Wedding Flowers: Florist Tips, Budgets, Seasonal Blooms & Mistakes to Avoid | Totally Absolutely Engaged

Planning your wedding flowers? In this episode of Totally Absolutely Engaged, we're joined by Jen from Peony Rose Florist to answer the questions every engaged couple wants to know before booking their florist.

From how much wedding flowers actually cost to choosing seasonal blooms, avoiding expensive trends and making the most of your budget, this episode is packed with honest advice that could save you money and help you get the look you've always wanted.

Jen takes us behind the scenes of being a wedding florist, revealing everything that happens before your flowers arrive on the big day, from ordering and conditioning flowers to dealing with unpredictable British weather and creating bespoke floral designs that perfectly complement each couple.

We also answer your listener questions, including whether DIY wedding flowers are worth it, how to maximise your floral budget, when to book your florist, which flowers photograph beautifully, and why trusting your wedding suppliers can make all the difference.

If you're planning your wedding and want expert advice on bridal bouquets, buttonholes, ceremony flowers, table centrepieces and creating beautiful wedding flowers without overspending, this episode is a must-listen.

In this episode:

• How much should you budget for wedding flowers?

• Why seasonal flowers save money

• The biggest wedding flower mistakes couples make

• Fresh vs artificial wedding flowers

• Can you DIY your wedding flowers?

• How to get the biggest impact from your floral budget

• Why trends could end up costing you more

Whether you're newly engaged or finalising your wedding plans, this episode will help you make informed decisions and get the most from your wedding florist.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:06

Welcome everybody and welcome back to another episode of Totally Absolutely Engaged.

SPEAKER_03 0:10

Hello, and today we welcome back Jen, owner of Piny Rose Florist. Hi. Our first returning guest to the pod, actually.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

I couldn't believe this, to be honest.

SPEAKER_03 0:21

So you ended season one and now you are gonna end season two because we're gonna have a bit of a rest because it's a busy wedding season, which I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

It's a very busy wedding season.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

So um since you were last on, you've moved into our building.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Yes, we have.

SPEAKER_03 0:39

You're very busy. I can't believe I've been. Very, very busy, very busy at the moment. Not enough hours in the day. Um so what's a typical week of a wedding florist?

SPEAKER_01 0:49

A typical week of a wedding florist, well. A lot. There's a lot that goes on. There's a lot of prep behind that people don't actually see. So if I've got a wedding on, I'd kind of, you know, I'd start prepping, washing vases, yeah, ironing chair sashes, that kind of the like the boring stuff. You do the chair sashes. Yeah, I iron the chair sashes.

SPEAKER_03 1:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Because it's all gonna look perfect.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

Hence it on board the iron. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Oh, I'm not playing as yeah, no, it's it's doing all the prep work. Like months before, I'd probably done like a flower list, so like a numbers, kind of how many roses I might need, how many kind of different flowers to put my order in. Um, then I'd kind of prep all the buckets and stuff for the day before they arrive. And on the morning, uh the wholesalers, I probably go to the wholesalers, collect all the flowers, condition all the flowers. Um, and there's they actually need to be um in water for at least 24 hours before I start working with them, just so the you know, stems don't snap or there's any damages.

SPEAKER_03 2:04

Yeah, I didn't realise all this was going on. Yeah, there's a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

There's a lot of press that goes in.

SPEAKER_03 2:12

Well, I just know on Monday there's like buckets full of flowers. Yeah, lines of buckets everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

What on earth's going on? Send you have to get the flowers for the wedding. Um, I'd order them about a couple of weeks or a week before. Okay. Um, so I'd get the flowers in a couple of days before. I can't really get them in too far in advance, obviously, because you know they're a living product. They've got to stay fresh. Yeah, they've got to stay fresh. And it's a little bit of a timing nightmare because certain flowers take longer to open than others, like peonies, they come in wrapped and they're like bullets, and you need to get them kind of open, ready for that day.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Oh, I don't even think about this.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

