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Elaine Chester has been helping
to organise and arrange flowers
at Christ Church for over 12
years, whilst running her own
flower business for 15 years.
As well as organising flowers at
Christ Church, Elaine continues
to run her own successful flower
business in Wimbledon. She has a
workshop at the bottom of the
garden, where she creates her
wedding bouquets and small items
such as headdresses and
buttonholes, as well as table
decorations and presentation
bouquets for birthdays or
anniversaries etc. She also
makes funeral tributes and says
she particularly enjoys creating
these as she finds it very
calming and therapeutic.
All of her larger displays and
arrangements however, are made
up on site in churches and
hotels and offices, as well as
for exhibition stands up at
Olympia. She pays great
attention to detail, and often
ends up “styling” the whole
commission herself – for some
weddings she has created special
place settings and even set the
tables herself!
Elaine buys all her flowers from
New Covent Garden market at Nine
Elms and gets up at 4am. to
buy her flowers. But not every
day! She buys flowers fresh for
specific commissions, and
usually drives up to market
about once a week in winter and
twice in the summer. She is
willing to take anyone up to
market to see and wander round,
as long as you can get up that
early!
Elaine prides herself in
providing a professional and
friendly service at reasonable
prices.
“Being a free-lance florist I
don’t have a shop, or a boss,
and I pick up all of my work
through recommendation,
word-of-mouth, repeat orders,
and occasionally some local
advertising. Most of it I carry
out on site, i.e. in Churches,
Hotels, Offices and private
homes. But the smaller jobs
where I need only limited space
- jobs like Bridal bouquets,
headdresses, buttonholes, table
posies, funeral sprays etc - are
all completed in advance.” |
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Elaine trained at the Constance
Spry College in Winkfield, near
Windsor, gaining a Diploma, 1st
in the class, then starting up
her own business six months
after finishing the course.
“Looking back I have to say
that had I realised at the very
beginning how labour-intensive
it is, all the tight deadlines
to be met, and those awful early
morning rises, especially in
darkest winter, I would have
thought again. Working with
flowers is a joy, but not when
so much responsibility goes with
it and you’re tight for time.”
“From Day One I have bought all
my flowers direct from New
Covent Garden market in
Vauxhall, and I buy fresh for
each commission. It means
getting up at 4am whenever I
need flowers and driving up to
Vauxhall, but at that time of
morning there is hardly any
traffic and it’s close.”
Commissions have increased each
year and sometimes require
additional help. Elaine assists
whenever possible on the flower
rota at Christ Church, and helps
with the major festivals, even
if it’s just buying the flowers
at market.
Elaine Chester: Florist
61 South Park Road Wimbledon,
London SW19 8RT
Tel: 020 8540 2158
elainewimbledon@yahoo.co.uk |
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