A Floral Fairytale
If you love beautiful blooms and foliage but hate cellophane then we have excellent news - and that news is Flowerhead. In what sounds like a floral fairy tale of sorts, owner and founder Natalie-Rose Rutherford was trained by master florists in Amsterdam, after giving up a successful career in PR.
Not realising that a career mastering the art of beautiful flowers was a possibility, it became a reality when she arrived in Amsterdam, the flower capital of Europe. A chance encounter resulted in her finding her way through the cobbled lanes of Amsterdam to a boutique flower shop in the heart of the city surrounded by canals and most importantly flowers (Amsterdam is home to the world’s largest flower auction). Immersed in the art of floristy, Natalie-Rose learned her trade at this charming boutique and eventually made her way to London where her skills were amplified to tackle lavish parties and big time fancy weddings, expanding her floristry repertoire even further.
It was on a return to Amsterdam however, where her skills were taken next level. It turns out there is such a thing as a Master Florist and Natalie-Rose was trained by these very people, working on large-scale floral installations for fashion showrooms and themed pop-up shops to a level of detail and imagination that has to be seen to be believed.
This experience took what she knew about flowers and expanded the possibilities even further, and this depth of knowledge and ability to see flowers in a way most of us do not, means she can create floral masterpieces that most of us would never even think of - unless you also have made a floral bra? While she elevates the bread and butter of floristy - the posy - to a level of elegance guaranteed to earn you all the brownie points from any recipient, its when you get talking about floral creations for installations, events and the like that her mad skills become especially apparent. Lets just say, if its spectacular you want - its what you will get.
Luckily for us, the lure of Amsterdam couldn't compete with home for too long, and she recently returned to her hometown of Christchurch, to open her first solo venture - Flowerhead. Flowerhead is full spectrum, from a posy for a deserving friend, to weddings, office styling and full noise installations and parties, Natalie-Rose will create something which stands out from the norm. She has a range of ancillary items on hand to form part of the vision, including container, lanterns and silk flowers from Europe which have never been supplied to NZ before. Natural decorations and props sourced from her family farm, including floral chandelier bases made with vines and silver birch trunks to build pergolas also form part of her growing collection.
Her dedication is immense, and she has an extremely supportive family, her Mum has allowed her to dig up part of her beautiful lawn to create a cutting garden, full of varieties like cosmos, cornflowers and penstemons. It is currently blooming after a lot of hard work getting the soil ready and is a vision of pinks, blues and of course green in the backyard of her family home. From this garden, Natalie-Rose supplements the flowers purchased at the local flower auctions with handpicked blooms grown herself.
Flowerhead posies are a refreshing vision in a world which can have an unfortunate penchant for curling ribbon, brightly coloured boxes and wrappers and cellophane. So much cellophane. With only kraft and white tissue paper in sight, they are a sight for sore eyes. The colour palettes are stunning, muted pastels were a highlight of spring, with exceptional quality blooms, lovingly combined in a way that looks both elegant and, importantly, not over-engineered. Its a bit of a knack to make complicated arrangements look effortless so when we say they don't look overly put together, its a compliment of the highest order. They look natural and beautiful, the way flowers should look. Just better.