Sustainable Floristry - That WOWS!

weddingsyorkshire

4 Apr

A Peek Behind The Scenes….

When we chat about your bespoke wedding floral designs, it’ll be the colours, shapes, varieties and vessels that we probably focus on. However, underneath the artistic flair of your flowers, the mechanics and the way they’re selected are just as important. I strive to make my floristry business as sustainable as possible – something that’s a constant learning journey.

Sustainable floristry is becoming ever more vital in this day and age. No matter our line of work, I believe we should be considering the needs of the environment. Given that my line of work completely revolves around the bounties of Mother Nature, it’s the least I can do to put effort into respecting and protecting nature as much as possible!

So, here’s a little bit of a behind the scenes tour to show you what I get up to in order to keep things as sustainable as possible around these parts.

Keeping It Yorkshire

I buy 90% of my flowers and foliage from local growers here in Yorkshire. Not only does this support the work of brilliant flower farmers and growers in my area, it also massively reduces the carbon footprint of my business. Britain can grow a diverse and gorgeous range of flowers across many seasons, and I hate the thought of blooms being packed in plastic and flown across the world.

Buying locally also means I can select flowers that have that ‘perfectly imperfect’ character that I love so much. I’m all about the wiggles and curves, buying properly individual flowers – none of the bland uniformity of ‘perfection’ here, thank you kindly!

I’ll always chat with you about what’s in season for your wedding, and on occasion if there’s a particular flower we need to make your designs extra special, then I’ll buy from a wholesaler abroad. However, I do my utmost to keep this to a minimum, and I’ve got dreams of one day owning my own flower field and filling it with colour and gorgeousness (and ducks... but that’s another story!).

Kirsty Mattsson Photography

A Floral Foam Free Zone!

This is a biggie. Floral foam is one of the floristry world’s Big Bads – a gross block of single use plastic that’s used to keep flowers hydrated while in situ but that’s really not good for the planet. I solemnly swear that there will never be floral foam used in any of my installations, no matter how big or elaborate they may be.

Instead, it means I need to be creative with my mechanics (a challenge I actually really enjoy). I use natural moss and reusable materials like water tubes to stop your wedding flowers feeling thirsty.

I also keep things eco-conscious when it comes to my packaging, using cardboard and bio-degradable wraps instead of cellophane and plastic.

Planting Trees

One of the most lovely and literal ways I can think of to give back to the planet is by helping to ensure new trees are planted. I work in partnership with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, and pledge one tree for each couple I work with. In 2022 we were responsible for 21 new little wedding saplings! It’s a lovely personal way to mark each couple’s wedding, plus it improves the local landscapes and offsets carbon. Here’s to many more tree donations in 2023 and beyond!

Thanks for coming with me on my whistle-stop tour of my take on sustainable floristry today. If you’d like to chat about how we can make your wedding filled with planet-friendly flowers that wow, then hop on over to my contact page, and let’s have a chat.