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The wedding specialists
A working florist for over 25 years, Tina trained in London and sold flowers on Elephant and Castle market before moving back to her native Midlands in 1988.
Since setting up shop in Tutbury four years ago, business has boomed and Tina’s choice of location, in this beautiful, semi-rural village near Burton-on-Trent, has really paid off.
In fact, between May and September last year, her six-strong team handled an average of four large weddings every weekend, with additional nuptials on Thursdays and Sundays.
No wonder, then, that she describes weddings as ‘the most stressful events you will ever handle’.
“We are very proud of the unique, highly personalised wedding service we have developed,” said Tina. “We like to combine modern, sophisticated techniques with old-fashioned attention to detail, and train our up-and-coming florists to follow this lead.
“For example, we always use wire to secure flowers into bouquets. Many florists don’t use this method any more, and I’ve heard horror stories of brides dropping flowers as they walk down the aisle.
“Unlike other florists, we also begin by charging a small fee for our initial one-and-a-half hour consultation with each new bride.
“This serves two purposes – it confirms that the bride’s interest in using us is genuine, and also underlines our commitment to her and her big day.
“It’s common knowledge that many brides check out several different florists before making a final decision, which is completely understandable, and is the reason why the majority of florists only dedicate half an hour or so to this process.
“But we prefer to do things more thoroughly and build up a rapport with each client from the outset, where we talk through the bride’s wedding ideas and colour schemes and discuss a variety of concepts. “The next step is for us to order in a selection of sample flowers six weeks before the big day. The bride is then invited into the shop to check exact shades and breeds, and to confirm details of arrangements.
“It’s a very serious business, which we always try to treat with the respect it deserves – after all, if we get it wrong, we run the risk of spoiling a couple’s big day!”
When that day finally arrives, Tina’s husband takes the reins, assuming responsibility for the logistical side of the business.
Tina explained: “Tim checks all of the deliveries before they leave the shop and then does the initial set-up at the wedding venue, whether that is Tutbury Castle, a church or a registry office.
“Once the service is finished, he then transfers the flowers to the reception venue, where they often have to be rearranged.
“That in itself can be a nightmare, as you have to time it just right to beat everybody to the reception and have everything organised by the time the happy couple show up.
“It’s very, very hard work but extremely rewarding for us, especially when we see the pleasure it brings.”
And word of Tina and Tim’s outstanding service has begun to travel – while the average journey distance for their customers is around ten miles, one customer recently drove all the way from Scotland after seeing a design for a wedding bouquet on the shop’s website.
“The service we provide would mean nothing without the exceptional quality of the flowers we have on offer,” said Tina. “We source the majority of our stock from Metz of Holland, allowing us to have flowers in the shop within 36 hours of them being cut by the grower.
“That level of freshness means that our arrangements can last for up to four weeks, as opposed to the typical one or two, and is often the deciding factor for wedding customers in choosing us over any other florist.”
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