Our top 3 images from our floral portfolio (and why they probably won’t be the ones you think!)

If someone were to tell you about an amazing company they had just discovered, where would you turn to first to find out more about them? We would hazard a guess that your first port of call would be their website or Instagram feed. In this image led, digital age both social media and websites are vital for getting a company’s message out there, and both require a fair amount of maintenance to ensure they accurately reflect the brand.

Relating this to our own, much nurtured website, we wondered which really is the most effective medium, our socials or our website, for generating the most enquiries. We asked the wonderful Abigail, from You and Me Collective, who said:

… We are hearing more and more that are clients are getting enquiries directly through their social channels, almost entirely missing the step between social and website….Websites and social channels are open 24/7 so how they look and feel is essential. I would never say you don’t need a website because this is the treasure trove of information where you sell yourself to a customer, a high quality engaging social channel is key alongside it.

You see, not so long ago we finished updating the Hybrid website with images of our most recent work. We must come clean and say that this process was possibly the most arduous task ever! We found it so hard to see the ‘flowers for the trees’ (so to speak) as we have thousands of gorgeous pictures of our work, and with the exception of a few of our absolute favourites it was nigh on impossible to whittle this vast number down. This resulted in hours spent scratching our heads over which images to choose.

We turned to our friends at Christchurch Creative for their advice. Sarah Worswick, Director said:

When choosing images for your website, quality is key. Make sure every image is sharp and reflects your brand identity. Use strong visuals to hook-in your site visitor, choose images which feature ‘real’ people too. Don’t forget to name every image you use. This way, you can optimise each shot you upload, as search engines can easily index them. Add in the alt text to describe what the image is showing, which will aid search engines, too.

After we had finally chosen the lucky few pictures and uploaded them and the whole process got us thinking: Can you really convey a message and the passion you have for your work in just one image? Are you able to look at a photograph of your own work objectively and if you are, should you only post pictures that will receive the most ‘likes’?

Abigail told us:

I get asked this all the time! Instagram and Facebook especially are to be seen as a portfolio… if you look at photographers, they’ll often post a detail shot (ring, flowers, table setting), then a couple shot, then a full party shot showing a 360 reveal of the party. Carousel posts and stories are always a fabulous way to show off – carousels allow you to post up to 10 pictures so you can really showcase the full gallery. Stories are a great ‘look’ into behind the scenes, what you’re doing as a team, the creative process and the event.

What we took from this is that you should only show images that represent you, your values and, most important of all, showcase your work. If you really want your audience to get more of a feel of that image and why it is so important to you then by all means elaborate on it in the comments part of your Instagram feed. And if you really want to give that image further meaning and authenticity then of course you must write a blog on it!

So, without further ado, here they are: our 3 most favourite images and beneath each is our reason why they just had to be featured on our website.

No 1:

This is the entrance to the Grand Hall at The Grand Connaught Rooms in central London, who knows how many times we have walked up and down this staircase in the last 16 years.

In fact, this is where it all started for Hybrid. We’ve done Christmases, weddings ceremonies, award evenings and installed flowers in this building, every week, since 2004. The event shown in this image, the launch party for DeVere, was our most favourite ever. The theme was the great British outdoors, so we covered this stunning marble stair-case with beautiful lush British grown greenery and flowers. We were so lucky to work alongside the supremely talented Chelsea Flower Show sculptor, Emma Stothard who included her amazing woven animal sculptures throughout the party.

No 2:

We adore this perfectly candid shot of Sophie’s wedding at the Landmark Hotel. For us it conveys a true ‘behind the scenes at London hotel wedding’ feel with our beautiful couple nervously preparing their speeches with the Master of Ceremony, surrounded by bridal party flowers, candlelight and waiting staff. The romantic early spring flowers were divine and the burgundy ranunculus were just perfect.

This image shows not just our clients, but also the staff of the hotel. For a wedding florist it is impossible to look back on an event and not remember the huge effort everyone who works at the venue puts in before the guests arrive. The professionalism and five-star service shown by all staff, and the wonderful excitement and anticipation that you can’t help but feel.

Ps. Here’s a little peak at Sophie’s beautiful bouquet and stunning dress detail too!

No 3:

We have such fond memories of this tablescape: it is such a simple design and this is precisely why we love it so much. It shows that less can be more, and a beautiful selection of elegant flowers in just the right colour theme can create a huge impression. We wanted to use flowers which would glow in a modern, clean way, flattering the stunning concrete surrounds of the ‘structural expressionist’ building that is the Lloyd’s Building in the City of London.

We loved working with the acid yellow of these callas which we set against the pale orange bell-like blooms of a very special flower called Sandersonia and combined both with deepest pink Gloriosa lilies. This is one of our most favourite combinations of fresh flowers and to top it off we were able to use our treasured classic brushed steel Conran candlesticks to complete the contemporary look. For us, this image serves as a reminder to create floral designs that in harmony with the venue and appeal to the type of guest sitting at the table (in this instance, one the guests was City of London legend, Mark Carney! We LOVE him!).

And so now we would love to know, does knowing more about the stories behind our top three images change your perception of us?

How to make an impact in a sustainable events world

Have you ever made a rash resolution after a particularly chaotic day? Such as how, from now on, you’ll get up a couple of hours earlier each day and use the time when you’d otherwise be asleep to do Really. Useful. Things. Perhaps go for a run, a swim even, heck! Why not do both? Make some bread, or maybe do a bit of housework? Why, you could beat the queues at the flower market and get the pick of the crop! All by 06.00 am?

Very nice, but is it sustainable?

It’s a very nice idea, and we don’t mean to be negative, but who actually does that? Or rather who can keep that up for longer than say, 3 days.

Now in the flower industry it is very easy to have moments of madness, putting spectacle over practical, such as suspending a thousand blousy peony flowers from a towering installation set within the glass walls of a baking hot orangery. Promising to tend to their delicate petals every single moment of the day and generally ignoring the voice in the head saying… “well yes this is a beautiful design, it looks amazing, but its not very sustainable is it?”. Like getting up a 4.00am each morning to bake bread, hanging delicate flowers in sub-tropical conditions may sound simple, but is it realistic?

Asking ourselves whether an is idea sustainable or not has become a bit of ‘a thing’ the team at Hybrid. For us, sustainability means creating something that will stand the test of time.  We promise our clients something that will not only look beautiful, but will also last as long as the client needs it to.

And of course, there is the definition of sustainability in an environmental sense. This too has been preoccupying our minds at Hybrid: how can we ensure that what we do in the events industry is much more mindful of the environment.

So, when the team behind The London Summer Event Show came up with “Sustainability” as the theme for their 2019 Event’s Industry Show, we thought to ourselves:

We need to take part in this. Now is the time to honour our “is it sustainable” mantra and encourage people to think about ecological standards for future floral event design.

The show’s Director Clare McAndrew described the message of the two-day event thus: 

Sustainability is not just about being green. It’s about running a commercially successful event that contributes to a stronger and more just society, whilst at the same time reducing its impact on environment.

Never ones to take a theme lightly, we wanted to do this justice.  We were determined to create a super cool design concept which would stand the test of time whilst generating as little waste as possible. Our design was to be set in the ‘Heat Wave Room’, a space which encourages guests to consider the impact of global warming, and our creation was to be the centrepiece of Banking Hall, on their iconic grand staircase.

No pressure then!

We decided that we would not, under any circumstances, rush out and buy cut flowers solely for this event. Instead, we wanted lots of planted material, recycled containers, dried flowers, locally grown floral material and to recycle recently used flowers from previous displays.

Our mission was to bring these items together to form one strong visual look.  The Heat Wave theme inspired us to create some kitsch looking designs, hinting at tropical motifs and mixing fun vibrant oranges, yellows, pinks and coral along with tropical greens.

And the result came to together perfectly! The design was a dream to put together and was created on-site in record time.  We created bold striking shapes and achieved height with tall plants and props, all without the use of floral foam.  We used huge recycled oil-drum containers painted in shades of orange and pink, some even wrapped in recycled astro-turf (note: this astro-turf had already been used countless times, but we still had reservations about whether to use it!).  We borrowed plants from our wonderful plant supplier friends using gorgeous tall kentia, ficus, strelitzia and monstera plants surrounded with vibrant British grown orchids and begonia plants all of which could be used again after the show. 

