Sustainable Wedding Flowers

Why The Honey Seeker only uses seasonal British flowers in all of our arrangements

Congratulations on your engagement! Now the fun begins – planning your wedding!
Have you considered having a sustainable wedding and want to know more about the different options open to you? While I can’t speak for all aspects of wedding planning, I can advise you on your flowers.

In this day and age we are surrounded by information on how to live our lives in a more eco-friendly way. Weddings should be no exception and you probably don’t even realise, but traditional floristry is pretty high on the list of not-so-eco-friendly business.
Just a few facts:
– Flowers are intensely grown on farms around the world. These using heating and huge volumes water to grow flowers that wouldn’t normally be in season at that location. And often in countries that struggle for water already!
– Flowers are flown or shipped to flower markets (think the Dutch flower markets) and sold at auction before being packed straight back onto a plane and flown to their new locations.
– Flowers grown this way are often grown in huge quantities, which means there is no bio-diversity on the flower farm. And due to the demand for “perfect” flowers there is heavy use of pesticides to prevent bugs or insects from causing any damage.
– Flowers are cut before they are ready to bloom and then treated with chemicals to preserve them for the weeks it takes to get from the farm to your table. If you are planning on having flowers on your wedding cake, think about this first and the exposure of these chemicals to you!
– Alongside this, flowers are transported in refrigerated units to keep them in a dormant state until we’re ready to use them.
– To get the “perfect” blooms, flowers have been heavily cultivated, and this results in scent being lost.
– Flowers from the markets are still being shipped in single use plastic wrap. Although some companies are working to reduce this.
– Flower farms don’t always have high employment or welfare standards. However, this is not true of everywhere – more and more flower farms are now working with the Fairtrade Foundation to promote equality in the work environment.
– Research shows that flowers grown abroad and shipped into the UK has an average carbon footprint 10x greater than that of a British grown flower!

You can find a great article by the BBC here that goes into a lot more detail if you’re interested! Please also take a look at the Flowers From The Farm website for more great resources.

So where does The Honey Seeker come in?
Well, we have pledged to use only British grown flowers. Full Stop. And all other products used are produced and sourced in the UK wherever possible.
In fact, most of our flowers come from right here in Somerset – we use local flower farmers or grow our own, only really sourcing from further afield when we are after something more specific. What could be fresher than stems that have only travelled a couple of miles?
By using seasonal British grown flowers, you are getting an abundance of dreamy blooms with heavenly scents, and arrangements that you just wouldn’t be able to achieve from imported flowers.
We don’t promise any specific blooms, rather choosing to work with nature and use the flowers and foliage available to use on the day. But we can assure you, you will love what comes your way – the varieties and colours cannot be compared to anything else.
All of this comes wrapped up in silk ribbons from UK based Lancaster and Cornish – bamboo silk, ethically made and dyed using natural products foraged by Sian.
All of our floral mechanics are eco-friendly and re-usable, with no single use plastic and no floral foam! Think locally sourced moss and chicken wire instead!
If you have your heart set on particular blooms that may not be in season on the date of your wedding, please do not hesitate to discuss this with us – there are alternative options. We work in flower preservation and, with enough notice, may be able to dry your chosen blooms ahead of your day and incorporate them into your designs.

Have we convinced you? We hope so! Click here to book your wedding flowers today so we can bring the fairy tale feel of flowers to your wedding!