A lot of people don't realise. So when they come in all perfect on your wedding day, it's probably because you know I've timed it to perfection. If it's a hot day, flowers are gonna open faster than a cold day. If it's a cold week, then you need to kind of think, bear that in mind. So, and the roses kind of open up as well, and there's things that can that don't last very long.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

How do you manage this with the unpredictability of the weather? I don't know. I literally don't know. Hail, thunder, clear blue skies, yeah, freezing cold. All all in the space of I think it was a day.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Hot weather. So, how how do you manage with that? If it's a really hot day, I can look a little bit stressed on that day because these flowers have got to be perfect for your ceremony, and I'll be there with a mister misting them all. Can you see me do that? Um, just to try and keep them well hydrated because they in the in hot, blistering hot heat, they're gonna go over really fat high rangers are notorious for that. Are they?

SPEAKER_03 4:04

Yeah, but I've seen how much you do, there's like yeah, loads everywhere. You used to work for my kitchen for years, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

So how do you think your kitchen is massive? My husband's throwing me out. So, how long does it take to plug a carnage together? Oh, hours, hours. I could be working all day, sometimes you know, through night, have a couple of hours kit, get up really early the following morning, depending on how big the wedding is. Um yeah, it can be quite stressful. Yeah. And I've had incidences where I've ordered like a hundred roses from Holland and they've not turned up. Oh my god. So I've had to come up with a real alternative very quickly. So yeah, it's it's people think it's quite an easy job, but actually it's it's not really not a little bit stressful behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_02 5:00

How much is done on the actual wedding morning then? Is there a lot on like the day?

SPEAKER_01 5:05

Um, there is a lot to do on that day. Um normally I start off kind of delivering the bride of bouquets and buttonholes, um, just making sure that the bride's happy with those. Um, and then I go straight to the ceremony room, do set up all that, and it depends what people have had as well. If there's a lot, then I need to start quite early. Um, I do get people in to kind of help me because I can't do it all on my own.

SPEAKER_03 5:35

Yeah, yeah, you nixed one of my staff members. Yeah, you I did. One of my staff members was that. Couldn't have done it without, to be honest. Yeah, so with all that, then you've got obviously got all your emails, your marketing, your yeah. You've been working with Swannley, Meadow, Sweat of Arms, been doing more at the plough, yeah. Been decorating our items, we've started doing backdrops together, haven't we?

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Yeah, so I'm I'm really mad busy at the moment, and it's you know, maybe emails are not quite as going out as quick as what they should be at the moment. How do couples actually book in with you?

SPEAKER_02 6:10

What like what is the process from their initial inquiry with you to the the day?

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Um, how do people book? Well, they'd probably look at my Instagram first or webpage or be recommended by a friend. Um, then I'll send them like a price list. They'd contact me back and we'd kind of the best thing to do is go through my Instagram, have a look at previous weddings that I've done. Um I've got to do that.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

You know where the Instagram drives the designs forward? Quite a lot. Do people look at Pinterest?

SPEAKER_01 6:48

People are inspired by Instagram. Um you know, looking at previous weddings that I've done, they go, Oh, really like that, can have a bouquet kind of similar to this but different colours. That that's absolutely fine. We can do that.

SPEAKER_03 7:00

So do they often come to you with preconceived ideas, or is it just some people are just like it's a real mix.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Some people know exactly what they want, other people are like, oh, we really don't know what we want. What do you think? And like a happy medium, but it's great because every wedding is different, and there's no carbon copy weddings in you know, that I do.

SPEAKER_03 7:27

Yeah, we take Is that because majority of the time it's real flowers?

SPEAKER_01 7:31

It's real flowers, every couple's different. It's nice to kind of put a bit of your personality into that wedding.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Um it's yeah, it's a it's a nice process, really, because we'll talk, we'll sit down, we'll talk about all the kind of flowers that they you know, depending on what month they're getting married in, that can determine um oh what flowers they can have. Yes. Some flowers are available all year round, other flowers are very specific, like spring flowers, you wouldn't get those in August. And also the quality kind of goes down. If you want tulips in the middle of August, it's you know, don't expect them to be pristine and they're going to be very highly priced because it's out of um, you know, it's not their normal season.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

You have to manage people's expectations a lot then. Do you think that people come to you with some ideas and you just want to?