We used coconut shells as containers and painted dried tropical seed pods the most vibrant coral pink.  Our next-door neighbours, the wonderful Pollen and Grace, gave us catering sized empty tins of coconut milk (the design of the labels just perfect for the event!) which would then go on to be recycled again after the show. All cut flowers had been pre-used in our past displays and had spent the previous week being admired in reception areas across the City.

The installation proved a talking point for many events professionals and wonderful backdrop for the brightly coloured and gloriously talented dancers from Ultimate Event Dancers

At the end of the show, we were so surprised at how easy everything was to take down and remove from Banking Hall.  Hardly anything needed to be thrown away; the tall plants went back to plant suppliers, the containers went on to be recycled, the orchids and begonias were donated locally, and the dried items stored away ready to be used again in the future.   

And whilst there is always room for improvement, we were proud at what we had achieved and happy that we had challenged ourselves and in doing so, opened the minds of other events professionals.  As to finding the answer to our favourite question “Is it sustainable?”, the answer to that was definite “Yes!”. 

Ways to do your bit:

Clare McAndrew the Show Director adds:  

“It’s easier than you think to add sustainable options to your event. First of all, question your current suppliers. Often suppliers although not branding themselves as sustainable although they may have lots of sustainable options that you may not be aware of. For example, can your florist provide you with seasonal or locally sourced flowers or potted plants that can be re-used after the event?

When printing materials opt for recyclable paper, if this is not available then check your paper is 100% FSC approved. This means that for every tonne of paper used they plant 2 tonnes of trees.”

All images courtesy of Splento

15 Years into 15 Minutes: The Christchurch Creative Interview

This month we celebrate our fifteenth birthday. In fact, we can’t quite believe that we have been creating Hybrid floral designs in this amazing city of ours for fifteen whole years! We couldn’t think of a better way to honour the occasion than to re-post an interview our Caroline gave to Christchurch Creative earlier this year.

When the lifestyle and interiors journalists asked us to take part in their famous ‘15 minutes with…’ piece we were overwhelmed.  Not only does their Style & Decor blog celebrate floral design, they also cover the creative industry as a whole, featuring some of the UK’s most successful independent furniture, interior and fashion designers, photographers, bloggers, stylists and retailers.  To be one of their chosen few has certainly been one of our highlights! 

So here it is, the past 15 years in the UK’s creative world, condensed into 15 minutes….

15 mins with…Caroline Ball of Hybrid florists

We catch up with Caroline Ball, co-founder of one of London’s leading florists, Hybrid Flowers, who created the florals for the St Paul’s Cathedral wedding of TV presenter Ade Adepitan and singer-songwriter ‘Elle Exxe’ last year. In this exclusive interview, Caroline reveals her favourite seasons for flowers, the latest floral trends and more here:

Tell us a bit about yourself and the team?

After studying Communication and Animation at Goldsmiths College, I was unsure of my next step. I thought it very unlikely that I would be paid to stand in gardens all day painting flowers. So I took a job working for a florist on Fulham Road. It didn’t take me long to realise that this was true happiness.

I could never wait to see the results of my work. However, in floristry, impatience is a perfect attribute as the flowers will not wait for you! You must make something beautiful quickly, before they die.

Whilst working in London, I kept bumping into this extravagant mad (and highly talented!) guy, Alan Simpson. He then become my best friend and business partner. Together, we started Hybrid and now employ 14 people from around the globe.

How and when did you set up Hybrid?

Call it “youthful optimism” but in my 20’s I decided I only needed few pounds a week to live on. So, with little to lose, I began my own corporate contracts for offices. Back then, I didn’t even have a driving license!

At the same time, Alan was asked by a gorgeous Anglo-Italian couple if he could create their wedding flowers. In fact, they were struggling to find someone who would work between Christmas and New Year. He conscripted me and together we worked non-stop over Christmas. So we created the most amazing Art Deco-inspired glamorous ‘Italian meets East End’ wedding in the Park Lane Hotel.

Following on from this success, I somehow convinced Alan that he didn’t need much money to live on either and he should come and work with me! He agreed (phew!) and, in 2004, Hybrid was launched. We have never looked back.

How would you summarise the work you do?

Alan and I are proud to be one of London’s top flower companies. In addition, it’s a great privilege to create beautiful arrangements for an astounding array of events, parties, weddings, hotels and offices.

Our team is magnificent; their knowledge, training and unique perspectives challenge and inspire us every day. Our work is custom-designed to the client; one day, we may create wedding flowers in Holland Park. Then the next day, a huge reception piece for a large bank in Canary Wharf.

Where are you based?

Nestled in the railway arches of London’s Vauxhall, our flower studio is the florist’s nirvana: space for props, vases and work benches; a cool temperature that flowers love and a creative office space for client meetings and team brainstorming. What’s more, it’s just a stone’s throw from our favourite suppliers at the Flower Market.

What types of floral arrangements do you make?

We turn our hands to making anything. Once, a client called to ask if we could create a laurel chaplet (like Olympians are given on the podium). They had been calling florists all over, but none knew how to make one. However, we knew exactly what to do owing to our training in traditional floristry techniques.

Can you tell us about some of your recent commissions?

A few months ago we created the florals for Ade Adepitan and Elle Exxe’s wedding at St Paul’s Cathedral and Queens House, Greenwich which was covered in Hello! Magazine. It was a wonderful brief covering Ade’s background from Nigeria and Elle’s Scottish roots. We could use any flowers as long as they clashed!

Recently, we created the table centres for Brockman’s Gin. These featured beautiful deep coloured black branches strung with candlelight, decorated with rich red foliages and our current favourite: beautifully patterned begonia leaves.

We also design and install Christmas décor for hotels and work with the most amazing festive colour schemes. Last year’s favourites were nude colours with caramel, apricot and silver.

How does a commission for a wedding or event vary from a corporate commission?

For weddings, most people have poured a lot of time and thought into planning this once in a lifetime event. We keep this understanding at the forefront of our minds and help our clients find the best way to achieve their dreams whilst keeping within their budget. Our aim is to be realistic and creative in equal measures.

For a corporate commission, the idea is for florists to use flowers to represent a brand or identity. But, more and more, an amazing corporate event is all about creating truly memorable experiences for the guest in which they may be transported to another world.

Do you have a favourite type of project to work on?

We love working on events which have a quirky element. Often our clients spend hours planning a major annual event and conjure up the most amazing brief. We love discussing their and our ideas and creating sample designs for them to view. It helps when the event is held at a amazing venue as we are then given access to view the most amazing spaces from behind the scenes.

Tell us about some of the buildings you have dressed?

As London florists, we have dressed many iconic buildings: from Parliament, The London Eye, The Gherkin, Tower Bridge, The Shard, Shakespeare’s’ Globe, Canary Wharf and anywhere in between. Our work has included dressing strip clubs in Soho, hotels on Park Lane, Castles in the country side and boats on the Thames. We are also on the suppliers list for The British Museum, the Museum of London, Queen’s House, Cutty Sark, Merchant Taylor’s Hall, The Royal Observatory. We will always be proud to be a floral supplier to St Paul’s Cathedral which, for us, is the most iconic building in London.

What are your favourite flowers to work with?

Honestly, we do not have favourites. Each flower has natural qualities that can be used to create something amazing. Some flowers are easier to work with than others. Some are perfect for long lasting installations whilst others are wonderful for an instant ‘wow’ factor.

Roses, if opened to perfection, will always look stunning. However, our studio will particularly appreciate any flower which appears delicate whilst having longevity!

How many different types of flowers do you work with?

On any given day, our suppliers have access to thousands of varieties of flowers from all over the world. Ecuadorian roses are stunning, Italian agapanthus are massive and British sweet peas are divine. As leading florists, we are constantly on the lookout for new varieties in unique colour combinations or shapes. Last year, we worked with the cymbidium growers Cy More Flavour and Marrewijk Amaryllis growers in Holland. It was so fascinating to hear all about the passion these family businesses put into creating new breeds of flowers.

