Hi everyone! We hope you are keeping well and staying safe during this second lockdown. With just over 5 weeks to go (!!) until Christmas, and as a family with young kids, we’re taking this stay at home opportunity to get into the festive spirit a little earlier this year. From present purchases to thinking about how we’re going to decorate the house, Christmas is very much on the radar in our household! So with this festive cheer in mind, our #RoystonTuesdayTalks series is all about flowers. Here we are chatting to the hugely talented Ashley from Forever Flowers 😊. Enjoy…
1) Tell us a little bit about your business and what you do.
Forever Flowers is a small local business creating bespoke artificial floral displays. Creations include hand tied bouquets, wreaths and garlands which are all handmade to order.
2) When did you start Forever Flowers and what/who inspired you to start the businesses?
Forever Flowers came to life in July 2020! I have always enjoyed being creative and have always loved the idea of having a business to call my own, but I decided to finally take the leap in the height of lockdown number 1. My original inspiration came when I was planning my own wedding. We wanted to add our personal stamp and to keep costs down, so I decided to create our own bouquets and table pieces. We had such amazing comments about my creations.
3) How involved are you in the local Royston community?
My flowers are currently displayed locally at ‘Homemade’ which is located in Kneesworth (https://www.homemadeatthebarn.co.uk/). The barn is filled with other local talented business owners who all showcase their products. I have also worked alongside other local businesses to create a wedding package to help entertain children at weddings which has been published as a blog. I use social media to reach out to the community and to share my designs, and also advertise locally in the Listing. I love supporting and working alongside other businesses and hope to work with more in the future.
4) How do you keep up to date with the latest trends and techniques in your industry?
The seasonal changes are my biggest inspiration! I love using autumnal colours in my creations and of course pumpkins and pine cones! I am also in preparation for Christmas. Given the year we have all had so far, Christmas is going to be very different and I feel people will make more effort to decorate their own homes to make it as special as possible. I would love my designs to fill the homes in Royston.
5) Are you ever inspired by the fashion world when designing your flower arrangements?
As mentioned, my wedding was my original inspiration, so spent a lot of time looking at bridal fashion to help me choose the best flowers to match the finer detail on my dress and wedding colour scheme. I also love country fashion so am often inspired to use wildflowers and wheat in my bouquets.
6) Do you have any top tips for our wonderful Pentlebay customers, on how to pursue a creative career?
I was very apprehensive when starting Forever Flowers, but I am very glad to have taken the leap as the feedback from my customers has made it worthwhile! If it’s something you love doing, share it with others! You’ll never know until you try and having a happy customer at the end of a sale is the best feeling ever!