Discover the wildly natural feel of Bloom and Burn flowers in our interview with founder Graeme Corbett.
When did you decide to become a florist?
I worked in the TV industry for 12 years, mostly on reality shows like The Voice and Celebrity Big Brother. I did a lot of casting, finding the contestants, interviewing and looking after them during their time on the programmes. It was a lot of fun but I was desperate to do something more creative. After a particularly awful experience on a show I decided that I’d had enough and it was time for a change of career. I’d always been interested in flowers and enjoyed arranging them in my home and for friends parties, so I looked into flower schools and within a couple of days I enrolled on a two week business of floristry course at The Judith Blacklock Flower School in Knightsbridge.
When did you set up Bloom and Burn and where are you based?
After finishing at Flower School I got a work experience placement at JamJar Flowers in Kennington. The flower school was a brilliant start, but the style was very traditional. Working at JamJar was where I really fell in love with floristry. The owner, Melissa, is really passionate about every job she works on and has a wonderful relaxed style. She taught me a lot about different flower types, how to care for them and how to arrange them in a more natural way. After about 8 months of working with her as a freelancer I started to get enquires to do weddings of my own outside of JamJar. Initially they were just small events with limited budgets, usually through friends of friends but before I knew it I had a few weddings in the diary and decided to set up on my own. I started Bloom and Burn in January of 2016 and run it from my home studio in North London.
What kind of floristry services do you offer?
The bulk of my work is weddings, which I love doing. I enjoy the process – right from the first meeting with the couple, seeing the images they have saved to their Pinterest board and coming up with ways that we can make their vision work creatively within their budget. I mostly work on my own so will be the point of contact for the couple the whole way through the planning. I will personally choose their flowers from the market and create each of the items they want to have on their wedding day.
I also work on events and often provide flowers for TV shows, bouquets for dressing rooms for celebrity guests and sometimes onscreen. I’ve just finished doing the flowers for the most recent series of Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. It’s exciting when the list of names comes through every week – to think that people like Kate Hudson or Hugh Jackman will be taking a bunch of my flowers home with them is exciting.
How would you describe your style?
My style is very relaxed, nothing too tight or formal. I often use a lot of foliage in my work as it adds a wonderful shape and texture to the arrangements. It also gives the flowers a bit of room to breathe so they’re not crowding each other. I guess it has a kind of garden feel to it, nothing too structured. I let the flowers do their own thing rather than forcing them into position and piercing them with a diamanté!
Where do you get inspiration for your floral designs?
Seeing the venue that you are going to be dressing is always inspiring. You can spot areas pretty quickly that are crying out to be dressed with flowers. I’ve also been lucky with my brides – they have all had a great vision of what they want from their wedding flowers, so it’s great to figure out ways to make their ideas come to life. A colour, a photograph, a favourite flower, a dress perhaps, can always inspire the design too.
Could you tell us about what you’ve been working on lately?
I’ve been busy with weddings, over the last few weeks. One at The Beagle restaurant in east London that featured a hanging flower chandelier and dozens of vintage crystal vases lined the tables. Another in Wales, a beautiful pub on the Gower Peninsula – the tables had wild flower wreaths as centrepieces and the bride and groom entered via a staircase dressed with a flower garland. This weekend I’m doing a black and white themed wedding. The bride will be carrying a mostly foliage bouquet and the reception is taking place at their favourite local restaurant in Hampstead. Foliage garlands will run along each table and cascade down onto the floor – they will be stuffed with white anemones and black ranunculus.
I also had a stand at The Most Curious Wedding Fair at the Truman Brewery in East London. I was named runner up in the best new florist category judged by wedding blogger Rock N Roll Bride. My stand was a fantasy top table set-up.
Do you have a favourite flower?
I love a variety of Clematis called Star River – it looks great in bouquets dancing above the other flowers. It’s one of those brilliant flowers that has several heads per stem, so with a bit of clever snipping it goes a long way.
What trends do you predict to see emerging during the rest of 2017?
The Pantone colour of the year is Greenery and I’m definitely seeing that reflected in weddings that I have coming up this year.
At Evolve we regularly share news about latest venues, styles and events on our blog and social media. You can visit our blog here and follow us at @evolveevents.
To find out more about Bloom and Burn visit their website here.
To get more ideas or help with your event talk to the team on 020 7610 2808 or email info@evolve-events.com