What is your favourite season for flowers?

We love either early or late summer. Early summer brings the most beautiful fresh foliage and seeing fresh buds gives us the feeling of anticipation and joy – there is a reason that Chelsea Flower Show is in May. The colour of flowers becomes more intense in late summer: dahlias and chrysanthemums look like they’ve stored up the warmth of the summer sun in their petals, which are deep and rich. It is possible to source most flowers all year round. But, if they’re out of season, they can be expensive and never seem as vibrant and flavoursome (strawberries in February anyone?).

What is your preferred colour combination?

Some flowers look great on their own in a vase. For example, a big bundle of blue iris in bright, daylight-filled room can look stunning. However, sometimes you can create the most amazing combinations of colours by spotting a tiny fleck of colour in the throat of, say, an orchid, and placing a colour matched flower or leaf next to it that will really bring that out.

Which projects do you have in 2019?

We have some really exciting projects on the horizon. One in particular is a ‘Sustainability’ event showcasing planted elements, recycled containers and locally grown flowers combined with a fantastically kitsch leaf motif.

Any floral trends we should look out for this year?

People are becoming more and more aware that flowers, plants and foliages can be used to create a vibe, feeling or atmosphere – think more ‘installation’ than flowers in a vase.
Be on the lookout for dried flowers, quirky grasses, funky plants; there is nothing off limits and there never will be!

Where do you get your inspiration?

Often our aim is to recreate the great outdoors, inside. Perhaps a client’s childhood memory of a calm woodland filled with bluebells. It is so often about nostalgia. We also get our inspiration from other creative industries such as architecture, interior and graphic design and other iconic eras from history.

Do you have any top tips for wannabe florists?

We recommend finding out what being a florist is really like and being open to hearing the bad stuff. Floristry College is one option as is work experience: both training and experience are essential to getting a foot in the door. Many people only want to be events florists but you can’t only be a party florist without knowing how to do the less glamorous things.

Search the internet for blogs and articles on floristry or speak to local florists. When people say it is hard work, it is really, really hard work. Back-breaking, hand-ruining sleep-depriving and stress-inducing. There are no short-cuts, but if you’ve still not been put off, enroll in a floristry course that will give you work experience too. Choose a good course that will teach you the boring bits too. You need to know it. 

….Spring 2019 

So that’s it.  Fifteen years in 15 minutes from the perspective of our Caroline.  We cannot quite work out the precise date of our 15th Birthday (as how do you mark the very beginning of something any way?) but all we can say is that sometime in March 2004, all those years ago we started on our journey.  We met some amazing people in that time and built the best network of wonderfully talented and dedicated people from suppliers, clients and florists who have come together over the years to make our little world go round…. here’s to the next 15! 

Our top 3 flowers in Pantone’s Colour of the Year 2019 – Living Coral

As floral designers we get rather excited each year when Pantone release their Colour of the Year however, we much prefer it if the colour is what we at Hybrid consider to be a ‘floral’ colour! For us, a ‘floral’ colour must be the colour of at least five naturally occurring, truly beautiful flowers.

This year’s Pantone Colour of the Year ‘Living Coral’, and last year’s ‘Ultra Violet’, were colourful music to our floral ears (but we have to admit we did have a bit of trouble with turquoise one particular year!).

Here are two little known facts about Living Coral that we really wouldn’t expect you to know:  firstly, it is our Caroline’s all-time favourite colour, referred to in our studio as ‘Caroline’s colour’ and secondly, it is definitely not our Alan’s fave!

Perhaps Alan’s aversion to coral has something to do with the ambiguous nature of the colour, sitting, as it does, somewhere between pink and orange which, for Alan, just doesn’t quite work. Despite being a very natural colour found in things such as well… living coral and flamingos for example it is always greeted with a sense of wonder and bewilderment; just how can nature produce something so vibrant, intense and downright bizarre!? And this is where I suspect his dislike of the colour may lie… for you see there is a commonly held misconception amongst Alan’s friends that he loves flamingos. Indeed, he has amassed quite a collection of kitsch representations of the leggy coral-coloured bird over the years.  But we can now reveal, for the avoidance of any doubt, that our Alan is not a fan of them at all (sorry to break it to you, Alan’s pals!).

For the majority of us at Hybrid Living Coral is a glorious colour, full of warmth and fun, perfect for both spring and summer florals.  We can clearly see it becoming ‘A Thing’ in the floral world this year quite simply because coral coloured flower varieties are utterly beautiful, versatile and unique.  A coral coloured sweet pea for example or even a flamingo coloured tulip will always be held aloft and admired by the florists in our studio. 

According to our good friend Karen Haller, a leading international authority in the field of applied colour psychology:

Coral is a hue that is a beautiful mix of orange and pink. You’ll be familiar with other variations with names such as apricot, peach and salmon where the orange is quite soft, almost pastel with the addition of soft warm pink. Looking at the psychology of this colour it’s a mix of orange’s fun, playful side and the soft pink’s nurturing side – when it comes to romantic colours, this is quite a sensual hue.

Living Coral looks fabulous with bold blue, pink and purple colours for a rich jewel-like palette, and it looks amazingly fresh with lime green.  And if you really want to push the boat out, why not combine coral with butter yellows and lilac tones and for a more eccentric colour scheme (in a good way of course!)?

In the same way that last year we incorporated intense violet coloured hydrangeas and anemones into party designs, and in doing so developed a renewed appreciation for Ultra Violet, we will continue to immerse ourselves in Living Coral as the year progresses and maybe even convert our Alan! We cannot wait to create even more giant vase designs full of yellow, lilac and coral coloured blooms for the ultimate bonkers party-style and we know exactly who we are going to ask to make them!

Here are our top 3 Living Coral Coloured flowers:

1. Camellia: 

Coral coloured camellias start out an intensely orangey pink and provide a much needed hit of vibrant colour in the months of February and March. They then open and turn a more faded apricot colour which looks beautiful against their glossy green leaves. 

2. Peonies:

In a similar way to Camellia, the Coral Charm peony is an outstanding variety which starts it’s colour as an intense, almost luminescent, pink and as it opens, turns into a very pale coloured peach.  It’s an absolute marvel of a flower and looks lovely with frothy acid-green Alchemilla Mollis.

3. Roses:

Coral coloured roses just sing with colour.  Whether it is the tight spiraled versions or the more open garden-style roses, these can look utterly vibrant in any party design and look amazing placed next to nearly any other vibrantly coloured summer flower. 

We are already making predictions for next year’s Pantone colour and keeping our fingers crossed it is another floral one that will match some of our all time favourite blooms. 

Christmas styling … why you don’t need to throw loads of flowers at it!

In case you’ve not noticed, soon it will be Christmas; that most wonderful time of the year! A time to relax, be merry, deck the halls! With social media awash with images of the perfect Christmas, from opulent flower walls to entire buildings covered in decoration, you may be forgiven for thinking that to create a Wow, you must GO BIG!

Of course, insta-images of 12 foot high Christmas trees swamped in bows, candles and glitz create a real impact, but, as a rule, at Hybrid we abide by the “less is more” adage; we believe that the essence of Christmas can still be captured using a few, well chosen, beautifully styled flowers rather than a tonne of sparkly birch trees. 

For our designs at this year’s London Christmas Party Show we were asked to create a design within an alcove at the largest Livery Hall in London, Plaisterers’ Hall, which backs on to the remains of the original Roman London Wall. In this unique venue, we wanted to create a lush Christmas atmosphere without going too over the top; we wanted the warmth, the magic and the feel of Christmas but didn’t want to chuck glitter at everything.

The essence of Christmas style:

To achieve this, we decided to go back to basics and asked ourselves what is the essence of Christmas? What are the most Christmassy colours, scents, textures around, and which little touches can we add to our design to make people feel the magic of Christmas?

