About the Founders

A Mother–Daughter Vision Rooted in Sedona

FLEUR: Sedona International Festival of Fine Food and Wine is founded by Toni and Taylor, a devoted mother–daughter team whose shared love for Sedona and the arts inspired them to create a festival that celebrates beauty, creativity, and connection.

Jerome residents of the Verde Valley since 2019, Toni and Taylor’s story is deeply intertwined with Sedona’s landscape and spirit. Toni’s parents were passionate art collectors, and some of her fondest memories are of visiting Sedona’s Tlaquepaque with her sisters many times each year beneath the red rocks while her parents purchased art. (Because of Toni’s deep love and familial history of Tlaquepaque, she later renewed her vows in this spectacular venue while Patrick Ki performed and live butterflies were released.).

Toni’s mom moved from Mississippi to Arizona after marriage to her father. Her parents cherished the beauty of Sedona and every time relatives came in to visit from the south, her parents rushed them to Sedona to show off its unbelievable beauty as Toni recalls. For Taylor, childhood meant exploring Sedona’s creeks and canyons near her grandparents’ timeshare several times each year with her cousins at Junipine Resort, moments that ignited a lifelong love for nature, beauty and family. Taylor and Toni always experience some of the most otherworldly experiences of euphoria every time they travel the 89A from Sedona to Flagstaff.

Toni and Taylor began to envision and set out to create an event that would reflect Sedona’s artistic and culinary soul. Taylor’s professional background includes work in hospitality at luxurious restaurants and hotels including Mariposa Latin Inspired Grill, The Wrigley Mansion, The Royal Palms, and Monte Vista combines her love and passion for photography, hospitality and sensory design to craft experiences that engage every sense. Following her devastating loss of vision due to diabetic retinopathy in 2024 and subsequent regaining of 20/80 of her vision back in only one eye after two emergency eye surgeries, Taylor’s resilience and artistry have become a guiding inspiration for the spirit of FLEUR.

Toni, a former art gallery owner of The Enchanted Mission in Phoenix and Jerome and former owner of Southwest Critters, a teddy bear company that sold Kachina Doll inspired teddy bears to several shops in Sedona and around the country, is a longtime arts advocate and film, food and wine festival producer. She has spent her career creating events that unite artists, filmmakers, chefs, winemakers and audiences across Arizona. Her passion lies in storytelling through shared experiences that celebrate creativity in all its forms. She is beyond thrilled to now share her newest artistic expression, FLEUR: Sedona International Festival of Fine Food and Wine taking place next summer.

Toni and Taylor are currently in pre-production on their very first film, a documentary on the Arizona Biltmore. Taylor is the great, great grand daughter of Charles McArthur, the businessman and founder of the Arizona Biltmore. Her great, great, great uncles are Albert Chase McArthur and Warren McArthur, the famous architect of the Arizona Biltmore and furniture designer. Toni and her first husband, Charles (Chuck) named their first son, Chase, to honor Albert Chase McArthur’s enormous accomplishments. Chuck was also named to honor his great grandfather, Charles McArthur. Taylor, after losing her vision and ability to pursue her passion of photography found herself drawn deeply to understand her ancestry and to share everything her family had accomplished in Arizona. The film is expected to premiere in 2029 in time for the Arizona Biltmore’s 100th anniversary.

The festival is lovingly dedicated to Toni’s son, Trey, who passed away at just seven months old due to a medical misdiagnosis. His memory remains the heart of FLEUR, a symbol of love, resilience, and the beauty of renewal. A portion of proceeds will be donated to local charities in Trey’s name, ensuring that his light continues to make a difference in the town his family holds so dear. One non-profit Toni intends to donate to each year is M.I.S.S.-Mothers in Sympathy and Support that offers incredible support to families to have lost children. This organization helped Toni beyond what words can describe while she dealt with severe trauma from Trey’s loss. Toni named her daughter Taylor Cheyenne. Cheyenne was the name of M.I.S.S. founder, Joanne Cacciatore’s precious little girl who she lost during childbirth. Joanne started her foundation in honor of her daughter. We plan to give funds that will benefit the foundation’s Selah Carefarm which is located just outside of Sedona.

For Toni, flowers hold a deeply personal significance. Once an avid lover of all things floral, she lost her ability to enjoy their scent after Trey’s passing. The fragrance became inseparable from grief. It took years for her to experience flowers again without sorrow. Today, the festival’s floral installations are a testament to healing and rediscovery. The festival is a true celebration of how beauty can blossom again, even after devastating loss. She plans to create a wall of flowers at the festival where guests can choose a flower to hang with a note card to honor past love ones.

Trey Brayden
10-14-96 to 5-23-97