What do you get when you combine a florist and a welder? Apparently, just about anything.

For years, Bob Tucker has been known throughout Lake and Sumter counties for transforming event spaces with flowers, décor and imaginative designs through Miss Daisy’s Floral & Event Décor. Now, a partnership with Aaron Crawford of ALC Metal Creations is opening the door to custom-built pieces limited only by imagination.

From towering floral displays and suspended centerpieces to custom arches, balloon installations and one-of-a-kind event structures, the collaboration blends Bob’s decades of design experience with Aaron’s metalworking and fabrication skills.

“Between the 2 of us, there’s nothing that can’t be created from what you imagine,” Bob says.

The partnership began several years ago when Bob approached Aaron about creating decorative pieces for a convention.

“I welded on farm equipment, trailers, tractors, boats, none of this stuff,” says Aaron, a lifelong Lake County resident.

Aaron learned the basics of welding from his father and spent years building and repairing heavy-duty equipment before launching ALC Metal Creations. Self-taught beyond those fundamentals, he has spent the past 15 years honing his craft.

The collaboration began when Bob showed Aaron a floral armature he had been making by hand from curly willow branches.

The concept dated back several years to a wedding where Bob was tasked with creating an oversized bridal bouquet. Looking for a way to add dramatic scale without using countless additional stems, he attempted to develop a support structure.

“Aaron saw it and said, ‘I can make that,’” Bob recalls.

A trip to the hardware store followed and before long Crawford had transformed the handmade design into a welded metal framework that became what Tucker calls his “magic ring,” a floral armature intended to make designing bouquets easier and more versatile for both professional florists and beginners.

Today, Aaron builds everything from floral stands and arches to custom display structures that Bob can incorporate into weddings, galas, corporate events and large-scale celebrations.

One recent project involved six connected frames transformed into an 8-foot-tall balloon installation. Other pieces can support suspended floral arrangements, dramatic centerpieces or oversized event backdrops.

For Bob, the goal isn’t simply creating something beautiful. It’s creating pieces that can serve multiple purposes and help event professionals maximize their investment.

“It’s crazy to watch something you’ve done turn into what he can do with it,” Aaron says of Bob’s expertise with floral arrangements.

One of the partnership’s largest early projects involved producing dozens of custom stands for a major event on a tight deadline.

Working largely on his own, Aaron spent long days and late nights cutting, welding, grinding and painting to complete the order.

The finished result filled a massive event space with hundreds of decorated tables.

“If you dream about it and put it on paper and bring it to me, I’ll give it to you,” Aaron says.

The partnership also reflects the changing direction of Miss Daisy’s, which relocated from downtown Leesburg and now operates from an amazing 7,000-square-foot warehouse at 1600 2nd St. just down the road.

The larger space provides room not only for floral production and event inventory, but also for design experimentation and fabrication built on collaboration in both metal and wood.

The customer envisions it, and together, Bob and Aaron create something guests may never forget.

Ideas often begin as sketches and conversations, with the two men spending days, sometimes weeks, defining concepts before anything is built.

“Bob’s great with what he does and I’m great at what I do, so in the end, it turns out to be perfect,” Aaron says.

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