Floral Favourites | Meet Country Marketplace
With our new Partridge Partners venture on the horizon, we are excited to be teaming up with like minded businesses to bring our customers more beautifully made products from small devoted brands.
Country Marketplace creates premium quality faux floral arrangements and wreaths. Owner Julie has turned her passion for flowers into a business that is blooming. With some beautiful products now being sold in our Barton Marina store we are excited to soon launch Country Marketplace alongside other carefully selected brands online.
Discover more about Julie and her creations below.
Tell us a little bit about yourself, where you’re from and how your company started?
I am a relatively new business, although I have l always had a passion for beautiful floral decorations. As a child, I remember picking wild-flowers with my Mother around the countryside of Yoxall and coming home to press them, to make beautiful pictures. My other passions are family and Christmas- mainly as it is a time of celebration for family to get together.
Where has your passion for flower arranging and creating wreaths come from?
I love making wreath's for the door. Each year I would pick fresh holly and use foliage from the garden to spend time with friends making wreaths for our doors. A couple of years ago, when taking my Christmas wreath down- obviously at the last minute on January 6th- I thought how sad it was to take down the beautiful foliage that symbolized love, joy and hope, not to mention made a beautiful adornment. I spent time looking at faux seasonal wreaths and sorted out the best materials to make my own wreath for my door.
Why do you work with artificial flowers and how does the quality of yours differ to others?
I have a very busy life- I think this is true for most people- while I love fresh flowers, I haven’t the time to replenish and look after them. I wanted beautiful arrangements I could rely on staying beautiful without any additional attention from myself. I believe that a home should represent a place of sanctuary, fun and relaxation for the people you most cherish and therefore I will only use the highest quality faux I can find. Each wreath and arrangement is bespoke, I never quite know what the completed arrangement will look like, I just experiment with the flowers as I go, spending time to place each flower in it’s perfect position.
What style of home do you envision your customers to have?
My flowers are for anyone, who appreciates the joy of bringing high quality décor into their home, making it their haven a place for loved ones to feel welcome and enjoy. I received amazing feedback from friends and family, not to mention it is a very relaxing way to spend some down-time. From a hobby, a small business is emerging. What I love is the joy and pleasure people have from taking home their faux flower arrangements. I often receive pictures back and it is great to see how my arrangements have found a special place in their new home.
Do you do custom orders?
I have requests for colour schemes, which I am more than happy to accommodate, I cannot guarantee exactly what the finished product will look like due to the individualism of each design as it evolves.
As a small independent business what are some of your strongest values?
My strongest values are the quality of the product, complete customer joy and a love for my work which I hope is very event in the finished product.
What can we expect from you over the next couple of months in your products?
I look forward to each season, autumn will bring some more vintage colours- ‘Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ Keats springs to mind – always the romanticist! Then Christmas brings the delight and joy for creating individual wreaths that will enchant and hopefully enthuse a love for faux. I love to be more creative and individual – more Christmas wreaths can be adorned with vibrant red flowers that will look fabulous through the winter.
You can currently shop Country Marketplace products at our Barton Marina store. We will be launching online very soon!
