salt spring 17

“You had to have a job in a flower shop to be in TAFE, so
I started scrubbing buckets and cleaning floors for nothing.
At the time I didn’t realise it but the head florist was on the
international stage for floral art. He was incredibly talented and
my mentor. I was so, so lucky.”
It was this fateful first job that really ignited Nat’s passion for
floristry. She soon realised the gift of being taught by someone so
talented and took full advantage of her time in the Sydney florist
shop. “His passion was contagious,” she says of the head florist.
“It was exciting to be in that position and work with someone
who was so excited about what they do.
“He would often tip the bin out at the end of the day and tell us to
make a bouquet from the off-cuts. He instilled in me that a good
florist can make a great bunch of flowers from excellent product,
but a great florist can make a great bouquet from nothing.”
It’s this love, passion and appreciation for flowers that drives
Nat to nurture and respect every single stem, bloom and piece of
foliage that comes into her workshop.
Nat believes she has a social responsibility as a florist and what
started as a wish to extend the life of a flower has now bloomed
into wanting to bring a little sunshine into as many lives as
possible.
“It can take six months to grow a flower, three days to cut and
prepare it and then 30 minutes later it’s left behind,” Nat explains.
“People will view it at the wedding ceremony and then walk away
and it’s no longer in the limelight.
“There’s a big part of this that isn’t about money for me; it’s about
a real love for flowers. It’s such a waste of someone’s six months
of hard work to leave it like that. It’s not easy to grow flowers, so I
think we need to give a flower the longest life possible. The more
you can honour that flower, the better.”
To extend a flower’s life, Nat encourages her brides to reuse
the ceremony flowers by hanging them from an arbour in their
reception spaces. Many arbour designs are moved to the centre of
the bridal table to make the most of the flowers, and it’s a great
money saver for brides.
But now Nat wants to extend the life of flowers even further by
sharing post-wedding flowers with those in our community who
could use a little colour in their lives.
24 salt