Having recently discovered a love for flowers and their colours i came accross a wonderfull website while searching for local people in the know. Making Bouquets, varse diplays and seasonal arrangments for events, corporate and the public, whilst also teaching adult and children workshops, allow me to introduce; Tania McLaren of The Kitchen Table Florist.
Seasonal Arrangment - Halloween
Sara Prebble: What inspired you to start The Kitchen Table Florist?
Tania McLaren: From a young age I have always loved flowers and regularly
had “a bunch of flowers” at the top of my Christmas and Birthday list. Having put my career in marketing on hold to
bring up my 4 girls I decided to use the time I had at home to retrain and
learn to do something I was passionate about so went to floristry school and
began doing flowers for friends from my kitchen table. Once my youngest started school I was keen to
turn my passion into a business so looked for gaps in the market. Where I live in North London we are lucky to have
several very good florists but none were offering the opportunity to learn how to
create simple arrangements so the original business idea grew. I am
now offering floristry workshops for adults and run flower parties for
children. My aim is to pass on simple
skills and ideas for displays that can be easily recreated at home and to give
them the confidence to make their own arrangements. On the other side of the business, the
bouquets, contracts and gift giving, I buy to order to am able to offer a
strong degree of tailoring to suit a client’s needs which has proved very
popular. I provide everything from a
tiny arrangement for a downstairs loo (yes – really) to flowers for every room
in a house just about to be photographed to go on the market.
Sara Prebble: Is there a trend and style for flower arrangements and if so how do you keep
up with it?
Tania McLaren: There are very strong trends in flowers which, as with
fashion, are often cyclical. Individual
flower varieties fall in and out of favour (gypsophilia has seen a welcome
return recently – massed together in large bunches by itself it is both cheap
and can be very beautiful ) and colour trends are constantly varying. The simple hand tied bouquet continues to be
a firm favourite for both gift giving and bridal use although there seems to
have been a move away from very structured bouquets and a return to natural
looking, loose styles.
Recyling continues to drive a trend towards re-using old
containers for floral arrangements where “anything goes”. Jam jars, tea cups, medicine bottles and tea
pots are all being used regularly complementing the trend for more natural
displays. I am forever scouring charity
shops for my next container! British
grown, & seasonal, flowers are also
being increasingly requested as we all try to reduce our carbon footprints.
In terms of flowers and displays, succulents are proving
popular this year in floral arrangements and increasingly I am seeing
clematis being used as a cut flower.
There are some fabulous blogs and publications in the
floristry world which I read and follow but Fusion Flowers is perhaps my
favourite (www.fusionflowers.com) featuring exciting and dramatic floral
arrangements from some of the world’s leading floral designers.
Sara Prebble: Does your background in marketing help with getting your own brand noticed?
Tania McLaren: My background in marketing has proved useful on a number of
levels. Firstly I was keen to offer a point
of difference from my competition so undertook research to identify gaps in the
market locally and an area where I could add value in an already crowded market. My financial training played a strong role in
my decision to set up at home so saving the extensive overheads and rates of a
premises. Buying to order enables me to
stay competitive on pricing whilst minimising wastage and ensuring my flowers
are as fresh as possible for my customers.
From my research I developed a clear Brand Positioning to differentiate
my business offering and this has formed the basis of all my brand identity (the
“Look” of the business) from logo development to production of promotional
materials to the promotion itself. I have
a very clearly defined target market too
so am able to ensure my “very meagre” marketing budget is well targeted and
effective when it is used.
Sara Prebble: What has been your most popular kitchen table arrangement?
Tania McLaren: I think people generally love to see arrangements that make
them smile and that they feel they could replicate themselves with ease. Children are always drawn to the snowmen and I
have been busy running snowmen making
parties this December, whilst adults love the simplicity of the pumpkin display
– I have even had people sending me photos of their adaptations of the idea
which I love receiving.
Sara Prebble: What is your favourite flower?
Tania McLaren: Now you’re asking. I
would say that my favourite flower changes about once a day! I am notoriously fickle on this point. My current favourites for flower arranging
are hydrangeas which are so beautiful and so adaptable. They come in a huge range of colours and can
be used equally successfully as a whole in a hand tied bouquet or as florets in
a table arrangement. I have used some
fabulous red and green ones this Christmas as the basis for many of my door
wreaths, mantelpiece arrangments and Christmas displays. They are not cheap but are large, have a long
season and last beautifully.
Flower Snowman - Childrens Workshops
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