SPEAKER_01 8:23

Well, the see we normally sit down for like a consultation and we'll talk about all their requirements, you know, what they like, what they don't like, um, if they've got favourite flowers, that can kind of, you know, we'll add that kind of in that they'll often come across with like a pin interest board or seeing something on Instagram, but we can take elements of that and kind of create their own kind of vision in a way. Yeah, so it's all very bespoke. There's no set way of you know designing these flowers.

SPEAKER_03 9:02

Um and when when people say a florist, I mean, what what where do you start? So you've obviously got the buttonholes, you've got the bouquet.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Yeah, we we do everything from bridal bouquets, buttonholes, like the bridal party flowers, then we can do like the ceremy flowers, like flower meadows, um, bud vases, candles, um, arches, that kind of thing, and also like the wedding breakfast setup, so table centres, bouquets for mums, arches. Have I repeated that twice? I think particular like flowers that are more expensive than other flowers. Yes, there is. There is a trend at the moment which is it's it's different, it's great, but the flowers are really expensive. It's kind of like this modern orchids and amphoriums, which are like the tropical kind of flowers, and they are quite expensive, and I have to buy them in boxes of 10. Yeah, so you can imagine it it kind of escalates. And if a bride is on a set budget, don't follow the trends. I know this is gonna be a bad one, but the popularity of the trend is pushing the price up, yeah. So you'll find that high ranges are kind of triple the price of what they were originally because everybody wants them, and you know, trying to source those flowers also becomes increasingly difficult. So that pushes the price up as well. So yeah, avoid I know it's controversial, but avoid the trends, avoid the trends, go for seasonal flowers, yeah, go for British grown flowers, you know. They haven't got the air miles, they are really good quality, there's lots of different varieties available throughout the year. Um and that, you know, and trust your florist. Yeah. Because we can create something that's really kind of special for for you, really.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

Yeah, I remember you saying last time that you hated artificial flowers.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

I I don't hate artificial flowers. Is that still the case?

SPEAKER_03 11:14

Like what what you use artificial flowers like that.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

I do I do use artificial flowers.

SPEAKER_03 11:19

And we use it for decoration, yeah. Like like for our phone box, for example. Exactly. There's like for anything that needs permanent decoration.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

Obviously, I'm you know, my heart is with fresh flowers. Because that's your that that's my thing. Yeah, you know, I love working with fresh flowers. Um artificial, yes.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Do they have a place at weddings? Do you think? Why would people why would people opt for artificial flowers over real ones?

SPEAKER_01 11:48

They're um budget, I think. Is it? It's definitely budget. Obviously, artificial you can kind of reuse, but they're not exactly sustainable because at the end of the day, you're that product is gonna end up in landfall, unfortunately. Umas fresh flowers are you know they biodegrade. I always kind of say at the end of your wedding, just give them away. Give them away.

SPEAKER_03 12:14

Everyone's normally fighting over who takes what and I was just gonna say one thing I'm not saying is like dried flowers or pampas grass. Yeah, love dried flowers.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

I well, I think there's still quite a few weddings that do like dried flowers, and I kind of mix it in with fresh, you know. I can do like a mix of dried artificial and fresh flowers. There's no right or wrong way to do this, it's it's creating that overlook overall look.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Um, but yeah, and obviously keeping the bouquet as well, you can kind of keep a dried flower bouquet or even get your fresh flower bouquet kind of pressed or dried, but you need to keep it in water. If you're going to do that, keep it in water as long as possible and you need to send it off the following day. Yeah, so that that's a nice one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:11

What actually is the importance of flowers on a wedding day? Like, why do why does everyone have them?

