Mothering Sunday / Mothers Day

What a wonderful Mothering Sunday (Mothers Day in the UK, on Sunday 14th March). Described by our florists variously as “FANTASTIC” and “JUICY”, we were blessed with entirely lovely clients and a respectable increase in business over last year, in spite of the ongoing financial climate. It seems that Mum remains a priority for most people whatever other hardships exist, and other maternal relationships were also being recognised - a lot of our clients ordered more than one item, remembering the Mother-in-Law and Nan as well as Mum.

Mothering Sunday is not just one day for florists - it builds up like a crescendo over the preceding week, with the busiest day in the shop being Saturday, followed by a rush on Sunday morning which usually tails off and comes to a stop around midday as everyone gets ready for the celebratory lunches. Most of the deliveries go out on Sunday morning, compressed into a manic four hour period between 8am and 12pm though many orders are aslo delivered on the Saturday.

This year was consistently busy in the shop from Thursday through Sunday and on the day itself it just kept on coming - by Saturday close of play we’d sold all the flowers we’d received, ordered again on Sunday morning and sold all of them too by the end of the day. We had planned to close at 2pm on Mothering Sunday but in the end we stayed open an additional two hours and had quite a few grateful late-comers, that basically cleared out the stock - THANK YOU!

We noticed an increase in advance orders this year and in people finding us through our web site (www.zaraflora.com) and other listings on the internet (including our Facebook pages and Twitter). Also, we realised that we were attracting customers across a wider range of age groups and budgets. We had planned in advance for this by broadening our selection of offerings and price levels and it was heartening to find that everything we had to offer found a buyer. The budget most frequently mentioned by clients (i.e. what they hoped to spend) was GBP 30 and most popular choices were those products which included or were based on Spring Flowers - which probably explains why our biggest seller this year was a Hand Tied Bouquet of Spring Flowers at GBP 30. The second biggest seller was an Aqua Packed Hand Tied Bouquet of mixed flowers at GBP 45.

Our range of products for Mothers Day included Narcissi in an elegant glass vase for just GBP 9.60 (these sold like hot cakes), houseplants such as Jasmine (GBP 11.50), Stephanotis (GBP 12.50), Hydrangeas (GBP 20) and Orchids (GBP 22.75, GBP 25 and GBP 37.50), Hyacinths and Ranunculus in miniature painted buckets for GBP 25 (another big seller), Hand Tied Bouquets of Mixed Spring Flowers (GBP 30), Planted Baskets (GBP 30), Planted Troughs (GBP 30) and mixed Aqua Packed Bouquets (GBP 45 to GBP 55). We also had many orders for bespoke bouquets and planted arrangements and supplied orchids for Mother’s Day Lunch gifts to local hotel clients.

We delivered Mothers Day flowers to all of our usual locations in West Sussex, East Sussex, Surrey and Kent througout the weekend - all day Saturday and until later than expected on Sunday as extra orders continued to arrive. The traditionally busiest period between 8am and 12pm on Sunday morning was the greatest challenge, yet our delivery drivers emerged unscathed and with honour! We did have a few Mothers at the the doors in their PJ’s though all were pleased to be disturbed, thankfully, and basically everyone was happy - HOORAY!

So, farewell to the rollercoaster for another year - the Twin Peaks of Valentines Day and Mothers Day are behind us, along with the stress, adrenalin rushes, sore hands and aching feet that accompany them. Now we move forward to a full season of weddings and events

From Valentines to Mothering Sunday

So the excitement of Valentine’s Day is over for another year. Zara and Clare have very sore hands and arms now from making so many bouquets but have emerged triumphant. Janet and Marite conditioned, restocked, sold and despatched the flowers, marshalling the men towards the products they needed to earn their brownie points and helping with just about everything. Chris and I whizzed around the highways and byways of Sussex, Surrey and Kent delivering Zara Flora Valentine’s designs and eliciting squeals of pleasure, shy smiles and occasional bemusement from the recipients. And as I write, one of those recipients has just been in to book us for her wedding - thank you Gabrielle. The next big date in the UK florists’ calendar is less than four weeks away - Mothering Sunday/Mother’s Day is on 14th March.

