Send us your feedback and be entered into a draw to win a £50 gift voucher!

Sounds simple enough? Well it is! Drop us an email (or letter if you wish) with a few lines of feedback about The Flower Studio, and we will enter you in to a prize draw for a £50 Gift Voucher.

Whether you have received flowers from us, have sent flowers through us, used us for your wedding, or have just been into the shop or on the website and want to let us know what you think, we want to here from you. We aren’t doing this to boost our ego, or flatter ourselves… we want to hear all experiences, bad and good and I realise this is a bit of a risky thing to do, but without hearing all the stories, we can’t improve.

We want to hear about your experience with The Flower Studio, the service you received from our staff, the quality of the product and how long it lasted, value for money, did it all meet your expectations? So, go on, we can take it… and with Mother’s Day just around the corner, a voucher for £50 could come in handy!

I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Heidi x

From pure white ‘Avalanche’ roses, to fresh yellow tones of ‘Ilios’,  shades of pink, including ‘Sorbet’ & ‘Heidi’ (I couldn’t resist those!) and pretty spray ‘Mimi Eden’.

But if you are a traditionalist, we have a selection of red roses, including ‘Red Naomi’, ‘Black Baccara’ and ‘Upper Class’.  All of these can be handtied in a bouquet with mixed seasonal foliage, or arranged in a container or vase of your choice.

We know that not all of you are in to roses, which is why our Valentine’s Bouquets will also include tulips, orchids, and plenty of scented spring flowers.  We are truly spoiling you!

For those of you that would like to handpick your blooms for your loved one, you are welcome to visit our studio at Tynwald Mills, but for those of you that are in a rush,  you can now order flowers (with FREE delivery!) through our online shop.

Go on… get romantic x

Anyway, while I carry on beating myself up, I thought I would share some of my ideas with you for the Glen Helen Wedding Fair that we are attending at the end of the month.  I have word from Scott that it is going to be their biggest and best wedding fair to date, and if last year’s is anything to go by, then it is going to be a great day.

The flower industry has trends just the same as other fashion lead areas, and these are some of my favourite that have been tipped to be big in 2012.

Vintage Glam

Is anyone sick of the ‘V’ word yet?  2011 saw a massive following of all things vintage and antique, either genuine or DIY’ed, bought, collected or hand-me-downs.  This year will see a continuation of that trend, but with a more glamorous feel.  Think ‘House of Elliot’ (I always wanted to be Evie!), lots of pearls, gorgeous fabric and soft peach and pink colours.

This dress belonging to the Metropolitan Museum of Art perfectly captures the vintage, romantic yet glamorous feel that a lot of Brides are going for this year.

Country Brights

A lot of my Bride’s last year wanted very natural garden style bouquets, with purple and blue being very popular colours.  Again, this trend seems to be continuing but with brighter pops of colour, bright yellows, oranges and greens, giving a fresher feel.  I am excited that I am going to get to indulge in my love for the Craspedia!

Bunches of Buttonholes

This is a trend that has flown over the Atlantic from our friends in the US and matches the cottage garden wedding themes perfectly.  Some of us will wave goodbye to the traditional wired buttonholes and go for the more casual tied buttonhole.

Buttonholes are definitely getting a bit of a makeover, and this style is perfect for a casual, yet co-ordinated wedding.  They don’t all have to match, they don’t all have to be the same colour, they can be tied with ribbon, raffia or twine, even made from paper flowers.  The possibilities are endless and that makes my job so much more exciting!!

These are just a couple of my ideas, but whatever your floral tastes are for your wedding, go with what you love.  Go with what makes your heart jump a little.  Go with something you will be happy looking at for the next 50+ years.  Go with what is ‘you’.

And more importantly, go to Pinterest!  I have fallen in love with this site!  As a designer I use it to collect inspiration when I’m browsing on the internet, and I recommend it to my Brides for exactly this reason.  It is like a big online cork-board and it is free to register.   Have a look at some of my boards to get an idea… I warn you now… it is a little bit addictive!

Leucospermum are evergreen shrubs native to South Africa, with these fascinating ‘pin cushion’ flowers that gradually unfurl like spindly spider legs.

They always create a stir when I have them in stock and although on the slightly pricey side, they usually last at least 3 weeks in a vase.  They also don’t need much to accompany them… maybe some tropical leaves or grass to compliment but not overshadow the unusual flower.

We have a fresh flower delivery in the shop tomorrow… I wonder what I will pick to show you next!

Today though, I am treating you to not just one photo, but four frosty examples, seeing as it has been quite a chilly few days!  Enjoy!

This plant is fairly easy to look after, keep the soil a bit moist and give it plenty of light, but not direct midday sun as you will frazzle the delicate tendrils.

I love to use Ceropegia in my wedding work because of the romantic heart-shaped leaves…

I love receiving parcels, even if I know what is in them… the excitement and anticipation of what goodies are going to be inside, makes me feel like a 5 year old at Christmas!

I knew who this parcel was from (my lovely Mum) and I kind of knew what was in there (something she bought in a haberdashery shop in Dorset whilst visiting my Grandparents), but there was still a little element of surprise left.  And what a beautiful surprise it was!

Lots of Lemiscus pulchellus (*pretty ribbons!)  Enough to make me smile for the rest of the week!

Hamamelis mollis, or ‘Witchhazel’ to give it its more well known name, smells DIVINE!

I always remember the first time I smelt this plant, and it was on my first visit to the wonder that is Kew Gardens.  For those of you that haven’t had the pleasure of visiting this extraordinary place (you really should go!), there is a walkway that is flanked by lots of different species of Hamamelis.  Luckily for me, the day I visited the gardens, it was warm and sunny and the light breeze was wafting the sweet scent of the flowers down the path.  It was heavenly.

Now, I have a confession to make… I actually took this photo in Scotland while I was studying/working with the National Trust for Scotland at Kellie Castle, but we do have Snowdrop bulbs for sale in the Garden Centre, almost in flower and ready to plant in your garden.  They look especially pretty planted around the base of trees and shrubs I think.