, her specific space in the industry has become synonymous with personal storytelling, creative courage, and meticulous craft.

Unique couples don’t have to let their visions linger any longer.