You may (or may not!) realise that this week celebrates ‘British Flowers Week’. An annual celebration of the fantastic British flowers and growers that we have in this country. Yes – not everything arrives here on an airplane!
Supporting your local florist business rather than buying flowers from a local supermarket is fantastic, and is quite honestly to be congratulated! You are a rare few. It probably means that you have gone a little out of your way to buy a small bunch and support a local business, rather than picking up a bouquet of lilies with your pint of milk, from a supermarket that quite simply does not care about the growers, or where the flowers have come from.
This week, why not go that one step further, and if you buy from your local florist, buy something that they have bought from a local grower. This time of year is absolutely abundant with sweet scented stocks, delphinium, sweet william and pinks, to name just a few.
For me, I am going to make a tremendous effort this week and in the future, to talk to all of my Bride about seasonal flowers.
Few of my Brides worry about where their flowers are going to come from – I mean, why would you? That is something for me to worry about, not them, but I would like to educate them a little too. You see, pinterest is fantastic, but leading a Bride to believe you can get stunning peonies in November puts me at a slight disadvantage when it comes to planning their flowers with them.
When starting to look for ideas about wedding flowers, I often suggest that Brides perhaps look at style of flowers, rather than the specific type…and then let your florist suggest what may work for you, and what you could use that has been grown in the UK. Use them to their full potential!
If you would truly love a seasonal bouquet for your wedding day, talk to your florist about what is available during your wedding month. Particularly at this time of year, whenever possible, I buy from a local grower, BJ Richards, who’s flower farm is less than a 20 minute drive from me. They produce flowers for many local florists, and also send some to market. These are British flowers at their very best.
Top of my list for very British weddings so far this year, are flowers I put together for the lovely Victoria and Dan Mavin at The Greenhouse Spa Retreat.
I say put together, because that is simply all I did! Victoria had the idea of using everything from the gardens of The Greenhouse Spa as well as friends and relatives, to produce stunning displays. We used a lot of greenery, as well as mix of flowers and succulents, to produce Victoria’s bouquet as well as bouquets for Bridesmaids, buttonholes for guests, table decorations and unique necklaces as Bridesmaids gifts! You really could not get more British grown than this!
So why is British so important? Well put simply, you are supporting a local grower and a local florist. The benefits of this are pretty much self explanatory. The benefits to the flowers are tremendous too, no air miles mean that the flowers are picked, delivered to your florists door and in turn delivered to your home so much quicker than when they are flown in from Kenya, Egypt and Holland. This means a longer vase life, and you enjoy the product for longer.
Secondly, British flowers are truly seasonal! And because of that, they are at the absolute best when they are picked – and many of them smell divine too!
A great draw is also the cost, British flowers are value for money! And what British customer doesn’t love to buy British!?
So as a final word from me, when you buy local, buy British too! And if you’re not sure how to work in British flowers to your displays, then ask an expert!
Try not to forget about British flowers after this week too, make it a very late New Years resolution to buy British throughout the summer – if you do, you’ll find out what you’ve been missing all these years!
Hannah x