It has been a crazy few months. With one thing and another here we find ourselves smack in the middle of September!
We have had some mad crazy weddings, which have been great fun to create even after sleepless nights working out the mechanics of some of the designs. We have had some super freelancers help on the frontline with us. We've been involved in some grand weddings for other floral designers being a part of their team.
Along with the everyday working of the shop we also have had to be closed some of the time, literally because we cant be in two places at one time. We have been busy in the background and will keep being busy doing what we do best.
We are looking once again at workshops in the shop and are moving all our props about over the next few months. keep an eye out for 'whats going on'.
Life goes on for everyone behind the work load and its important to get a life-work balance. Running your own business doesnt always give you this oppurtunity in the initial growing of it, so you can get a little overwhelmed with all the hats you have to wear. During really quiet times we find its easiest to be closed for a few days at a time to recharge our batteries
We value all our customers and do our best to be the best we can be.
Promise to keep you up to date on here a little more!
Karla x
Why We Charge What We Do
We felt we wanted to shed some light on a topic that often sparks curiosity and sometimes confusion: why do we charge what we do? We believe transparency is key, so let's have a little look at why we do charge what we do !
First and foremost, it's important to understand that our pricing reflects the value we provide. We put tremendous effort into sourcing top-quality materials, ensuring exceptional craftsmanship, and delivering a product or service that exceeds your expectations. We take pride in what we do and want you to feel the same sense of pride when you choose us!
Moreover, our pricing takes into account various factors that contribute to the overall cost. From research,time used to source what our clients need , we ensure continued professional developement with the staff and freelancers, many hours are spent looking at new ideas and making contacts to develop the business as times are continually changing.
You might wonder, "But isn't it expensive?" Well, we understand that price is an important consideration for everyone. That's why we also aim to strike a balance between affordability and quality. We believe in fair pricing, ensuring that you receive the best value for your hard-earned money.
Remember, when you choose to support us, you're not just purchasing a product or service. You're investing in our passion, expertise, and dedication to delivering an exceptional experience. Your support allows us to create jobs, support local communities, and give back in meaningful ways. Together, we can make a positive impact!
Being on the high street is expensive and being a small independent business is particularly tricky as we now have so many marketing platforms and many influencers showing us all the DIY way. DIY is wonderful but time and quality is not acounted for, and I assure you if i tried not to pay for my staff or products we would have a small mutiny on our hands. Just because you did it for little costs, does not equate to running it as a bsuiness.
So next time you see our prices, we hope you'll understand the careful thought and consideration that goes into determining them. We value your trust, and it motivates us to continuously improve and provide you with the best possible experience.
Thank you for being a part of our journey! We're grateful for each and every one of you. You are why we are still here !
Often when we say to a wedding couple 'What's your budget' the response is often 'We have no idea how much these things cost' But mostly you do know how much you are prepared or not prepared to pay for a service that you feel is important to you.
Take into consideration all the other elements of the wedding that would have a budget,
- The Bridal gown
- The Bridesmaids dresses
- Hair, make up
- Suits
- Jewellery
- Stationery
- Venue
- Photographer
- Videographer
- Photobooth
- Welcome drinks
- Meal
- Entertainment
- Gifts
- Evening meal
- Hotels
- Transport
- Honeymoon
Possibly there are a few bits not mentioned, but mostly we would know what we believe to be our priority and what we would say yes or no to. So all in all we do have a budget!
So how does the budget help ?
As a florist, knowing your budget is crucial for us to create your wedding flowers that meets your expectations. We want to provide you with the best possible service and make sure that your vision matches the reality without exceeding what you are willing to spend.
By understanding your budget,we can guide you through various flower choices, discuss customisation possibilities, repurposing designs on the day by suggesting ways to cut costs if necessary.
With this information in hand, we can create your dream wedding flowers that not only reflects your style but also fits comfortably within your financial parameters.
This will save time for both of us as we won't waste any resources on ideas, umpteen emails, that don't fit your allotted funds. In short, sharing your budget helps create realistic expectations, ensures transparency and helps us achieve a result that exceeds both our expectations!
If we know from the beginning you have a limited budget, rather than seeing all the grand ideas and feel we are letting you down as we cant complete this with limited funds, we can offer simple table designs or hire some props, but equally if we only sugested the minimum rather than grander ideas, you may be short changed with ideas by default.
