It all began in London.
Back when overseas travel was a thing, that is 2019, Campbell and I spent 10 days in London.
We’d been traveling for almost 5 months around Europe, The Middle East, and North Africa, and we were tired. We had asked Kiwi friends, Matt & Charlotte who are doing their 2 year OE in London, if they’d mind us crashing at their’s for a bit. Honestly, I have learned so much about hospitality by people in our travels. These two, had no hesitation about us just staying with them and taking time out.
We had no real plans to visit the sites of London, because we had already done that several times on previous trips, so instead we walked the quaint streets nearby their apartment, we sat at their window which overlooked the busy main street of Hackney Central, we drank coffee at boutique cafes, we cooked the evening meal while they were at work, and generally just relaxed.
Matt and Charlotte had taken us to the Columbia Road Flower Market in the East End where I was in my element. I loved it! Here in New Zealand we don’t have the same market style thing going on. But in London on the weekends, stall holders set up their flowers and they yell out their wares tempting you as the passer-by to buy from them, at the cheapest price and the best quality. The cockney accents of the merchants “aye’een mixed primroses, a fiv-ah” made me smile. Of course, I bought an arm full of bunches of flowers to take back to their apartment and play with.
The second time we visited this market, it was only 2 weeks prior to Christmas. Christmas in England is well celebrated and the streets and homes decorated accordingly. It’s also cold, which gave us Kiwis a taste of Northern Hemisphere Christmas celebrations. Charlotte wanted to make a fresh Christmas wreath to hang on her door, and of course I obliged – her appealing to my inner-florist.
I bought the necessary bits required and we set about to make this wreath together. She did such a great job. It looked fantastic! I have the feeling Charlotte loves flowers. She often has them in her home. Not long after we left, she ordered online something that is quite common in the U.K – subscription flowers: flowers arriving in a box, to the doorstep, on a regular basis. I’d returned to New Zealand by then, but Charlotte enthusiastically shared this with me and made the suggestion, “You should do this.”
I have experienced being on the end of a subscription and I loved it! A girl friend once anonymously subscribed me to a year of a home décor magazine. Month after month in my letterbox there was another issue. I loved it! I would set it aside until I had time, then I’d sit with a coffee and devour the glossy pages of beautiful homes. It wasn’t until near the end of the year that I figured out who had given me this exciting and ongoing gift.
I googled florists in the U.K on the Web, and on Pinterest, and began to get a little excited about the idea. How could I do this here in New Zealand? It’s not totally new to New Zealand, there are florists offering the regular delivery of flowers to clients around the country. What I loved about what I saw in the U.K was the way it was that little extra special. Boxed flowers. The excitement build-up on Instagram of what may be arriving next week or next month. The journey then posted of selecting the flowers from the market, the making of the bouquets, the anticipation around delivery, and being the receiver. It felt like every month, subscribers were having a taste of Christmas, over and over, and over again.
I love the Flower Club! I get excited thinking about the person receiving the flowers. I get excited about what is in season that I could use. I get excited about making the bouquets and packaging them up ready for delivery. I can’t wait for the person on the other end to open their box and enjoy the flowers – even if I know nothing of them, I still get excited in anticipation of it!
And so, I imagine your excitement! The courier turning up, the anticipation of what the flowers may be, and the joy and beauty these will add to the windowsill, entrance table, coffee table, or wherever the favourite spot. I choose the flowers. You choose how often. It works just like the magazine subscription my girl friend gifted me.
I guess it’s all part of that Christmas spirit – or the spirit of anticipation in giving. Arranging flowers does that for me. And well, if you’d like to be on the receiving end, I’d love to add you to the Flower Club and get you a little excited each month too.
You can subscribe to the Flower Club here: www.wildabouteve.nz