We challenged ourselves to create a timeless design that would be in-keeping with a Christmas scene from when the original Plaisterers’ Hall, was built back in 1556, as well as combining the essence and spirit of a contemporary 2018 Christmas. Our solution: a colour scheme of red, amber, gold and emerald green mixed with velvety textures and lots of shiny things.

And so we set about creating a bit of an optical illusion within our curved alcove.  Appearing as if a rounded table was set into the wall (when really it was half a table making the most of the deep curved alcove behind) we filled the space with lots of Christmassy details.  We used two different textured velvet cloths sourced from our friends at Borovick Fabrics in Soho and a beautiful lace edged chargers.  We used brushed gold cutlery, tumblers and goblets and added beautiful, rich, warm coloured fruits like pomegranates, oranges and grapes.

And of course, no Christmas table would be complete without a scattering of cinnamon sticks and candlelight.  Our key flowers were scarlet coloured roses, opened to perfection, combined with traditional poinsettia flowers and glossy green foliages.

Bearing in mind our “less is more” philosophy, the next question we asked ourselves was quantity: we knew these lovely festive details would speak for themselves but what if – What If – we went BIG, just this once? We ‘ummed’ and ‘ahhed’ for all of 5 minutes before deciding that whilst a smattering of Christmas details would hit the festive spot perfectly well, should we not throw caution to the wind and really indulge in the joy of Christmas?

And with that, we were off! We ordered ourselves not one, but two types of velvet red rose, ‘Red Naomi’ and ‘Freedom’ which we set amidst the shiniest, deepest green aralia leaves we could find, contrasted with touches of Cupressus foliage and combined with the most beautiful faux silk poinsettias. There was no holding back as we sprayed pomegranates gold and studded the oranges with different patterns of cloves, finished off with a red ribbon.  And what Christmas table isn’t complete without a full-on floral arch full of red flowers and winter foliage completely surrounding the festive setting?!

Looking back, we feel a little giddy! Those glass-urns, the goblets, That Arch! All adorned, stuffed, embellished with hundreds of breathtakingly beautiful roses. Was our flirtation with opulence worth it? Well! We think it might have been, especially as we won the award for Best Stand was as voted by the visitors (a delightful surprise).

Our top tips for creating the look:

But truly and honestly, we feel that the same effect can been created with a lot less, our ideas for decorating your own Christmas party without breaking the bank are below:

  1. Red

Use red, sparingly, in the same way as a movie star may use a dash of scarlet lipstick, to create a hint of glamour and colour without drenching the senses. To do this, you must find the most vivid red flowers you can afford, but here, less is definitely more, don’t get too many: roses or poinsettia plants are perfect (you can cut poinsettia flowers and place in vases of water for a more delicate look).

  1. Green

Combine with green shiny and textured foliage.  Deep green glossy leaves, such as evergreen camellia, laurel or aralia leaves from a garden are perfect, and combine these with common or garden stems of conifer (yes, we said conifer!) or, if you are bit posh, stems of rosemary.

  1. Gold

Add a touch of Gold: buy yourself a can of gold spray paint and spray pots, tumblers, little vases or candleholders deep, rich opulent gold (pears also look gorgeous touched, but not completely covered, with gold).

  1. Orange(s)

And last but never least, our most favourite Christmas decoration of all time will always be clove studded oranges.  They. Are. A. Must. Easy to create and heavenly to smell.

Image courtesy of the great guys at Splento 

Day of the Dead… W Hotel Style!

At Hybrid, we like to do our research; we will do whatever it takes to ensure that we fully understand a brief. Often this means looking into the historical significance of flowers or working out which floral scents will complement others in a display, but sometimes things can go a bit weird. A bit spooky. A bit, well, otherworldly. And this is a case in point. As soon as we were given the terribly exciting brief from our friends at W London for a Mexican themed “Day of the Dead and Decadent” party at The Perception we knew that we were going to have fun with this one.

Purely research, you understand…

As luck would have it, our lovely Liliana at Hybrid knows a thing or two about the tradition of the Day of the Dead (El Día De Los Muertos) and she whisked us off to lunch at La Bodega Negra, a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Soho, purely for research purposes you understand. Here we chatted to Liliana and her friend to find out all about the Mexican valued tradition of celebrating and remembering their lost love ones.

Stop thinking Halloween right now!

Now, it is important to note that the Day of the Dead is in absolutely no way a scary, ghoul obsessed, ‘Halloween’ type thing; It is more a celebration of life and a demonstration of respect for deceased family members. It just so happens that the Mexican way of expressing this is stylish, glamorous and sassy!

Every year, for a couple of days at the beginning of November, in towns and cities throughout country, Mexicans take part in candlelit parades and processions, throw raucous parties, wear stunning costumes and put on elaborate makeup. They also surround themselves with flowers, in particular the vividly coloured, fluffy petalled marigold, for which which we have a massively soft spot.

That day sitting at La Bodega, we learnt that beautiful, floral ‘altars’ are created every year to welcome the spirits back to the living in an explosion of colour.  In fact, every restaurant in Mexico City will display an altar in celebration of this national holiday. And those beautiful skull decorations that we have all seen? Well they aren’t intended to scare people.

“La Calavera Catrina”, aka the Lady of Death, first appeared as the Aztec Goddess Mictecacihuatl, Queen of the Underworld, protecting the bones of the dead and presiding over death at festivals like the modern day El Día De Los Muertos. More recently, José Guadalupe Posada resurrected the image circa 1920 in an etching called “La Calavera Catrina”. The aim here was more satirical: to make fun of the current trend in Mexico to aspire to be like aristocratic Europeans.

Fast forward to present day and La Calavera Catrina is seen everywhere. Her face appears on all types of goods including food, masks, craft items and, of course, in fashion. Her face has become synonymous with El Día De Los Muertos.

The team at the W London Leicester Square knew exactly what they wanted for their event: a ‘Day of the Dead and Decadent’ party that would ‘see the spirits of Soho take centre stage for two epic nights’.  Guests were to embark on a journey starting at the entrance of the unequivocally trendy hotel on Wardour Street.

The ground floor of the sleek, black, night-club style lobby was filled with richly coloured flowers, candles and of course, La Calavera Catrina in the form of an altar.  We decided that our beloved marigolds would be the main flower and combined them with amber coloured dahlia, spicy chilis, magenta carnations, anthuriums, glorisoa and craspedia.

Revellers made their way up to the first floor where the elevator doors opened onto the most exclusive of parties set in one of the most trailblazing hotel interiors in London.  Throughout The Lounge and The Perception Bar guests were entertained by breath-taking acts featuring fire performers whilst exquisitely costumed mixologists served electric cocktails with, naturally, plenty of tequila and live DJ sets to create a truly exhilarating vibe.

A beautifully decorated leather sofa, hand tattooed by local Frith Street Tattoo (what, you mean you don’t have a bespoke tattooed leather sofa?), was pride of place amidst curved seating areas and centre stage: our piece de resistance of wild, colour-themed florals.  We filled white vases with Chinese lanterns and gloriosa lilies, and black painted asparagus-fern was strung alongside black and white sketches of human skulls.  Elsewhere, token floral offerings were made to the spirits set on tables surrounded with jars of marigolds, callas, chillies and candle-light, vintage photographs and ceramic skulls.

Andrea Dutton Photography

It was a very special party, and one, we hope, that did those departed souls re-visiting the land of the living on El Día De Los Muertos proud.

If you want to experience the wonders of the 2018 Day of the Dead festival for yourself, the V&A are holding their own free event on 2nd of November with live music, dancing and puppets plus an ‘ofrenda’ dedicated to Frida Kahlo.  Alternatively check out Disney’s animation Coco inspired by the Day of the Dead holiday, this movie is full of joy colour and of course marigolds!

With thanks to W London Hotel for party images and Andrea Dutton for installation images.

Just what is it with florists and green flowers?

We have come to the conclusion, based on years in the industry and having observed, chatted to and worked with many brilliant experts, that for 9 out of 10 florists, the colour of flower we most like working with is actually green. Not luxurious red, or impertinent pink, or even vibrant yellow, but green! Now, I love my profession, but even I find that a little odd!