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Flowers are extremely important. I know I'm biased because I'm a florist, but they are on all your wedding photos. It kind of it it brings a venue to life, I personally think. No, I agree, I agree, but it does, it can transform any venue, um, and it just you know, fresh flowers in particular, you get a scent from the flowers that fills the room. Um, it kind of dictates, you know, it gives people an idea. The theme of the wedding, the colour palette, um what you like as a couple. Um I th I think they're extremely important, especially like your bride of bouquet. Because you've probably spent an arm and a leg on your dress, you're gonna wear that dress once. But it's the same for the bride of bouquet. It we create a bouquet that kind of complements the dress rather than competes, so it kind of you know it it completes the look, yeah, in a way. And uh the bride of bouquet is on all the photos, so it's it's on it's on all the photos, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 14:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

If you've kind of skimped on that bit, I mean this is gonna be controversial. If you've bought a really expensive dress and you've you've looked at these like Chinese websites and stuff, like let's call them emu and teen. And you've brought a bidal bouquet, isn't there's nothing wrong with that, but are you emphasizing that dress in a you know the in the best way that it can be? Fresh flowers, people think fresh flowers are oh well, they're gonna be too expensive, not gonna look. But if you talk to your florist and say, right, I've got this amount of money to spend, what can you create for that? Yeah, and yeah, I think I think that's a better option.

SPEAKER_03 15:21

What is a good budget for?

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Oh, it's it's a really tricky question because flower prices are kind of fluctuating. If you go for seasonal flowers and you leave it to your florist, that's probably the most budget-friendly kind of option. You just say what kind of colours you like, yeah, and we'll create it from there. Maybe you like a style that you like, we can do that.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Yeah. Well, what is your biggest piece of advice to your customers then?

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Biggest piece of advice, um trust your florist. Yeah. Trust um your suppliers because they do this day in, day out. They know exactly what they're doing. Um you know, they they they they love the job, you know. I I love kind of creating flowers, I kind of love seeing that vision come to life. And it's always to get a little bit nervous when I'm handing over the Brad of Bouquet, going, Oh, hope she likes it. Because and normally I get a pretty good reaction. I've had tears with which is lovely, it's it's so rewarding that bit.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

What's your biggest ick then? Your absolute no, you don't like it when people do it.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Um, oh, biggest ick. Oh, gypsophilia bouquets. What are they?

SPEAKER_03 16:43

Yeah, what yeah, we know the white things.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

Yeah, they they smell white. Have you smelt gypsophilia?

SPEAKER_02 16:50

I do know what you're on about. No, I don't think it has it has like a bit of a like a catwis. That's how I feel about lilies. That is exactly how I feel about lilies. I think they smell like catwheels.

SPEAKER_03 17:00

Yeah, yeah, it is after a few days. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

I mean, yeah, they they do look nice, but I've oh yeah, it's not for me. Not for me. Fair enough, not a fan.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

Anything to add before we head into customer questions?

SPEAKER_03 17:11

No, let's go into the questions see what that means.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

Right, so our first one is from Casey. Okay. I want to DIY some of my florals. Which bits can I do myself and which bits should be left to the experts? Right, okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

Um, I if you want to DIY some flowers, I'd maybe go for like the simpler the better, really. And be aware that you need to put these if you're doing fresh flowers, you'll have to put those out in the morning. Some venues will kind of put things out, but um you need to kind of put them out in the morning. Um, so bear that in mind, or you get someone to kind of put it out for them. Um leave the bride of bouquets and buttonholes and things like that, like the bride of party flowers, to the experts, because it is quite stressful putting a bouquet together, especially if you don't get it right. It takes, you know, it could take a couple of attempts to do it.

SPEAKER_03 18:06

Yeah, the bouquets and the buttonholes always intricate and they are they're fiddly.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

Yeah. And like we've discussed before, the getting the timing right, getting the flowers perfectly, you know, no marks, because white roses are notorious for getting like brown marks on them. Oh, really? So, yeah, if you're gonna DIY, avoid white rose. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:27

What are the brown marks? Just where you've touched them on.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

Yeah, they bruise really easily. Right. Oh, I didn't know a flower could bruise. Yeah, no, yeah, they do.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

That's new story. Right, okay. Next one is in from Sophia. She says, What flowers make a big impact in photos?

