Floral fancies

Londoner Lucy Vail founded her eponymous floristry studio in Battersea just five years ago. She specialises in weddings, events and installations and her designs are famous for their cascades of colour. Summer is by far her busiest time of year, and the seasonal highlight is her commission by the Royal Horticultural Society to decorate the London Gate at Chelsea Flower Show.

It's all a far cry from Lucy’s early introduction to floristry which began with Christmas decorations. “I am a creative person and I started making wreaths at 16 and loved it. Then, when I was in my last year studying history of art at university, someone asked if I would do their daughter’s wedding. I spoke to the lady who taught me how to do the wreaths and said, ‘Do you think I can do it?’” The answer was a resounding ‘100 per cent’ and so, with the help of the internet and her natural eye, Lucy fulfilled the commission. “I transformed a room by covering it in flowers and pulled off a wedding for 250 people,” she says, adding, “I spent a lot of time outside in the garden researching and learning about colour.”

Nature and nuture

It should be noted that her inspiration was no ordinary back garden, as she was raised at the historic Floriston Hall in Suffolk, where her parents nurtured the borders with great enthusiasm. Today, there is a flourishing flower farm at Floriston, a direct result of Lucy’s burgeoning business as she explains, “Culpepper, the herb grower, originated at Floriston and the soil is rich.

 

During Covid I couldn’t source flowers from Holland. I went to Floriston for the weekend and Mum had striped dahlias that were bigger than my face. I said, ‘The soil is amazing, my business is growing, I think you should become a flower farmer.’”

Lucy’s mother, Amanda, is a photographer by trade but she rose to the challenge. “Mum is self-taught like me and learned on the job too. She started off farming a quarter of an acre, she now has three quarters of an acre and delivers to us, on average, 1,500 stems a week from March to October,” says Lucy, adding, “But my goodness it is hard work, and you can’t predict the seasons.”

Pretty in pink

Due to the unreliability of the British weather, Lucy is always led by colour. “My ethos is to choose colours, but not the exact variety until we know what is best that week.”

This spring, the slow start to the growing season proved problematic for Lucy’s Chelsea Flower Show commission. “We are dressing the public entrance and creating a massive wave of flowers in one colour. It was going to be blue but the season started later so we had to change to pink. The wave is three metres high and will crash around people as they walk through the entrance.”

Lucy is no stranger to large scale displays, as demonstrated at last year’s show. Her creation for the Bull Ring Gate included three enormous wicker crowns, marking the Queen’s platinum jubilee and what would be the monarch’s last visit to Chelsea. “The installation was six metres high and there were 3,500 plants – all British. It was the biggest entrance they’d ever had and, after creating it on three hours of sleep over 72 hours, I swore that we would never do Chelsea again but here we are!”

Plant power

Sustainability is a core value of Lucy Vail Floristry and, once Chelsea is finished, plants go back to the flower farm and are returned to the soil. After a project, Lucy doesn’t like any blooms going to waste so they often repurpose or dry the flowers they use, and surplus stems are donated as often as possible to Floral Angels, a charity based at New Covent Garden Flower Market which delivers bouquets to care homes and hospices.

Lucy’s work includes brand collaborations. Recently her designs adorned the Christian Louboutin wedding collection launch at The Arts Club in Dover Street and de Gournay are a regular client. “We have done fun spring shoots with de Gournay. One had real bunnies hopping up and down a table and in another there was a bath full of ducklings. Everyone sees the pretty picture but they don’t realise how much work it takes. The rabbits were running riot, moving everything around on the tables. The finished photograph went viral and everyone loved it, so much so that at a recent wedding they wanted bunnies in the children’s play area in the marquee!”

The wedding planner This summer, Lucy is orchestrating just one wedding a weekend although, since winning Best Wedding Florist at The Wedding Awards in 2020, she is much in demand. “We don’t take on every job because I want to spend time on an event. We approach each commission by learning about the couple and what they love. We build storyboards and do mock ups of what they are going to have on the day. For a wedding for 150 people, I’ll employ seven freelancers, but we’ve just done a wedding for 250 people with six venues over two days and needed 26 staff. As well as florists we have architects and builders; creating an event is a bit like building a house!” For Lucy, scent is key when planning a scheme and there is nothing like the perfume of homegrown plants. “Flowers from Holland do not have the scent of those grown here which evoke memories of walking through the quintessential British countryside.” As for colour, Lucy says, “What I love is that clients are going for as much as possible.” Lucy could be said to have set the trend with her own nuptials at Floriston last June to husband Archie. “We went colour viral! And now clients see the pictures and say, ‘We want that!’,” she says, adding, “The days of whites, greens and pastels are gone and now you’ll walk through a church with blues, pinks, purples, oranges and the photographs are out of this world.” The couple live in Notting Hill and Archie also has his own company. Lucy says, “Having someone who understands the rollercoaster of running a business is amazing. Archie helps emotionally, but also on the tech side as he is in AI.” As for the future, Lucy has a clear vision. “I want to be known worldwide as one of the best wedding and installation florists and get to the point where I am supporting British growers up and down the country. I also want to teach and inspire as many people as possible to do what I’ve done.” With her prodigious talent, supportive husband and everlasting passion for floristry, no doubt Lucy will take the industry by storm and achieve all her goals. Lucy's London What is your favourite London memory? Hands down, the Queen driving through our installation at the Bull Ring Gate entrance to Chelsea Flower Show last year.      Where do you like to eat in the capital?  My favourite restaurant is La Poule au Pot in Pimlico. It’s like a chalet in the Alps – it’s cosy and they have dried flowers through the ceiling and delicious French food. I also like their sister restaurant Maggie Jones's, which is local to us in Notting Hill. Where do you go to unwind? My head is constantly buzzing and to switch off, a walk in Hyde Park is the best. Who have you got on speed dial? My mum on the flower farm and my sister Anna who runs her own business too. Anna and I go to Battersea Park at lunchtime. What do you miss most about London when you are away? I miss that buzz of the coffee shops, theatres and constantly changing museums and art galleries. I love the V&A and the Royal Academy, I am excited to see Cabaret soon. London's best kept secret is... Sir John Soane’s Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Who is on your radar? Balu London – An up and coming homeware brand that is about to launch a glassware and table linen collection.