Why, when there is so much range in the different variety of flower and a whole rainbow spectrum of colours, do florists get so excited over green flowers? One theory (based on no empirical evidence I must add) is that our green obsession stems (excuse the pun) from the perception that green flowers are special, rare, unique.

Image taken in the Chapter Rooms, St Paul’s Cathedral

They don’t conform to the idea that flowers must stand out and shout in order to be seen. Green florals can be subtle, shy even; they won’t jump out and hit you in the way that say clashing pink and yellow would.  And we don’t expect them to be the first flowers a client would choose, especially if looking to create a vibrant party design. But to us they are the most elegant flowers of them all.

To a seasoned florist who has seen-them-all, green provides are more calming atmosphere and something a bit different.  More so than white, green can be thought of as the most neutral of all colours in a florist’s palette.  Green hued blooms challenge the observer to see and notice the fascinating detail of a flower: its shape, form, texture and pattern.

We asked our good friend and colour mentor Karen Haller, a colour psychologist, to shed some light on what it is that people have about green:

So why are we are humans drawn to green? There’s a few things going on. It’s the colour that we most attribute to nature. Often, we have green in our lives to reconnect us back to the feeling of being in nature. It’s restful and gives a sense of peace. Like being in a lush green forest.

It is also one of the most sophisticated palettes you can work with. If you don’t want to clash with an interior, or if you wish to create an soft and natural creations, then stunning floral designs in shades of green will help you achieve this.   To add a hint of another colour, whilst still retaining the green theme as the star of the show, opt for cool hues such as blues, greys or whites.

But be quick! Summer time is the perfect season to do this!

Here are a few of our favourite greens:

Papaver – these poppy seed heads provide the loveliest rounded shapes in green hues, from grey to blue to jade;

Green Tricks – the fluffiest dianthus ever and perfect for adding a unique texture;

Hypericum – such pretty glossy berries which provide amazing detail amongst other, fluffier green flowers;

Phalaenposis orchid – the freshest palest greens appear in the faces of one of the toughest varieties of ‘Moth’ orchid.

Hydrangea – one of the largest green flowers available, these provide the perfect element to designs and are probably the most delicate looking of all hydrangeas;

Anthurium – the darling flower of the moment our favourite pale green anthurium is known as ‘Marysia’.

Molucella – this is the most amazingly tall lime-green flower which can be used to provide impact, also known as ‘Bells of Ireland’;

Gladioli – natural and fresh, when all of the pale green florets open on these long stems, the look is always clean and fresh;

And what do you partner with all of these beautiful green floral varieties?  More greenery of course!  In fact, when it comes to foliage, nearly all florists have a rather unhealthy obsession with leaves.  Of course the choice of greenery out there in our green and pleasant land is vast but the impact you can make with foliage is immense.  But that is for another time.

The top 5 Ultra Violet flowers inspired by Pantone’s Colour of the Year 2018

As a florist with a degree in Communications, there is nothing I enjoy more than interpreting a client’s brief using flowers to convey their message, and I believe that the right combination of flowers in a design can send a powerful and long-lasting message to all those who view it. Put another way: flora themed design can be used to strengthen a brand, create an atmosphere, and enhance an identity.

When used in a stunning display, flowers have the power the unleash forgotten memories and create associations and may cause the onlooker to actually feel different. For example, vibrant orange and pink can make you feel a bit wild, happy and adventurous, whilst that same orange with whites and fresh greens will create a more chilled out vibe, reminiscent of summer days.

We often ask clients to give us three key words to describe the ‘message’ they want to convey. We have received all manner of adjectives from ‘sharp’, ‘professional’ and ‘dynamic’ to ‘glamorous’, ‘sexy’ and ‘shocking’. To our design team these three words are the key to unlocking inspiration, permitting us to unleash our creative edge to ensure the flowers we chose are the most effective at conveying this message.

Every year, Pantone, a company based in New Jersey most commonly known for providing a system for matching colours, releases their colour of the year. For 2018, this colour is Ultra Violet. At Hybrid, we eagerly await news of each year’s colour and spend a lot of time discussing which flowers will best match whichever colour it is.

No surprise then that we have always preferred the more florally inspired years:

2014’s Radiant Orchid was blooming ‘with confidence and magical warmth that intrigues the eye and sparks the imagination’ and gave us scope to develop designs with warm deep pink tones.

2017’s Greenery was a ‘refreshing and revitalising shade… symbolic of new beginnings’ and was perfect for so many foliage inspired designs.

However, this year’s Ultra Violet is without doubt, our all-time favourite!  Violet has the power to anchor and give depth to so many other colours and flower combinations. Whenever a brief dictates ‘vibrant, bold and strong’, we think: violet. Right now, spring and summer give us perfect blooms in ultra violet tones.  Violet is a bold and brazen colour and can be used to create the most amazing statement designs, it can also make colours placed next to it come alive.

Ultra Violet is so important that we feel it warrants further praise and reverence, we asked our friend and colour mentor, Applied Colour Psychology practitioner Karen Haller for her view on this colour:

The ultra-violet ray is the last colour before the invisible and reflects stepping into the unknown. It’s the ideal hue to reflect taking a leap of faith and connecting to our inner self, our intuition and taking our self-awareness beyond our current thinking.

The colour’s vibrant namesake, the violet flower, also brings great joy as it is one of the first flowers to appear each year. This little woodland bloom heralds the start of spring with its deep intense colour, its surely one of the most audacious in the natural world with it’s sensual tone hinting at drama and intrigue.

Aside from the valiant yet petite Violet, here are our top five Ultra Violet flowers:

  1. Anemone

Anemone is a spring bloom of an intense deep purple with a black face.  Although its sold to us as being “blue”, we are buying it for its glorious violet colour.

Tip: their soft, long, delicate stems work beautifully in vases of fresh water on their own or as part of a collection, but don’t try and use them in floral foam if you are making over 15 table designs as your team will never forgive you!

Best mixed with: orange roses and cherry coloured ranunculus.

  1. Flag Iris

These shapely tall flowers stand head and shoulders above their smaller cousin, the ‘common or garden’ Iris.  The violet coloured varieties are particularly dramatic and their striking silhouette is simply stunning.

Tip:  don’t cut these stems too short as they are born to be tall, dramatic and glamorous.  Arrange them simply in a beautiful vase with their spear like leaves as the only foliage.

Best mixed with: nothing! Simply place them in front of a plain backdrop to really promote and show-off their shape.

  1. Hydrangeas

As summer arrives, we seek out the violet version of this amazing bloom, each individual vivid floret creates the most striking domed shape.

Tip: these large rounded domes of violet add weight and depth to most floral designs. Use them as a base shape to enhance other stunning summer flowers.

Best mixed with: a blown open cerise coloured peony, or alternatively use bundles of violet hydrangeas in modern vases set amongst matching vases of bold shapely flowers to create impressive colour blocks of flowers.

  1. Vanda Orchid

The assortment of violet tones available from vanda orchid growers is breathtaking.  These striking blooms look amazing under a spotlight at events and their reliable long lasting vase life means they are perfect for weekly vase designs in both offices, restaurants and hotels.

Tip: stems of Vanda orchids can be arranged beautifully at the mouth of tall vases and their individual heads can be removed from the stems and submerged in water, placed into individual tubes of water and strung into tall branches.

  1. Delphinium

Each floret of the vibrant purple delphinium has the most amazing violet tones. Packed together, their impact can be phenomenal! This delphinium is probably one of the most striking flowers available to florists and is one of the tallest flowers around in British gardens at summer time.

Tip: use these beautiful stems to make massive fan shapes of colour in large containers atop striking plinth pedestals.  They look equally stunning in modern glassware in high end modern architectural spaces as they do in traditional stone urns placed in within landscaped gardens at summer soirees.

We hope that you will be inspired by the flowers we have showcased here and that if you are looking for a display that is eye-catching, sensuous and bold you remember these Ultra-Violet heroes, especially if the message you’re looking to convey is one that is punchy, deep and mesmorising!

BTW the most uninspiring Pantone colours of the year were for us Turquoise, Emerald and Marsala. A turquoise coloured flower? Anyone?

