London’s Loveliest Florists For The Perfect Bouquet
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10 months ago
The city’s floral scene is well and truly in bloom
Valentine’s Day may be over, but you never need an excuse to buy your loved one a special bouquet (especially if that loved on is yourself). Looking for the best florists and flower delivery services in London? Whether you’re after romantic wildflowers or pretty peonies, elaborate bouquets or a single rose, London is blossoming with florists ready to fulfil all floral desires with the click of a button. Here’s our pick of the bunch.
London’s Best Florists & Flower Delivery Services
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The Real Flower Company
After noticing the lack of locally-sourced, scented flowers on the market, Rosebie Morton decided to launch her own florist in 1999. The Real Flower Company grows and sells finely scented cut roses, flowers, herbs and foliage, which are grown on LEAF-accredited UK farms, then handpicked and arranged into beautiful bouquets and displays. Better still, the company has impressive eco-credentials: it’s climate-positive and carbon-negative, meaning nothing has been grown with pesticides and you won’t find any plastic in the packaging. Order online or visit one of the lovely London stores. realflowers.co.uk
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Neill Strain
A pioneering florist, Neill Strain is London’s go-to luxury florist since 2008, spanning award-winning installations to beautiful arrangements for the one you love. There are three venues to shop in London – Belgravia, Mayfair and a concession in Harrods – and you’ll spot them a mile away thanks to their stunning facade installations, showcasing a taste of what’s in store when you step inside. No time to visit? You can order arrangements online, too. neillstrain.com
Pollenet
Typically hired for weddings and installations, Pollenet moves away from traditional floristry, focusing instead on bold, colourful designs that celebrate the colours and shapes of nature. pollenetflowers.co.uk
Lucy Vail Floristry
Planning a wedding? When it comes to flowers, Lucy Vail is the name to know. A British-born brand, Lucy Vail Floristry specialises in weddings and installations, having worked at some of London’s top venues including Claridge’s and Banqueting House. More recently, Lucy turned her hand to growing her own flowers, and set up a flower farm with the help of her family. As well as helping with big floral displays for events, Lucy Vail Floristry offers beautiful individual bouquets. lucyvailfloristry.com
Sage Flowers
If you’re after a more unusual bouquet, Sage Flowers should be your go-to. It’s the brainchild of Romy St Clair and Iona Mathieson Sage, neither of whom received any formal training in floristry – which, they believe, is why their designs stand out. The Peckham-based florist moves away from traditional arrangements, using a variety of dried and dyed items alongside fresh flowers. This has attracted a whole host of big names, including Stormzy, Gucci and Rhianna’s Fenty. Aside from the aesthetics, Sage Flowers aims to be a force for good, with both Iona and Romy big advocates for young female entrepreneurship and diversifying floristry. sageflowers.co.uk
Bloom & Wild
Petal pioneers Bloom & Wild fit their bouquets into letterbox-sized packaging to ensure delivery is always possible. Offering two-hour delivery within London, it’s perfect for the forgetful among us – there’s even an app allowing you to send flowers the same day at the tap of a button. bloomandwild.com
Ellie Hartley
The great-granddaughter of a flower-seller on Portobello Road, floristry is in Ellie Hartley’s blood. She began her career working at the family flower shop in Notting Hill, before going on to work for some of the biggest names in the floristry world. In 2016 she opened her own boutique on Mayfair’s Dover Street – linked to the renowned Browns Hotel – which sells a range of gorgeous blooms, available to have delivered all over London. elliehartleyflowers.com
Bloom
The UK’s first sustainable flower delivery company, Bloom is really special. Founded by celebrity florist Larry Walshe, Larry’s vision is for Bloom to offer ethical and environmental choices for customers who don’t want to compromise on the quality, style and beauty of their bouquets, plants and accessories. Not only are the floral arrangements absolutely stunning, they are sustainable and 100 per cent plastic-free. Every piece of packaging that arrives with a Bloom flower order is recyclable and/or compostable. bybloom.co.uk
Read Larry’s guide to eco-friendly flower arranging
Flowerbx
Founders Whitney Bromberg Hawkings and Adam Wilkie worked at Tom Ford for 20 years before launching Flowerbx, so you can guarantee the sleekest of bouquets. Not only do the designs offer an elegant and clean aesthetic, flowers are sourced directly from the growers, meaning they’re fresher and come at a lower cost. flowerbx.com
Grace & Thorn
Founded in 2011 by Nik Southern, this trendy East London florist began its life from a tiny studio on Kingsland Road. Their two stores – one on Hackney Road and another in Epping – have now re-opened, but the delivery service is still running, available nationwide for overnight delivery and across London for same-day. Grace & Thorn is known for its off-beat approach to floral and plant styling: there’s a focus on interesting textures, with bouquets drawing inspiration from the worlds of art and fashion. graceandthorn.com
JamJar Flowers
The idea for JamJar Flowers started in founder Melissa Richardson’s Sussex home, where she would collect wildflowers from the woods and arrange them in jam jars on the kitchen table. In 2009 she turned her passion into a business, and so JamJar Flowers was born. The company grew – they now operate from a Dickensian-inspired studio in Kennington and create displays for lavish places like Sketch and Chiltern Firehouse – but the simple, unfussy principles remain. Seasonal bouquets come in an array of colours, presented in jam jars, pickle jars, giant jars and enamel buckets. jamjarflowers.co.uk
Floom
Founded by Lana Elie, this Deliveroo-style service allows you to browse bouquets from a selection of local, independent florists throughout London. They offer same-day delivery, too. floom.com
McQueens Flowers
Since beginning its life as a tiny shop in Shoreditch in 1991, McQueens Flowers has become one of the world’s most prestigious internationally-acclaimed florists. You’ll spot their fashion-forward, design-led displays in top London hotels, but they also create some of the most striking hand-tied bouquets around. You can pick one up at the flagship store in Bethnal Green or at the Brook Street branch – or sign up to their new subscription service. Choose a bouquet designed by the McQueens Flowers team, or create your own, with subscriptions available on a weekly, fortnightly, monthly or annual basis. mcqueens.co.uk
Nikki Tibbles Wild at Heart
Renowned for her opulent, visionary and creative approach to flowers, Nikki Tibbles has been creating spectacular floral arrangements for over 20 years. Anyone who’s walked past Liberty London will have spotted the show-stopping Wild At Heart display flanking the entrance – and you may well have been lured to the in-store concession to pick up a bouquet for yourself. wildatheart.com
The Flower Appreciation Society
Anna Day and Ellie Jauncey discovered a mutual love for blooms while working in a pub 10 years ago. They started The Flower Appreciation Society to share their admiration for all things floral with the world – hence the name. Many flowers are sourced from their own cutting garden, which they set up in a disused backyard in Hackney. Not only is this better for the environment, it allows the floral masterminds to create beautifully wild and natural-looking arrangements. theflowerappreciationsociety.co.uk
Philippa Craddock
Philippa Craddock was firmly placed on the world stage in 2018, when she was commissioned to design the floral displays for Harry and Meghan’s wedding. Since then she has become one of the city’s most in-demand wedding florists – no surprise, as her designs are inimitable. She’s also known for her work with brands including Alexander McQueen, Hermès and Dior, and in 2014 she launched a flower school, which offers a range of courses for beginners and experienced florists. philippacraddock.com
Featured image: Kaitlyn Chow on Unsplash