Valentine’s Day is on its way!

Next up is Valentine’s Day - yes chaps it’s in less than four weeks now - and this year it falls on a Sunday. The good news for those that slip up and forget to pre-order the flowers (and whose life would ordinarily not be worth living afterwards in the absence of blooms, or worse still the offering of petrol station forecourt specials) is that Zara Flora will be OPEN on the day itself……..so if a last minute fix is needed, just make sure you wake up before your beloved does and nip along to pick up a bouquet. That said, even though everything on sale will be beautiful, the most stunning flowers and the widest choice are available to those that order early.

We’ll be delivering gorgeous bouquets and arrangements of flowers to Valentines across Sussex and Surrey on Thursday 11th, Friday 12th, Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th February 2010. So, for all office Romeos and Juliets that may not get to see each other over the weekend, you can send your romantic gift and message on the Thursday or Friday and let the object of your desires know that you’ll be thinking of them on Sunday.

Valentines on Twitter at http://twitter.com/valentinesroses

Zara Flora on Twitter

Follow Zara Flora on Twitter

http://twitter.com/zaraflora
This is our main Twitter account, to which our primary Facebook fan page is linked, and our id is “zaraflora”. We tweet about anything to do with our business as a Master Florist, and our flower shop in East Grinstead, West Sussex, including one-off special offers and the flowers and plants that are in stock. As weddings are such an important part of our business (with around 100 every year), we often tweet about wedding flowers, brides and grooms, and wedding venues; along with links to photos of our work and to related sites. We also tweet about other suppliers of good and services that we come across and like to suggest to our followers. Finally, you’ll get the occasional opinion, as well as a few completely random offerings just for fun / to keep ourselves sane.

http://twitter.com/flowerchristmas
A Twitter account just for Christmas, to which our Christmas Facebook page is linked - our Christmas Twitter id is “flowerchristmas”. We tweet about all the things that we’re making and selling for Christmas, such as wreaths, table arrangements, Christmas bouquets of seasonal flowers, decorations, toys and gifts. We include updates about this year’s Christmas stock and special offers and send out reminders as the usual dates (such as Advent) draw near. We take photos of the Christmas designs that we’ve made up and tweet about these with the links to albums on our Christmas Facebook page and/or the Zara Flora web site gallery. We also tweet about Christmas shopping days and Christmas events that we know are coming up locally in East Grinstead, Forest Row and Lingfield, and regionally in West Sussex, East Sussex and East Surrey.

So - follow Zara Flora on Twitter!

Zara Flora on Facebook

Zara Flora now has two easy to remember URL’s for Facebook fan pages.

http://www.facebook.com/myflowers
This takes you to the main Zara Flora fan page, where apart from news updates and information you can find several photo albums showing our work, particularly recent weddings - often this page is updated with photos that have yet to appear on the Zara Flora web site gallery. There are also various links and notices, and our updates from this page are linked automatically to Zara Flora on Twitter.

http://www.facebook.com/christmasflowers
As the name suggests, this fan page is dedicated to Christmas and you’ll find lots of photos of christmas flowers, bouquets, arrangements, wreaths, table centres, decorations, toys and gift ideas related to this wonderful annual festival. The updates from our Christmas Facebook page are linked through to a special Zara Flora Christmas page on Twitter.

If you’re not already a fan of these pages - join us now!

Weddings at The Alexander House Hotel

It’s been a busy year for weddings at The Alexander House Hotel, and for Zara Flora of course, as the Hotel’s preferred florist. This Sunday, 13th September, Alexander House is hosting a Wedding Open Day / Wedding Fayre in conjunction with Your Sussex Wedding Magazine, open between 11am and 3pm on  - come and see us! http://www.yoursussexwedding.co.uk/alexanderhouse_sep09.cfm