How to scare your guests witless: the ultimate Halloween party

There is only one time in the whole year when you are allowed to completely freak out your clients so you might as well do it properly! And where better to scare your guests witless than at one of the most inspired events venues in the City of London?

Guests who are lucky enough to be invited to a Brewery showcase event should drop everything and jump at the chance to attend because the experience will undoubtedly stay with you forever.  Those who were brave enough to accept their Halloween party invitation at The Brewery last October did so at their own peril.

Now as you know from previous posts, we are strong advocates of amazing events industry talent who come together to create stunning events and totally immersive experiences. Having worked with the Brewery for a number of years, we always eagerly anticipate their upcoming events which continue to impress us with their unique themes and amazing attention to detail.

However, we had no idea on that fateful afternoon last October that we would become totally immersed in the downright scary world of House Macabre whilst we were setting up our ‘creepy old lady boudoir’ themed florals.  And that was even before the sun went down and the actors came out!

Reminiscing on the theme behind their spellbinding Halloween event, the team at the Brewery conveyed how;

As a Halloween event it was designed to provide a fun but unsettling environment that explores our deepest fears. The showcase had to be nothing like the guests had ever experienced before.  It had to be completely immersive and create a long lasting impression of a standard way beyond expectation levels.

To bring this sensationally scary showcase to life a wealth of frightful features were designed and created, including:

The deathly invitation

The Brewery team are masters of suspense and in the weeks preceding the event itself a standalone ‘House Macabre’ brand and identity were created. Guests were sent a ‘Death’ tarot card in branded stationary, a dedicated countdown clock micro-site was launched, and death certificate invitations were designed to intrigue and excite all who dared to attend.

First on the scene

On the day of the event itself guests were held outside and presented with cards displaying their table number. This simple yet significant finishing touch enabled the Brewery team to create an eerie ambience that would not be disrupted by complicated table plans. Moreover, a list of rules and warnings were displayed upon arrival to heighten guest anticipation and further immerse them within the haunting world of ‘House Macabre’.

In order to reach their entrance guests had to walk through the scene of a car crash. The Brewery team paid close attention to detail; sourcing the materials for this chaotic car crash scene from a scrap yard and having them specifically transported in for the event. The Brewery team have an excellent eye for detail and explained to us that;

The car crash complete with police man was made to simulate the guest’s death. This then led them through to the scene of their funeral when a wailing mourner led them up the stairs, through smoke and hundreds of old family photos hung from the ceiling, loud videos playing, strobe lighting and self-help audio playing all designed to create a disorientating experience.

Drinks in purgatory

To bring the immersive world of ‘House Macabre’ to life, an entire new space was constructed on the Porter Tun balcony using a temporary ceiling and walls. This area was specifically designed to recreate ‘Purgatory’, with the Brewery team highlighting to us how;

This space was designed to be ‘purgatory’ a tired old waiting room with bored receptionists interacting with guests.

In keeping with the non-traditional nature of their drinks reception area, no drinks were actually served by the Brewery team. Instead, guests had to search nearby cupboards for elusive beers and retrieve cocktails from water coolers.

When dinner was due to be served an actor arrived and announced the fate of the guests. The sense of suspense was heightened even further when guests were led towards their ‘fate’ through a secret hidden door. Upon entering ‘Purgatory’ each guest was presented with a Guide To The Afterlife within which the Brewery team had included;

A welcome to the afterlife, a questionnaire to establish which route their afterlife will take, the menu and details about the venue.

Welcome to the afterlife

The weird and wonderful world of ‘House Macabre’ was created by transforming The Porter Tun room into four separate dining spaces. Each of these eerie entertaining areas was intended to reflect a different room in the ‘House Macabre’ so they had been meticulously designed with distinctly different set builds, style influences and a key character actor hosting the guests.

The attention to detail extended to the table settings; with each space offering different crockery. In fact, the Nursery guests were eating off paper plates! The Bathroom, complete with its freaky contents, was another particularly frightening feature. Irrespective of the room in which they resided, each guest received a gift. From books with the pages cut out and small bottles of gin inside in the Library, to a box with a severed edible finger in the Bedroom, no guest was left empty-handed!

The Bedroom was our home for the afternoon.  We were tasked with creating old and decayed boudoir-style table centres that would look as if they had been abandoned in the centre of each guest table. It is not often that we have to wait for our flowers to die before we can use them but it’s fair to say that this was a one-of-a-kind experience.  October is the perfect time for muted colours, old dusty looking grasses combined with dried seed heads, and beige coloured blown open roses so with these style influences in mind we were able to create some beautifully decayed looking designs that were set onto old black doilies and covered in cobwebs.

The Brewery’s unforgettable ‘House Macabre’ event demonstrates how a powerful event theme can transform an ordinary space into an entirely new world. Immersive actors had been provided with scripts to help them interact with guests and fulfil their ghoulish roles. Unscripted extras were present to invoke unease and suspense. A live pianist provided haunting background music from a raised round stage in the centre of the room by playing macabre versions of popular songs.

All of these freaky finishing touches, combined with the space’s lighting, catering, floral event designs and set decorations, truly transformed the Porter Tun room into the ‘House Macabre’ and provided all who attended with an eerie experience that we will never forget!

With thanks to the phenomenal team at The Brewery.  Images courtesy of The Brewery.

The journey, the detail, and the interaction: how Sarah Kay creates “other worlds”

There is something to be said about being the last to arrive at the party.  Alright, alright we don’t mean the actual party (we get up far too early for that), we are talking about the wonderful world of event planning.

We florists, the providers of the finishing touches, often find ourselves presented with unique themes and impressive event briefs around which to create bespoke floral designs. It really does mean that no two events are ever the same.  In the last few months alone we have created floral arrangements to accompany all manner of amazing themes including Vintage Circuses, Luxury Summers, Tiki Bars, Secret Gardens and Maritime Wonders but to name a few!

Now of course it goes without saying that choosing the right floral design can be absolutely key to creating impressive event. But in order to make these occasions truly immersive it calls for a crack team of events professionals from catering, entertainment and lighting to scent and virtual reality providers . All of these industry experts have one mission in mind; to come together and create an experience for the guests that will resonate far beyond the event itself.

Ask the expert

Sarah Kay is one of the most inspired, energetic and knowledgeable experts on the UK events scene. Through her company, The Edit, Sarah organizes and consults on a broad spectrum of amazing events which transport her clients’ guests to exciting new worlds.  Ever eager to gain some exclusive insights from an industry expert, we decided to ask Sarah to some key questions on how to create an amazing corporate event. Enjoy!

What do you love most about your job?

What I love about events is that it’s creating another world for the day or evening. Guests step into a space and they’re transported – worries are forgotten and it’s all about having a good time, socialising and enjoying the moment.

Does an event always have to have a theme?

Themes certainly help to create ‘worlds’. Nowadays everything feels so fast paced and serious that a really fun theme that creates something so removed from your day to day life is hugely appealing and has maximum impact. But a ‘theme’ doesn’t mean ‘themed’. For example, we recently provided conference styling for a bank where the brief was black and white with the conversations of the day adding the colour. We added ideas that encouraged audience participation and created fun moments such as black and white balloons that were popped to reveal colourful confetti. It was about adding a fun touch without detracting from the concept of the day.

How do you create an engaging corporate event?

When you think about the journey, the detail and how guests will interact with the space. Just having huge props isn’t enough for people to feel that they’re in another place or world. It’s all about thinking how your guests will respond, what will make them smile, what would they Instagram and how will they walk away feeling. It’s more than a look, it’s a concept and should run through every element of the event from the invite through to the food, the entertainment and the atmosphere. We’ve even introduced event scents before as they evoke such powerful memories – that really helps to immerse people.

What are the three key aspects that you cannot neglect when working to a theme?

Detail, food and the journey. We design an event so that people walk in and think ‘wow’ but then as the event continues they notice the detail again and again. People remember the atmosphere and the detail. The food is something most events have and it’s missing a trick to not incorporate this into the theme. It’s such a small cost to do so therefore we think it’s essential to consider.

