I love discovering wedding businesses that are multi-faceted and this week’s Behind the Door is no exception. I am so excited to visit the flower filled world of Flos Botanical Studio in Abbotsford, Melbourne. Owned by Vivien Hollingsworth, Flos Botanical Studio is a flower shop, creative space, retail store and workshop classroom all rolled into one.
Vivien has a fine arts background which has put her in good stead as a florist with a focus on delighting in the seasonal, fragrant and unexpected. What started as a passion project in a garden shed has grown into a store, although Vivien tells me she wasn’t exactly searching for a retail space. “I was actually more looking to move house” says Vivien “and I was looking for somewhere with a great shed or garage to run my floristry business from”. Finding an apartment that came with a shop was an unexpected surprise and Vivien was excited by all the possibilities for her business.
“The store was originally a reclaimed timber furniture store” says Vivien “so it came with some beautiful features like white cement floors and designer timber shelving”. Still it needed some work. Vivien painted the space white, created a pegboard wall for her tools and fitted the space out with an eclectic mix of workbenches, shelving and plant displays.
The front of the store is an ever changing display of seasonal blooms with a carefully curated selection of retail products like cards, ceramics and candles perfect for creating a thoughtful gift. It’s open to the public Thursday-Saturdays and you can also order online anytime.
Behind the storefront is Vivien’s work space where she creates wedding flowers and hosts workshops or flower classes for special occasions like hens days and baby showers. Flos Botanical studio is also the perfect place for couples to meet with Vivien and discuss colour palettes, seasonal flower availability, floral style and special touches like hanging floral instillations to add to their wedding day.
I ask Vivien what her favourite part about having the store is and she tells me it’s getting to be a part of the local Abbotsford community. “I love my brides but it’s lovely to meet shop customers too now” says Vivien “and it’s fun to buy what I like at the market and have a play back at the store creating poseys and arrangements”. Vivien tells me there also also fantastic cafes and other wedding vendors like The Small Things Co just next door, Abbotsford is definitely worth a visit for brides to be!
Images by Jessica Grilli Photography via Flos Botanical studio
Ms Zigzag says: Such gorgeous floral arrangements and I can only imagine how beautiful Flos Botanical must smell.
About the author Amelia Waddell of Make Your Day Wedding Styling: I’m a wedding stylist and proud store owner who loves to chat weddings with everyone and anyone! I love to talk shop with other business owners (particularly over some chocolate cake!) and am the first to try and have a sticky beak behind the scenes of any event. My free time is spent ‘investigating’ new cafes, stores and events.
I used Flos Botanical for my wedding after a referral from another florist who couldn’t do the job and was incredibly disappointed. They were really bad at replying to emails months leading up to the wedding and they don’t return phone messages. Sometimes it would take them weeks to reply to suggestions or changes I wanted for the big day. When I walked down the aisle on my wedding day I noticed the flowers weren’t right and some things were missing. I contacted them following the wedding and the items had dropped off the invoice by mistake after I had amended the order (due to delays in email replies, failure to return messages and poor communication). Also, the lapel flower for the groom was pretty bad- the rose was not fresh and solid and was wilting during the ceremony. It really ruined my wedding day and ceremony and even now, months after the wedding, I still think about it. I had regrets using them and when I experienced the poor communication I had a bad feeling about it. Because I had paid the deposit for the flowers I stuck it out. My advice to other brides is to not use flos. botanical and if there is bad communication, even if your deposit has been paid, ask for a refund and find another supplier, you only have your big day and moment once in your life.