Our Milestones

I started working as manager for Flowers and More in Sea point in October 2002. Even though I love plants, flowers and gardening and started at an early age experimenting with Amarillas, this 'boerseun' was intimidated by the English names for flowers and plants. Everything was in English. Suddenly an 'angelier' was a carnation and 'asters' were sprays, and the roses had a new name every second day. Or so it felt.

This business was very fast.. Seeing as I was in the clothing industry for nearly 10 years, which was static and slow, you now worked with perishables that had to be replaced with fresh produce every couple of days.I was thrown into the deep end in Sea Point with the Jewish ladies, many celebs and international clients, but this was wonderful schooling.

After my stint in Sea Point I moved to Durbanville for a few months, and then myself and the owners of the company decided to open a branch in Paarl after weighing all our options for a suitable venue.Flowers and More branches opened at the Vineyard centre in Paarl on 18 June 2004. In 2006 I joined the Paarl flower club and soon reached success at flower shows, winter classes and practical workshops. In 2014 I became the chairperson of the Paarl Flowerclub.

At the Piketberg flower show in 2006 I won a 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize as a beginner, and in 2007 a photo of my work appeared in the international magazine, 'The Flower Arranger'. At the 2007 Piketberg flower show I was awarded the best beginner in the intermediate phase, and after that I also competed at the CTICC orchid show, where I was awarded a 2nd gold medal with the some of highest points attained in the show, while competing against advanched floral artists.

In 2009 I competed in 5 categories in the advanced department and won 2 first places, and 2 second places of which 3 were gold medals, also in the same year I won at the Paarl flower shows a first gold and second place gold in two categories. After this I took a break from competing in shows, and am looking forward to resuming my participation in 2012. After 2012 I decided to take a break from competitions, however after a 5 year break I entered the Helderberg Flower Show and won 2 Gold awards as well as best use of indiginous plant material at the Bredasdorp Floral Kingdom show.

But floral art and floristry are worlds apart. Florists do not do floral art, and vice versa. I personally have confused the two on numerous occasions with subsequent penalties during shows, but this has however opened many doors for me because I am the creative member of our team and helps to keep ideas fresh and not to stagnate as many florists do.

Doing arrangements for weddings also lets me practice my creative side, and my ability to think on my feet and adapt to situations manifests in greater and more beautiful scenario's on a constant bases, with very satisfied clients. My market is middle class weddings but we cater for any size wedding. I prefer couples to be open and honest with me so that we do not stumble into an unrealistic expectation with a Champaign taste and a lemonade pocket situation. Our quotes are always realistic and we always give more than asked for. I believe in fine detail because it is the final rounding of the product that completes the picture.