It simply makes sense for us all to know what the budget is as we have to remember with your flowers you are getting a perishable product, a skill set that designs and creates, man hours designing, sketching, ordering the correct flowers and quanities. Conditioning them all so they are at the optimum openess and then for them to be made, packaged an delivered. It definitely isn't to lure you !
Walking along the road last evening even though it had been tipping it down, a smell stopped me in my tracks ! It was delicious. Soft and sweet and I knew it ! I just had to find it in my memories!
There it was. I smiled actually as it’s the most insignificant flower that goes unnoticed unless you know about it. It’s smaller than a ha’penny and the colour as black as coal though it looks rather pink in the image I took , but its scent is mighty.
As I said, so mighty but gentle, it literally stopped me in my thoughts.
The lady’s whose home it was was stood by the back door, very frail but very jolly ! I waved but she came out as she had seen me smell this plant. I actually thanked her for the scent and she was extremely grateful, possibly she thought I was mad !!!
It got me thinking, about the blog and about scent memory. How many times do you smell something and literally fall back to the moment you last smelt it, held it or wept with it. Isn’t scent powerful. It is very different to seeing something, it’s much more evocative. A little like sound or a melody. It truly takes your breathe away at times.
Summer flowers remind me of my training days as a teenager when all the flowers were seasonal. Possibly why I’m looking to return to the seasonal flower calendar. When the Lily of the Valley ( Convallaria majalis ) man came in may time with his first pot of white gold, I remember feeling actually moved by the scent. I was only a young girl but I was smell struck !!!
Then came the stocks ( Matthiola spicata) and the pinks and sweet Williams (Dianthus) and later on the Peony and Dahlia ‘s . I loved this time. I loved the heady experience of scents and learning.
We also would have very scented roses at this time , one of my all time favourites was a Jacaranda rose. A beautiful deep cerise pink. Joyous ! For my level 3 portfolio when I was around 18, I wrote about my wedding bouquet with Lily of the Valley and Jacaranda roses. No, I didn’t have these….. it was a long way off from the day someone took me on honestly !!!
Alas now we have less seasons and less scent or if we do we pay a premium. Hence our promise to buy British when we can and get the scent back on the calendar !
Oh by the way, the plant I smelt last evening, the humble Pittosporum flower. Once smelt, never forgotten !
X
As a discerning florist, the team are passionate about sourcing the freshest flowers of the highest quality. With a planet that needs us all to do our bit, because we want to support our own growers, for these reasons we are ready to be dedicated to buying and selling as many British grown flowers as we can.
With seasonal availability and British grown flowers being renowned for their exceptional beauty and fragrant scent adds to the romantic choice to use them. Having flowers in their natural growing season makes it much more exciting as a designer, wedding couples also chose the wedding to suit their preferred season because of the flowers they adore because as an old school florist I’ve always felt uncomfortable making out of season wedding bouquets, sunflowers at Christmas, tulips in September, it just doesn’t make creative sense !
By choosing to sell British grown flowers, not only are we supporting British growers, but we also reduce our carbon footprint by reducing long transportation distances. In addition, British blooms often last longer once cut because they do not need to travel hundreds or thousands of miles before reaching the consumer. As a professional florists, it is our responsibility to provide our customers with only the best blooms, and British grown flowers stand out as some of the most beautiful and long-lasting available. Ultimately, our choice to include British grown flowers is not just about contributing to the local economy; it's also about providing consumers with stunning floral designs that are sourced with care and attention !
Check out our tulips on the bulb. Long lasting with just a little bit of water, a double joy as you can then plant the bulbs in the garden to enjoy the following year !
We all know these are herbs and those that know it will be singing it !
Meaning of song
The lyrics of Scarborough Fair puts forward the concept of unrequited love. The yearning is felt throughout the song, creating a perfect medieval love story in the process. A young man delegates certain impossible tasks to his lover with the condition that she would have to finish those to be able to come back to him.
ref: https://galaxymusicnotes.com/pages/about-scarborough-fair
What I want to chat about though is Rosemary. It has such a fantastic history, with such symbolic meaning and has many medicinal uses.
Rosemary has always been associated with memory, the ancient Greeks believed it to be a memory aid and because of this students would wear a small piece in their hair, so its no surprise it has been used for remembrance symbolism.
Folklore has associated it with remembrance and used it for many linctures and herbal drinks to aid and stimulate the mind. ( Plants so often used for stimulation)
Medicinal use :The first British record of rosemary as a medicinal herb dates back to the ninth century, where it was used in remedies to treat fever and toothaches, and was later used in the 16th century to treat gout, lost of appetite, coughs, to prevent bad dreams, and even as a toothpaste.
