We've had a tremendous Valentine's Day, even if I do say so myself. Its really lovely to see such a loyal customer base starting to grow but its through constant hard work, I like to think that we give excellent customer service no matter what our customers require of us and we are getting some really positive feedback.

It is a hard struggle when you own your own business, I'm sure other professional will agree and also suffer as we do with people who think they can do our job  but lack the knowledge and skill. It is a truly lovely profession and no two days are the same but often people just see a price on our work and don't realise the skill that goes into it.

 Hours spent learning the seasons in which your materials are available, how to produce funeral tributes and wedding designs and produce to a high standard. Flowers that will with stand the occasion they are meant for.....wedding flowers from a professional florist will easily last several days because they have been prepared correctly. Funeral flowers which will sit at the graveside, some of mine have lasted weeks so I'm told, so that the family can go back many times to see the flowers before they are past there best.

Most florists will agree that they never stop learning, we constantly evolve and our industry does to. We are also slowly seeing our profession eaten away at by relay companies that swamp the internet and kid you into thinking you are dealing with a florist or a  Funeral Directors that make it seem easy to order your flowers from them.....and yes it is but they fail to tell you you will pay more for them, their handling fee or commission; call it what you will.

As with everything you get what you pay for, yes I tell my customers that stem of lily may be a little more expensive but when it lasts for three weeks, break the cost down and how much per week are you spending? I joke with some of them that I only see them once a month, that's because some flowers have an exceptionally long vase life and that's what I aim to give my customers; value for money.

So this blog is from one little independent florist, who stands with many other independent florists and will fight our corner till the bitter end. Support your local florist you won't be disappointed.