Hello! Hola! Welcome to The Flower Diaries.
Hello! As you can probably guess, I'm Sophie and these are my flower diaries. A flower mad, travel enthusiast specialising in Wedding and Event flowers. I'm happy you are here and I hope my floral and travel accounts bring as much joy and inspiration to you as they give to me!
I want to kick off this blog by sharing a little bit about myself... I started my floral journey back in the UK, in a little town in Staffordshire. After spending plenty of time in the English countryside working with flowers, I fell in love with creating wedding flowers in particular, I love how much joy and excitement they bring, not only for myself but for the wonderful couples I get to share these amazing moments with.
I love talking all things flowers, getting easily distracted by new varieties, colours and being forever inspired. Over time I have developed my own style to be one consisting of natural and free flowing flowers, very far from the 'traditional' type. I believe in letting the stems do their own thing as nature intended and I always like to allow my designs to have a lot of movement which reflect a wild and whimsical look, bursting with the most romantic blooms!
Moving abroad. I decided to move to Gibraltar just over 6 months ago, I've always been a spontaneous person but I took this to the next level when I speedily accepted a job offer over here. That exact weekend in August last year is still a bit of a blur, there were flowers to create, a wedding to attend and then a flight to catch from London, all in 24 hours. I managed to pack my life into a suitcase (which is pretty remarkable for me) and travel to Gibraltar all ready to start work the following day! Despite everything feeling super rushed initially, the thought of living in the Mediterranean, soaking up the sun everyday definitely made the transition a lot easier.
Travel is and always has been such an important part of my life, exploring new places, immersing myself in a new culture, I love everything about it. Spain being merely a stone's throw away and North Africa is only a short ferry ride from Gibraltar, there is always opportunity for more exploring (and there is still a lot I would like to tick off whilst I'm here).
Life on The Rock. I look back at the last 6 months and feel eternally grateful, the flowers play a big part in this new adventure, but the move abroad offered a new outlook and way of living that cannot be matched. The warmth, the sea, the language, the lifestyle and a lot of tinto de verano, which literally translates as red wine of summer are amongst some of the great perks of living in this little territory.
The mix of both English and Spanish surroundings has been a wonderful initial welcoming to settling into life abroad, with red telephone boxes lined on the streets opposite tapas bars, next to a fish and chip shop around the corner from an old Spanish tiled villa... I appreciate its hard to envisage, and even now I'm still unsure if I am keen on the lack of cohesion here but nevertheless Gibraltar definitely primes itself to be a place of incredible novelty! A few minutes walk and you can find yourself over the border in Spain, I guess it is the best of both worlds. As you enter Andalusia, the south of Spain, you are met with a place bursting with even more culture, this enchanting, Spanish region offers so much, I can't wait to explore more of it and share it all with you.
Flowers in Gibraltar. I'm currently working in a small florist shop here in Gibraltar where destination weddings and elopements are very much a trend. Did you know that you can get married on the rock in less than 48 hours? There's no waiting around here and with some exceptionally beautiful locations to tie the knot, there is no wonder so many brides and grooms-to be from all over the world jump at the opportunity. Getting to know couples is one of the greatest things about this industry for me, no two weddings are the same and I just absolutely love being able to evoke every couple's personality through floral design, even if for some it is a fleeting visit.
Clients have become friends and it has been so amazing meeting and speaking with couples all over the world who have chosen Gibraltar to elope. Not forgetting the amazingly talented suppliers I have met and connected with here, I feel so incredibly grateful that I have been given an opportunity which has resulted in some life long connections.
As I mentioned before, my style of wedding florals is very far from the "traditional" style, evoking a more natural and whimsy feel, something that I have found quite difficult to bring to life in Gibraltar. Small, compact domed bridal bouquets seem to be preferred and the use of floral foam is sadly used a lot. As they say no rain, no flowers... this experience has allowed me to be very clear and certain on my style and even more affirmative on the clients I want to attract, as well as my strive for floral sustainability.
If you made it to the end of the first entry of my flower diaries, thank you so much, it honestly means so much. I am so happy you are here and hope you too feel inspired by the beauty and magic of flowers as well as, the fun and escapism of travel. Join me on my travels as I create and explore, whilst I make wedding flower dreams come true for couples. From the English countryside to the middle of the Med, you can expect copious amounts of flowers and plenty of travel snaps.
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