Lucy Vail Floristry is an award-winning luxury floral design studio that specializes in weddings, events, and installations. The successful company is well-known for 'bringing the outside in' and using vibrant colors to transform any space into an immersive botanical wonderland. All of their projects are seasonal and sustainable, with the majority made entirely from British flowers. Lucy Vail is the main character taking over this week's florist special.
The Florist Star of the Week - Lucy Vail
Lucy Vail, a London-based florist, brings more than a little dash of floral magic to her work, from Italian-inspired tablescapes drenched in lush foliage and frothy blooms to staircases dripping in botanicals, as if these flowers were brought out of a fairy tale, literally. Owner of Lucy Vail Floristry, she caters for everything from the smallest of bouquets to hefty installations infused with imagination and skill. Everything her business creates is approached with the florist's unique blend of sustainable techniques, British blooms, and undeniable talent.
Every design, from a small bouquet to a large-scale installation, is inspired by the delicate forms and textures of the flowers themselves, which means that, like nature, no two projects are alike. The entire team behind Lucy Vail Floristry is always pushing the creative boundaries of luxury floral design by incorporating new sustainable techniques. Entering each space designed by Lucy and her team is like discovering a secret garden for the first time: a magical world brimming with vibrant British flowers.
She shares with the world:
"We create floral wonderlands with seasonal blooms for weddings, events, and installations. We use as many British flowers as possible and lots of color.”
Lucy's Career Background and Path Towards Becoming a Renowned Florist
Lucy was not always in the wedding decor industry. She always dreamed of a career in print design and it wasn’t until her last year of university that she thought of switching to floristry. Vail took a wreath-making course at 16 years old and loved it. From there she sold wreaths to fund her degree and one of her clients called her out of the blue to ask if she would their daughter’s wedding flowers and the rest is history. As part of her trajectory in the floral industry, she spent six months using YouTube tutorials to learn how to put together floral installations and practice in her parent’s garage, even testing out the strength of swinging off the garage ceiling to make sure her hanging installations were sturdy enough!
Purely by accident, she had found her passion. The adrenaline and the goal of pushing the boundaries of design was a big driving force but seeing several brides' reactions was like nothing she had experienced and it’s still what Lucy loves the most about her job to this day. After this first job, she reached out to a top party planner and asked who the best florist in the world was at the time and they mentioned a company in Florence that had done the weddings of Kim Kardashian, George Clooney, and many more.
She begged this company for a job for three months before they eventually gave in. The floral designer and artist worked and trained with them for a year, before heading to Venice to work with another company for a further six months. During her time in Italy, Vail learned how to use color, texture, and fruits to create the extraordinary through florals. She has now been running her business for seven years and still loves every single day in this passionate industry.
Top Moments and Highlights in Lucy Vail's Career Until Now
As some of her top moments in her career, Lucy Vail shares her three most special ones to this day.
To start, her first 'wow' moment was when she was chosen to decorate the Bull Ring Gate entrance of RHS Chelsea 2022. It was a dream come true for her. Lucy is incredibly proud of her involvement because she, along with her talented team built the largest installation to date with over 2,500 British-grown plants and she didn’t realize at the time but she is the youngest florist to have dressed that entrance to date.
Secondly, her wedding back in June 2022 was incredibly special. Her entire team brought her dream wedding florals to life and it was magical. Lucy was so proud of her team and what they had achieved for her special day.
Lastly, discovering British blooms and collaborating on Floriston Flower Farm in Suffolk with her mom is also one of the most special moments in her career. In the first lockdown, Lucy and her mother decided to start their flower farm and made it their mission to champion British blooms through all of the work LVF does. They aim to use 100% British blooms eventually and she is so proud to say that they have used predominantly British blooms for our projects between March and November, using a minimum of 1,000 stems a week from Floriston in peak season.
She states:
"The farm continues to grow and I’m so excited to see what the coming years bring.”
Floriston Flower Farm by Lucy Vail and Her Mother
Lucy jumped at the chance to start a flower farm with her family. Floriston Flower Farm, founded in 2020, is run by Lucy's mother, Amanda Vail. With such a close relationship between the grower and florist, they can both plant exactly what is required in the LVF studio, reducing waste. As a team, they deliver truly unique, high-quality blooms straight from seed to vase, and on top of all the magnificent work they already do, they've opened an online shop where customers across the country can order luxury bouquets or DIY buckets as one-time purchases or monthly subscriptions.
Want to know more about Lucy and her work? Give Lucy Vail's Instagram account a look to know what this award-winning luxury floral design studio has brought to magazines such as Vogue, House & Garden, Harpers Bazaar, and more.
Photos by @lucyvailfloristry.