SPEAKER_01 18:47

Um, choosing maybe choosing like some statement florals will make a big impact. You don't have to kind of blow the budget everywhere. You could have some statement florals for the ceremy, and then maybe you use them afterwards behind the top table or sweetheart table. So it's it, you know, getting the most out of it.

SPEAKER_03 19:08

Okay, because people don't realise that you can reuse the flowers for different things.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

Yeah, I often kind of whatever's on the registrar table, I'll move to the top table or the sweetheart table. Oh, okay. Yeah. So it, you know, you're not paying twice and you're kind of getting getting your money as well. Yeah, getting value for money. Getting value for money.

SPEAKER_02 19:25

Yeah, that's a good idea. What are statement florals? Like, what do you when you say that, what do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Maybe something like a big arrangement, like maybe a pedestal. They're very in at the moment, like pedestals in an urn vase can be quite a statement piece. Um there's n you know, statement florals can be any flower, really. It's just how you kind of put it together, how it kind of looks. Yeah. Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:53

Statement like.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Yeah, making a statement. Making a flower. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

Right. Next one is in from Sammy. She says, My budget is £500 for flowers. Realistically, what can I actually get for this? Oh.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Is that a lot? Is that too low? Bridal party flowers, yes. Okay. Fresh flowers aren't cheap, but they are well worth the money. Um yeah, it keeping it really, really simple if you've only got £500 to spend because it's not just about buying the flowers as a florist, it's about the amount of time and hours that get put into all the prep work, like the washing the buckets, the counting the counting the vases and things, putting all that out. It's long, long hours, and yeah, obviously we ha have to factor that into our price as well. So £500 is is quite a low budget, very low budget to create something on average then how it's gone.

SPEAKER_03 21:00

I was just gonna say, would you forfeit the flowers on the tables? Would that be that would be the main forfeit?

SPEAKER_01 21:06

I think you'd maybe you concentrate on the bride of bouquets and buttonholes. Yeah, and then keeping it really, really simple for the tables.

SPEAKER_03 21:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

What do you think some minimum budget people like really should be coming to you with? Like what is the lowest that you're like? Okay, I think it's a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

It all depends on what you want though, that's that's the thing. No, some people might just want a bride of bouquet, they might be having a really small wedding, and they might just want a bride of bouquet in a buttonhole. Um on average, people spend you could be looking like 1500, 300,500, depending on what you want.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

Yeah. There's there's various levels.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

There's no set, yeah. I mean, I have done some packages, but that's just to give people an idea.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

That's not necessarily what the price is going to be, and unfortunately, it does depend on what kind of. If you're coming to me with orchids and amphoriums, that's going to be up high. Right. But seasonal flowers, you know, that could be a lower estimate. But it it varies for each wedding. There's no set formula.

SPEAKER_03 22:16

If someone's getting married then in two years and they've come to you now, how do you budget that?

SPEAKER_01 22:21

It's tricky. It's really, really tricky. What a good idea. Because I've got no idea what what the price is going to be in two years. I've literally got to guess.

SPEAKER_03 22:30

I mean printer paper, for example. I think in a two-year period it went up sort of like 90 quid. Yeah, well we never knew it was going to do that.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Flowers have gone up massively in two years' time as well. So I've got to be really careful with when I'm buying that flower not to go overboard. Um adding plenty of foliaging can help, but even that costs, people think, oh, foliage is must be really cheap. It's not. It's not cheap.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

But you do see florists sort of steaming in and undercutting. Well, in the head row. They undercut people, and you think, well, what they're going to do in two years when all the prices have gone up and oh florists undercutting each other.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

Yeah, it's a little bit fierce at the moment. It is very fierce.

