Chrissie Price may be the most well-known unknown florist in the business. Florists and their customers across the UK send and receive her designs every day without realising it – that’s because Chrissie is the creative director for iflorist, so she’s responsible for putting together every product in their range.
“I probably design about 10 bouquets a week on average,” Chrissie says. And, while that may not sound like much, you have to consider that, when Chrissie designs an arrangement, she’s not just completing one product for one order, she’s making something that will be used for thousands of orders up and down the country – so it has to be meticulously researched and expertly crafted. It also has to balance artistic flair with commercial viability. “I test flowers regularly for quality and to work out the perfect combinations for price, creativity and vase life,” says Chrissie. “I do everything a flower shop has to do really just without the customers.”
Chrissieis also a trained photographer and takes all the pictures for the iflorist design guides. “I wouldn’t let anyone else do it,” she says. “You need a certain eye for photographing flowers. For one product I typically make up four bouquets and take 100 or so photographs just to get the right image.” That would be hard work for most people, but for Chrissie it’s a dream job. “It’s not as hard as working in a florist shop,” she insists. “I don’t think people realise how hard florists work. I used to work 16 hours some days when I was a florist.”
In addition, Chrissie has a wealth of international experience to bring to bear on her role. “I’ve worked all around the world and that’s a big influence on me” she says. “I started out in my mum’s shop in Rochdale at 14 so that’s where I learned the trade – I guess you could call it the Constance Spry method. That’s what I took to New Zealand, where I lived for 15 years. They couldn’t get enough of anything that was English at the time. Just through word of mouth I began to get some very big contracts, working for Saatchi & Saatchi, the Sydney Opera House, the New Zealand Parliament and the first lady governor general. Though the job I’m most proud of was for the royal wedding of a Samoan prince.”
Chrissie also spent some time in Singapore before returning to the UK and starting work for iflorist in 2000. “I missed the daily contact with customers at first,” she says. “But we go out to a lot of shows to meet other florists and take trips to Holland a lot to see growers. There’s no typical day here. I may not arrive at 9am but when the creative juices are flowing I’ll stay very late. Sometimes I’ll be working very intensively for six weeks and then have a break but I’m constantly thinking of new ways to help our florists.”
Though she may not get to meet the recipients of her creations, in a way they meet her every time they receive an iflorist bouquet, as her personality comes out in every arrangement she creates. “I keep up with the latest trends and am always thinking ahead,” she says. “And if something isn’t right I don’t hold back.” Asked how, with so many products to create and design guides to produce, she keeps it fresh, she says simply: “It seems to come naturally. I just have a love for it.”
One of the most recent projects Chrissie has worked on has been the iflorist Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen range. For this, Chrissie and Laurence worked together to create the fresh and exciting bouquets that combine Chrissie’s years of experience and expertise with Laurence’s famed stylistic flair. The result is a fusion of their two creative personalities. “I asked him for his likes and dislikes first of all,” says Chrissie. “But he’s actually very well informed and knows what he’s talking about. He knows florists are struggling and one of the first things he said to us was: ‘What can I do to help?’ I’m proud of what we achieved together.”
Though her role goes way beyond what a typical florist would have to contend with, Chrissie still thinks of herself as just a regular florist. She says: “When I’m designing our products I’m thinking like a florist working in a shop – like any other.” It’s this attitude – this grounding in the reality facing florists on the high street – that has helped make her work so successful.
