Hayford and Rhodes are an award winning florist with an impressive heritage of over 85 years of designing luxury flower for events and venues.
They were founded in 1924 by William Hayford who built an enviable reputation as one of London’s finest florists. The reins were handed to the Rhodes sisters in 2007 and ‘Hayford and Rhodes’ was born.
Their vast range of experience and expertise enables them to successfully deliver both classic and contemporary events on every scale imaginable – from exquisite table decorations to enormous marquee transformations. We are very proud to work with them as an approved supplier at Kent House Knightsbridge and recently caught up with Event Manager, Jenny O’Flynn, to find out what it’s like working at what Vogue Magazine describes as “London’s must have event florist”.
When did you know you wanted to be a florist?
Every day I used to walk past my local florist to art school, watching the simply stunning designs and displays that would radiate from the shop would always be the highlight of my morning. With a background in the creative arts and a pure love of nature I knew this would be a lifestyle I could turn my hand to.
What is the best event you have ever worked on?
Unfortunately the most high-profile events, the ones we’d love to be able to talk about are the ones we can’t! That’s part and parcel of the job, confidentiality of our clients is key. We had probably the most fun designing and organising one of our own events! With Hayford & Rhodes as the client it meant we could go all out colour in our most favourite flowers. Suffice to say the champagne was also a contributing factor!
What are the best and worst things about your job – aren’t all the early mornings a bit grim?
Hayford & Rhodes is a fab place to work as we have good buying power which means we can purchase directly from the auctions in Holland…, they deliver direct to the door! Whilst that keeps the ridiculously early mornings to the minimum it’s one of the genuine joys of the job as florists visiting the flower market.
If you could only have just one flower to share a desert island with you, what would it be?
That question is tough! As florists we love watching the seasons change and the drift of flowers each one brings with it. If I had to choose it would be the Peony, so glorious and romantic. As soon as Peony season comes round you’ll see an abundance of this stunning flower flow through the doors at Hayford & Rhodes
As a florist are people nervous about buying you flowers – have you ever received a garage pack of flowers?!
A stand out memory has to be when my H&R work colleagues requested I make up a super special luxury bouquet for a ‘VIP’ guest, free to choose whichever flowers I desired. Once finished (feeling very happy with myself) my colleagues presented the bouquet to me on behalf of my husband! I felt overwhelmed on the thought that went into the surprise and of course over the moon on my gorgeous bouquet of all my favourite flowers!
Do you have any advice for those starting out in the industry?
Put in the hours…. if you’re passionate about a career in floristry then jumping in at the deep end, not being afraid of hard work (and the cold) will get you everywhere.
Ask questions…. we are constantly learning and developing from our peers, floristry is a creative world and we are always pushing forward with our ideas and skillsets.
Take inspiration…. as florists we have a wealth of inspirational sources, art, fashion, interiors, the list is endless and of course not forgetting Mother Nature herself!
To get more ideas or help on styling your event talk to the team on 020 7610 2808 or email info@evolve-events.com