Chelsea Award Winning Florist Ciara Quigley speaks to us about her amazing experience at the Chelsea Flower Show.
You can gather from this interview how fun and exciting a florist Ciara is. Ciara is renowned within the industry for her wedding work and her event decoration.
Thank you Ciara for your answering our questions so freely
What is your name? Ciara Quigley
What is the Name of your business? The Flower Boutique, Killiney
What is your Website link? www.theflowerboutique.ie
How
and when did you start your business? I started my
business down a laneway in Dun Laoghaire, at the time I had intended to become
a corporate event and wedding florist and use my premises as a studio however
the recession got in the way of those plans, the Corporate market dried up but
my wedding business did ok and I managed to start building a small retail
business. The opportunity to take over a
larger premises in Killiney came about 3 years ago so I moved my retails and
wedding business to there, where thankfully it has grown from strength to
strength.
Why
did you become a florist? I’ve always had a passion for
flowers, as a child I would pick wild flowers and arrange them in little vases,
it was my favourite thing to do! I still have my very first flower arranging
magazine from 1981!!
How
long have you been in the industry? Officially 13
years, however I got my first job as a florist when I was only 13...dont think
employers would get away with that these days!
How
do you create your style and where do you draw your inspiration? To be honest Im a bit
of an earth Mama! I draw most of my inspiration from the natural world around
me. I love the way flowers arrange
themselves beautifully in the wild! The skirt of my dress was made from very
common Cupressus which grows everywhere I love the way it drapes and could
picture it making a very nice ball gown!
Has
competing at Chelsea always being a aspiration? Absolutely
it’s always been a dream from the moment I started professional floristry. For those who didn’t really know what I meant
to win the silver I described it as like an Athlete winning silver in the
Olympics, I think that is the closest comparison I can make to what it felt like!
How
did you decide on your final design piece?
Where did you draw your inspiration from? The brief was to create a floral fantasy
dress to be worn to a Chrystal theme ball, so I imagine Cinderella, but I
wanted her to be a bit edgier so I also looked at her wicked step mum so that
is where I decided the style of the dress, it was sort of a mix between the
two!
What
was the build up like, was travelling to Chelsea nerve wrecking in case you
left something behind? The build up was tough I have to be honest, we estimated that
I spend about 200 hours working on the piece (Heidi Sparkles is her name!!)
altogether. We were also given exact
measurements for the dummy that the dress was to be displayed on and my biggest
worry was getting the measurements wrong...imagine all that work and then the
bloomin’ thing didn’t even fit I would have died!
Did
you forget anything? Nope!!! Most people dont realise
it because Im I seem like a scatter brain but I am pretty organised!! I’m also pretty good at improvising and
thinking on my feet so if I had forgotten anything I would have thought of a
way to cover it up J
Who
did you bring to help you? My long suffering husband
Leo!
Where
did you stay in Chelsea? Travel Lodge Battersea, it was cheap and cheerful and very
nearby, when it was all over we could
walk to Chelsea from the hotel and enjoy a few Pimms!!
Describe
the day of the competition, was it very competitive? No
not really, there was great camaraderie between all the competitors I actually
had a great laugh with some of them and will hopefully stay in touch for a long
time
Were
people helpful friendly, did you bring your own flowers with you? Yeah everyone was
brilliant and very helpful. Yes you have
to bring all your own flowers and equipment with you.
Was
the room refrigerated? No!!! It was staged in the
corner of the Chelsea Flower Show pavilion, really just the corner of a very
large tent, thankfully it wasn’t too hot.
What
tool in your toolbox can’t you live without? Eeek
that’s a tough one can I choose more than 1?? I suppose my scissors but my
toolbox will always contain emergency tools..my knife, scissors, secateurs,
wire, reel wire, wire cutters, cable tie, glue,
ribbon, gutta and pot tape, I never go on a job without all those bits,
with those you can pretty much do anything!
How
did it feel to be awarded a Chelsea Silver Medal? Shocked!
Honestly that’s all I can say was completely shocked. Before I left my Mum and a few friend came to
see the dress they were so impressed that my Mum honestly thought I would be
crowned queen of Chelsea!!! When I got
there and set up my design I was nearly crying when I left, I rang my mum and
had to hold back the tears explaining to her that the standard was so high and
all the other dresses were so amazing that I hadn’t a hope of getting
anywhere. I was disappointed but
honoured to even be in the same category as these amazing florists. So when I
got the medal I couldn’t believe it,
Leo says there was just a look of sheer shock and confusion on my face as I
just stared at it for ages!!
Do
you offer any services in addition to floral designs at your shop? Well not really!! We
sell flowers, plants and gifts I also do a lot of wedding and corporate
event work but that’s about it, which is enough for me right now!
What
is your favourite flower? It’s hard to say my favorite flowers changes seasonally. I suppose if
I was to have a top 3 it would be Phalanopsis, Vanda and Freesia!!
What one word best describes your personality? Mad
Do
you have anything you would like to add? Thanks you for
asking me all these questions it’s been fun!!