What has been your favourite corporate event?

My favourite event is definitely the festival theme we did at Sushi Samba with Story. It was such a fun brief and we totally transformed the space. Guests arrived and were given a lanyard with a stage schedule, wristbands and a phone charger. The journey saw them taking in four different bars, all styled to a theme, the main space which has been covered in grass, and if they were lucky enough to discover it, a secret garden (with Hybrid’s designs!) complete with liquid nitrogen cocktails and ice creams. The theme was so much fun and we really ran with it, creating a totally unexpected space at the top of a skyscraper.

Any predictions for future events themes?

I think immersive events will continue to be popular, so any theme or world but just totally all consuming, very theatrical and full on. People are exposed to so many stimulants that event themes have had to keep up and the immersive concept overtakes to create impact.

I also think natural. As the world becomes more digital people crave nostalgia, nature and relaxed atmospheres so I think we’ll see lots more of this.

Having said that technology is huge especially virtual reality which is definitely one of the event buzz words of the moment.

Any pearls of wisdom for the corporate events planner?

Always consider what you are trying to achieve. What are your goals? How do you want your guests to feel before the event, during and after? Thinking about the guest journey and experience as this really helps you plan. Also find the best suppliers as they help you create the best events – I couldn’t do it without them!

With thanks to Story for the Festival Event at SushiSamba images and The Edit for all other images.

The Pearl and Pear interview

Every time we are given a brief to design the flowers for an event the geeky part in us will start to rub their hands together.  At Hybrid, all of us love a bit of research and preparation. Whether it be looking into the style and personality of the client, a company’s brand values, the history of a venue or a unique events theme. But when we were asked by the inspirational, creative events experts, Pearl and Pear for an interview and we realised that we had to talk about OURSELVES and our OWN WORK we thought, in true control-freak fashion:

hmm… how can we prepare for THIS? There’s got to be something we can research?

Slowly we realised that there wasn’t much preparation we could do for this particular project and that we were just going to have to wing it.  ‘Go with the flow’ as they say. But first, in a last ditch effort to feel just a little bit efficient, we decided to look up the word ‘work’.

Work: an activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a result.

Okay… we do quite a lot of this thing they call ‘work’. We can easily talk about that.  In fact we have spent the last fourteen years researching for this very conversation.

And so we did the interview. It was great fun and we heartily recommend winging it…. well sometimes!…

You both started this successful floristry company together – what made you take the first leap?

Each other! Alan and I were both very young, we didn’t have any responsibilities and few expenditures.  Living in London in the late nineties and early noughties, our priorities were being happy and doing things our way. We weren’t afraid of living on next to nothing. And carrying flowers on the tube!

At the beginning we found ourselves working for three separate florists completely by coincidence.  It wasn’t long before we became great friends. We have exactly the same sense of humour. But we are also very different. I (Caroline) am the quiet one who looks out for opportunities whilst Alan is the fearless one who will say- “Why not? Let’s do it!” Our blend of caution, courage and of course creativity ended up being a great combination. We worked harder than either of us ever thought possible and the company grew along with us.

Are you both really as flower obsessed as we think you are?

We have probably thought about flowers every single day for the past twenty years! We are so brainwashed by flowers! As a result we can spot them a mile off. Before our brains even have a chance to register anything else. Just when we think we may be getting slightly complacent, the seasons will change. Always bringing us something new and exciting.HybridPearlandPearAlan

Does Hybrid have any favourite event themes?

Summer with a twist is always fun. It gives us a chance to design all manner of beautiful florals. Using lovely bold shapes and colours. As well as some striking one-off focal pieces. Summer events offer us a golden opportunity to create some gorgeous high impact installations on themes such as Summer Festival Season, English Countryside and Midsummer Night’s Dream. The possibilities are endless!

We understand that as flowers are living and breathing tools to work with therefore they must have their complications – what has been your most challenging event?

Any event on a hot weather day!

Before we moved to our lovely cool and spacious work studio, storing delicate flowers in the summer heat was a nightmare. With many flowers to organise, especially delicate peonies, planning was essential. Most of our peonies are sourced from Holland so we had to work out exactly when to place our order so that our peonies would work their magic and open just in time for each event.

However, when there is a heat wave all that planning can go out the window as peonies can simply burst open and drop their petals as soon as you look at them. Back in the day, we were so lucky that our suppliers allowed us to store our flowers in the market so that they could slowly open. Unfortunately, even with this lifeline, exposure to sudden heat just travelling from A to B can cause peonies to explode in a puff of petals and there is no putting them back together.

Alan still laughs to this day at the memory of me driving back and forth from the flower market with buckets full of hundreds of peonies not sure whether to leave them in the market, take them to our workshop or just get them to the hotel early! In fact, one of our wonderful suppliers gave me buckets of peonies just to calm me down!

What would be your top tip(s) to create maximum impact when using floristry at an event?

Think of just three simple key words to give to your florist which will describe the feel of the floral arrangements that you want for your event.  If you endeavour not to deviate from these key words then you can remain focused on creating the right atmosphere and also give your florist space and inspiration to offer your some amazing unique designs. For example:

  • Pink, Mediterranean, sunshine
  • Sparkle, delicate, soiree
  • Rambling, woodland, ambers

At Hybrid, we always recommend pooling your budget so that you can create a few key pieces for an event. Otherwise, you run the risk of spreading your budget too thinly across a large number of items that won’t have the same dramatic impact on the day of your event.

Last but by no means least, always have a ‘star flower’ at the core of your designs. By doing so, your guests will marvel, comment on and admire this ‘star flower’ and they will forever associate it with you and your event.

Flower arranging is no way as easy as it looks, do you have any insider knowledge or trade secrets to reveal to create the perfect display at home?

Container, container, container!

If you have a choice always buy vases with a narrow neck.  Even if you only have a few stems of flowers or branches of gorgeous foliage, a vase with a narrow neck will ensure they always stay in place.

As a rule it is easier to work with smaller vases. Look for matching sets of little vases and use a few flower heads to create an eye-catching display.

For larger striking designs, it is often better to buy multiples of one particular flower rather than trying to experiment with a whole host of different varieties.  Bundles of daffodils or a mass of dahlia will look amazing on their own or softened with some lovely foliage.

Finally, as florists, working with gorgeous flowers everyday – are you as obsessed at home?

We do have our favourite flowers at home, ones which we know will best complement our own personal styles. However, on the rare occasions we are given flowers, or when we take random left overs home, we do get rather excited and think “Wow, this time I am the client, how do I want to arrange them?”.

All photography by the super talented Holly Clark

With thanks to the amazing Pearl and Pear 

The best things about British flowers (according to events florists)

Last week we were granted a golden opportunity to tell one of our favourite tales whilst guiding a very good friend around a wonderful, local cutting garden. It all came to pass when we stopped to admire some tall towering pale yellow scabious and some stunning, heavy headed, gobstopper-like peonies. Whilst we gazed over to view a nearby mass of beautiful deep pink Sweet Williams our friend said:

Ah yes I recognize them, you see them in the supermarket with the British Flowers label.

This simple statement caused a wave of voices to rush to mind, each offering conflicting cries of;

Oh thanks a bunch, SUPERMARKETS, you win the battle of the florists YET again!

Well that’s nice… at least people are recognizing our beloved British blooms in the world of ‘normal’ people.

But the thought that stood head and shoulders above the rest was;

AHA! A chance for us to modestly tell the story of how we used Sweet Williams as one of the Famous Five florists for British Flowers Week back in 2014.

And so began our wonderful walk down memory lane! Luckily, our Sweet Williams inspired story was met with plenty of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ from our friend.

To elaborate, three years ago we were approached by the wonderful people at New Covent Garden Flower Market who invited us to contribute some floral designs for British Flowers Week. First launched in 2013, British Flowers Week is an annual event held in June that celebrates British flowers, their growers, independent florists and the UK cut flower industry as a whole. As such, we were thrilled to be invited to contribute some fabulous floral designs based upon our preferred choice of British flower.