The Victorians 'language of flowers' associated it with rememberance, loyalty, friendship and fedelity. It was often used in wreaths at funerals to remember our loved and lost ones, and for its other attributes brides would carry a piece on their wedding day dipped in scented water. Wealthier families would dip in silver and give to guests at weddings as favours. Weddings today finds us using fresh rosemary tied with twine with a brown card tag as place settings. So all that has changed is styles rather than ingredients which I find so perfectly charming.
WE use lots of herbs in weddings held in historical buildings because it makes total sense. If our couples are excited by the venue and all its stands for then we hope to excite them by using florals that also reflect the sentiment.
With the use of more and more british ingredients we will be using lots more herbs in our gift bouquets. How 'Blooming Perfect'
The Coronation of a King, 'Our King' is a momentous occasion that calls for grand celebrations and eleaborate preparations. It hard to imagine the amount of work just in the planning and executing of this to make the event as memorable and grand as possible.
For many of us we have not seen a coronation such as this and maybe one that has so much controversy surrounding it. Who will be on the list? who will not? Many of us having our own condemnatory opinions on who deserves to be there!
But for us, we cant wait to see the flowers. Floral designs will always and have always for centuries played an intregal part of coronation cermonies around the world, symbolising new beginnings,opulence and wealth, all that royalty stand for. Do they have a place in this modern world , ABSOUTELY, imagine not a single petal or scent of a flower embracing this Coronation, actually dont imagine it....... Our Charlie, not having flowers,never in a million years, albeit will he find enough organic ones? let's hope so!
A coronation is the ceremony in which a monarch is formally crowned and anointed as the official ruler of the kingdom. The event is steeped in history and traditions, rituals and symbolism. We will see septres and crowns and hear the choirs enchanting song with the National Anthem proudly sang by all who attend. This is a national celebration, a new beginning for the nation, celebrating unity , culture, heritage and solidarity.
Westminister Abbey will be adorned with flowers and foliages and the world will watch with fevered passion, at the styles, the pomp, the colossal cost, the entourage , the guests, and yes us florists will be wondering who did that, how will we manage to create this for our next big event, because followers will follow.
The symbolism is very important, looking at Tudor England, the Red Rose to this day still has significant representation. We have created many designs for the Mary Rose Trust, always using red roses to symbolise the Tudor times .World wide flowers are used to symbolise different things at most ceremonies. Orchids represent strength and endurance, roses - Love and support, lilies- purity, tulips- prosperity and wealth and so many more which we will explore throughout the year in our blogs.
Are you celebrating the coronation with a street party ? Do you have flowers in mind ? Are you even a fan ?
We will be creating something special for our window, maybe not on such a grand scale as Westminister Abbey, but what a gig if we were doing that !
An ancient chinese proverb
If you have two pennies, spend one on bread and the other on a flower. The bread will sustain life. The flower will give you reason to live.
Thoughts
Flesh and spirit !
In a world full of so many problems, we cant solve them all,we are unable to reach out to many, but we can heal our own souls
This is not or may not be a literal statement, it is indeed a proverb, therefore it is more metaphoric but for some the fundamentals of life are this simple. Give me bread and give me a flower !
Reality
So much of our lives are embroidered by florals and botanicals. Even the simplest of things are named to give the enrichment of flower power (think bedroom paint) and on the other hand our expert culinary genius's emblazen food with petals and skillfully placed tendils for us to enjoy the visual feast, enticing us with our senses before our taste buds even have a chance to savour them.
Even choosing a name for a flower shop has changed over the years, we hear much more organic, rustic sounding names, double barrelled for emphasis on the florals. The culture we are, we buy into this romanticism. ( We bought our shop already named, what would we have called it ?)
For us, this proverb means the shop and our beloved customers, WE LOVE FLOWERS. We love their form, their colour, their scent and also how good they can make us feel on the dullest of days. Not only are they our livelyhood, they are our lives.
Us
With our blog we are going to bring you some ideas for bringing the outdoors inside, some myths busted!, some mindfulness and lots of other things to enjoy.
As has been said before, if you enjoy us, spread the word, if not, let us know how we can make it better.
To do
Choose a flower everyday to sybolise how you are feeling. Ask yourself why its the flower you have chosen, and embrace it.
( Today Matthew I am going to be a daffodil. One of many but still bright and sunny!)
reference "Matthew" if you know you know
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