SPEAKER_03 23:15

I don't promise in two years' time that they're going to get the same.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Yeah, there might live to be zero quality. To be honest, I don't like undercutting people, and I don't really tend to do it. I was like, well, this is the price if you want to kind of book me. Yeah. You can see what work I'm doing. This, you know, unfortunately, this is what it's going to cost. Yeah. You can undercut, but it might not be the same quality of flowers. It might not be the same quality of standard of you know setup. It all depends on what they offer. Yeah. And I always the thing is, if you are looking at different florist or venue dresses, have a look at their previous work, look at the recommendations. That's a really good starting point.

SPEAKER_02 24:02

Next one is in from Amy. She says, I'm planning on doing my own flowers. Can I do this and then leave it with you to put them out? Um is that a thing you offer or no?

SPEAKER_01 24:16

Um, if I've not got any other weddings on, then yes, I can do that. Um but judging by your reaction, I'd rather not realistically, how many weddings can you do in a week?

SPEAKER_03 24:28

Oh Do you only like doing one a day?

SPEAKER_01 24:31

Yes, I can I can physically only do one wedding more like every couple of days, because all that I'm prepping the day before for that wedding. Um so but I I won't book more than one wedding on that one day.

SPEAKER_03 24:46

So you give your full focus to that one wedding.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

Yeah, it's so I can give it because I do kind of give it my all onto that one wedding and to the point where exhaustion sets in. But um yeah, and it it's it's not physically I'm a small per you know no, a little. No, no, you are a small person.

SPEAKER_03 25:12

You're about four foot eleven.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

I'm three. I'm a small person. We know that gender.

SPEAKER_03 25:25

No, we know what you're saying. A small company running it by itself. Running it by yourself.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

But you are equally as well.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

It's mainly me doing everything. Yeah. Um, I will kind of call upon people to help me out, but it's it's mainly me doing preliminary or the work. Um so I do kind of I'm super focused on that one wedding. Um and yeah, so I I can't physically do more than one, and I hate disappointing people because I do get booked up quite quickly in the summer months, and if it's a Saturday wedding, yeah, so bear that in mind. If you do have a florist in mind, just kind of I'd say between 18 to 12 months before, just so you know you get the florists that you want, or any any supplier that you want as well, isn't it? If they're a really good supplier and you want them, just just book them. You don't even need to know what kind of what you want, you could just pay a deposit.

SPEAKER_03 26:24

Yeah, um, and how late can they choose their flowers? And it also they choose their flowers and then trends change, blah blah blah, and you want to change at the very last moment.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

I've had that a few times how late can we change? Oh no, not not not too late. Ideally minimum a couple of months before. Yeah, um, most kind of couples kind of keep to what they want, but I do have the odd couple that say, Oh, we've we've changed the theme completely, which is fine. That that's you know, that's possible. But please don't come to me a month before going, I don't want any of these. I want a completely different colour theme. No, it's it's kind of all logged in then.

SPEAKER_03 27:08

Yeah, you like to be organised a few months before.

SPEAKER_01 27:10

I do like to be organised and know and know exactly what wedding I've got coming up. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:15

Shall we add into your last one then? Yeah. Yeah? Okay, so it's in from Shelley. Is there anything I should know before our initial meeting?

SPEAKER_01 27:24

Um, have an idea of the kind of colour scheme that you're wanting. Um Bridesmaid, if you've chosen your bridesmaid dresses, that kind of dictates the colour scheme. So there's lots of you know, there's so many different choices of it it's a bit like being in a minefield, isn't it? Because you don't know what direction to turn. There's so much Instagram and Pin Interest. It's like, oh my god, what's that?

SPEAKER_03 27:50

You've got that, but you've also now got AI. So I know that people are. We're going off topic. Yeah, but we know we're bringing it back because I think AI people are gonna put in what bouquet they want or type the flowers that they want. Yes, and then AI are gonna put it together nicely, and then people are gonna print it off and go, There you go, Jen.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

Which is my nightmare.

SPEAKER_03 28:13

But why is it a nightmare? Are they doing you a favour or is that just restricting your creativity?