In 2014 we had the great pleasure of sharing this prestigious invitation with Simon Lycett, Okishima & Simmonds, Euphoric Flowers and McQueens. Over the course of the week, each of us was granted a day in which to showcase our favourite British blooms in all their glory.

Julian Winslow

For our day in the sun Alan instantly chose the Sweet William. These modest yet mesmerizing blooms have always had a very special spot in Alan’s heart ever since he first began working as a junior florist in a local flower shop in Leicester back in the 80s. As Alan puts it in his own words;

Back then, with everything so new and exciting, each new delivery of flowers to the shop brought with it new smells and colours. Until then, I had only opened and unpacked boxes of single-coloured flowers such as Dianthus Pinks and Daffodils, so imagine my delight at the discovery of the jewel-like bunches that greeted me when I opened the first box of the season’s Sweet Williams:
There were reds, pinks, hot pinks and whites and two-toned shades, along with bright green and purple; these were all in mixed bunches packed closely together, each tied with little elastic bands. I could not believe how pretty these little gems were, and decided then and there to take a couple of bunches home to my mum. They lasted nearly two weeks!
Since then I have always bought the first bunch of Sweet Williams of the year and taken it for my mum; it’s turned into a sort of tradition.

Rona Wheeldon

Even though our business has expanded and evolved over the years, at Hybrid Flowers we’ve always had a soft spot for tradition. Consequently, our aim for British Flowers Week was to showcase the wonderfully nostalgic nature of Sweet Williams whilst also highlighting the ways in which these beautiful British blooms could be used in contemporary floral arrangements in order to complement the style and subtleties of modern city life.

With these inspirations in mind, we set out to create three floral designs; for the workplace, for events and for weddings. Sweet Williams are the ideal blooms for these types of floral arrangements because they are long-lasting and incredibly pliable. What’s more, the delicate look of Sweet Williams is simply stunning when they are grouped en masse!

Julian Winslow

The Best of British

One of the best aspects of participating in British Flowers Week was the opportunity it granted us to showcase some of the nation’s most stunning seasonal flowers. Much like locally sourced Jersey Royals and Bramley apples, there is no point in forcing British produce. They are here when they want to be (or rather when the right conditions allow) and then they take their leave when the seasons change. There is something quite special about savoring these luxurious, vivid and scented blooms whilst they are in season and then eagerly anticipating their return when they are gone.

Rona Wheeldon

Why florists get so excited about British flowers

These wonderful British flowers provide us florists with a whole host of amazing experiences.  We can’t help but be excited whenever they arrive at our suppliers but not always for the reasons that you would think.  British flowers also give us a chance to revel in some of our other passions namely:

Packaging: Some of our fondest memories stem from unpacking the beautiful crisp white boxes filled to bursting with the most exciting colours, tastes (don’t ask!) and textures.Time Travel: The unique scents of each of these blooms invokes an incredible sense of nostalgia and has the power to take us right back to our youth; playing in gardens or picking roses and sweet peas.

Talking: These seasonal blooms have also sparked some great conversations whilst we have been installing them. From fellow florists to delighted clients, it is an immensely fulfilling process to swap stories about our individual experiences with these familiar flowers.

Another benefit of British blooms is how well they complement international floral varieties. We could never be without our trusty and varied Dutch flowers or flamboyant and vibrant Italian varieties, the chance to mix British flowers with their European cousins opens up a whole new world of opportunities to create some eye-catching floral arrangements!

What does the future hold for British flowers?

Three years on from our day of floral fame at British Flowers Week, we sit down to write this piece and we asked ourselves; how often do we really have the wonderful opportunity to use British flowers? And no word of a lie, at the very moment of posing this question to ourselves, an email landed in our inbox:

I was wondering if you could help me. I am organizing an event for my client…This will be one long table with approx. 25 x guests. I would take your recommendation on how we should dress the table so any ideas are very much appreciated. We would like the designs to be very high-end looking. The group will be predominantly male and we are trying to really emphasize the best of British.

This well-timed email answered our question; British flowers will always have their day in the sun as long as we keep offering them.

If we keep looking at what our wonderful growers and suppliers offer us, from the first violets of the year to the last dahlias of the summer, then British flowers can continue to take pride of place within all manner of fabulous floral arrangements. And this will only happen if we keep offering these brilliant British blooms to our clients. If we put our faith into these fantastic British floral varieties then our clients will do so too.

We have to trust that they will of course snap them up, just like Jersey Royals and Bramley apples, because they are the best.

With thanks to Rona Wheeldon and Julian Winslow and New Covent Garden Market for images

When we went back to the 1950s

From the bright colours to the floral patterns and billowy shapes, there is something about summer vibes and the vibrant era of the 1950s that seems to gel in our creative little minds.  So when this year’s theme of the London Summer Event Show was announced to be a fifties British tea party, our hearts skipped an excited beat!

In our opinion, the fifties in the summertime is the ultimate theme for a fantastic floral event. (Although thinking about it, the 80s would also have been a joyful challenge: we will have to tackle that particular era next time…).

The 1950s was a pivotal decade in British social history; a time when the nation regained a sense of security, rose above the uncertainty of the 1940s and heralded a new era of peace. Despite the remnants of a post-war Britain still fresh in people’s minds, an overwhelming sense of hope began to blossom as cities and towns started to rebuild, communities were restored, and their residents began to reclaim their sense of identity.

Our 50s inspiration

What our land could provide freely was the inspiration for the fruit and floral prints on wallpaper and fabrics. Repeat patterns, mixing pastels with bold colours, as well as full and rounded voluminous shapes alongside an overall idea of fun was something we really wanted to capture within our event flower designs.

Back to the 50s Sketches

To celebrate the spirit of Britain in the 1950s, we decided to create a dress made entirely of fresh flowers; thereby showcasing Hybrid’s passion for colour and detail by replicating a much-loved vintage fabric pattern. With these ideas fresh in our minds we donned our snow boots (did we mention the London Summer Event Show is in January?) and began to trawl Soho’s theatrical fabric shops looking for the perfect repeat floral.

Our retro repeat floral fabric pattern needed to complement the red, white and blue of More Production’s street party theme but we also wanted it to represent the vivid colours that were abound in the blousy garden blooms of the era.  To cut a long story short, after a fair few miles spent traversing the streets of Soho, we finally found it….

The easy bit

At the risk of sounding OTT, we have no qualms in stating that matching a theme with real-life fresh flowers is our favourite thing of all time! To make our dream 1950s floral dress, we needed our choice of flowers to lay as flat as possible in order to recreate the flow of the fabric folds that define a voluptuous 50s style dress. We found that beautifully scented spray roses were the perfect choice and the fact they were fair-trade was an added bonus. Complementing these roses with the tone of the peachy hypericum gave us the floral pattern whilst creamy white chrysanthemums, a very 50s bloom, served as the perfect background colour for our daring dress.

Back to the 50s Creation

We called her Doris

Curves and shapes formed the foundation of our 1950s style floral dress and to achieve this fantastic floral figure we relied upon lots of chicken wire and our trusty sewing machine. In this manner Doris, the perfect hostess for our 1950s British tea party, was created! The result was someone we all wanted to cuddle. She stood high up in the middle of Banking Hall looking gorgeous and attracting many admirers.

Back to the 50s Tea Dress

Back to the 50s Doris and Friends

Back-to-the-50s-LSES

Inspired by this thrilling 50s tea party theme, we decided to carry through these classic style influences into our Floral Adornment Master Class. Events professionals and esteemed clients alike were invited to try their hand at creating their very own wired corsages using matching flowers to our darling Doris.

Back to the 50s Bag Adornment

Back-to-the-50s-Hair-Corsage

Back to the 50s Hybrid Star

Some wonderful visitors from across the big wide world of events planning gathered together within this master class to share their unique stories and interests. Many of our visitors enthused about how they found themselves ‘calming down’ and achieving a sense of wellbeing through the process of wiring each rose and leaf with love and attention.

Back-to-the-50s-Masterclass

Back to the 50s Natter

Back-to-the-50s-Visitor

A lovely opportunity for a good old fashioned natter among some fellow floral enthusiasts; the spirit of the 1950s was alive and well!