SPEAKER_01 28:20

It's great if you've created this dream bouquet off AI, but it's a little bit restrictive for florist point of view, because um for starters the AI is is like a perfect version of a bouquet, you know, it it's kind of everything's in its perfect place, it's all straight stems, it might actually not be like that in real life.

SPEAKER_03 28:45

Yeah, well, it's like that when you try and decorate your room, isn't it? Yes, and then it comes up with further.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

But it might not be the AI version because it's all in an AI perfect world and life's not like that. And you're not an AI bot. I am not an AI bot.

SPEAKER_02 29:08

I'm a creative florist. So you do like to let your creative juices flow then rather than just being told this is exactly what I want. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

Yeah. Yeah. This is why I say, or just trust your florists because it it'll it'll be amazing. Yeah, it will be amazing.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

And we've seen you working it, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 29:26

So we can vouch, can't we?

SPEAKER_03 29:27

We can, and it's all on your Instagram. It's something the other day, actually, at the plow.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

Oh yeah, I might have gone a little bit OTD.

SPEAKER_03 29:35

You got carried away there, didn't you?

SPEAKER_01 29:40

I don't think I've seen this arch.

SPEAKER_03 29:42

That's impressive.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

Yeah, we'd basically put um well, the customer wanted an archway that covered that kind of that sign, you know, the fire exit sign that you're probably not supposed to cover.

SPEAKER_03 29:52

Yeah, yeah, you could see it poking out, that's fine.

SPEAKER_01 29:55

You could you could still see it for legal reasons, but they wanted it kind of you know covered. Yeah. So, okay, right, okay, I'm gonna create this big archway. Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_03 30:06

That was impressive.

SPEAKER_01 30:07

Um and then we moved it behind the sweetheart table, and then I'd gone a little bit big on the kind of meadow flowers as well because I got so involved in it, I you know it just got carried away. I got carried away.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Okay, it looked really good. It did look good. Well, if people want a big arch, where can they find it?

SPEAKER_01 30:31

Um you can find me on Instagram, Facebook. Um, I have got a website www.peonyroseflorist.co.uk. Um there is an initial contact form so you can actually fill that out, and then I'll send you a price list across. And then but I would recommend it for your consultation where we can talk about all your different ideas.

SPEAKER_03 30:53

And we've got a showroom.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

And we've got a showroom, yeah. We've got a showroom with our stuff in that you've decorated.

SPEAKER_03 30:58

And yeah, you do keep changing it.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

Yeah, I'm very annoying.

SPEAKER_03 31:02

Every time I walk into it, it's different. But yeah, it's great for customers to see though, because they can actually see some of your floral displays. I'm guessing a lot of it is from like a previous wedding that they're previous wedding all.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Yeah, but also changing with the seasons as well. You know, we had like a kind of reds to start off with, then we went a bit more springy-fied with yellows, and then we're going a bit more summery with pinks and purples, so yeah, there's a never-ending yeah, and you decorate our foyer for us every month.

SPEAKER_03 31:33

Yeah, and love to do that. A lot of people comment how great that is.

SPEAKER_01 31:36

Yeah, do you love that?

SPEAKER_03 31:38

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

Amazing. Go on, were you gonna say no no?

SPEAKER_03 31:41

I was gonna say it's a busy year ahead, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 31:43

It's gonna be a very busy year, very busy next year as well.

SPEAKER_03 31:47

And we get a rest now.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

We do, we get a rest.

SPEAKER_03 31:51

We're getting a rest.

SPEAKER_02 31:51

You're gonna holiday season two.

SPEAKER_03 31:53

We're having a few weeks off.

SPEAKER_02 31:55

It's the end of an era, I know. Season three. Well, thank you for wrapping up our season two as well as wrapping up our season one.

SPEAKER_03 32:05

See you at the end of season three. Yeah, we'll see you for round three of this.

SPEAKER_02 32:08

You can get all nervous again. Exactly. You did great, Jen. Thank you so much for coming on.

SPEAKER_03 32:13

Thank you. Thank you. I love putting you through it.

SPEAKER_02 32:17

We will see you all next week. See you on my team.