Responsible for some of London’s most Instagrammed floral installations, TOAST chats to Early Hours founder Lizzie Powell to hear more about their incredible and innovative floral designs. 
2017 has seen more floral installations that you can shake a long-stemmed lily at; whether it’s eye-catching shop windows, lavish restaurant doorways or entire living walls of floral abundance – flower power has well and truly swept the nation. One London based florist riding this floral wave in fabulous style is Early Hours who specialise in show-stopping event work, as well as producing weekly floral displays for offices, hotels, restaurants and private homes. “Early Hours means flowers in Cockney rhyming slang!” explains founder Lizzie Powell. “When I started the business I was living in Shoreditch with my now husband Joe who was born and bred in East London and often says things in Cockney Rhyming dialect. I also usually start work at 4am - so the name made perfect sense!” 
Established in 2012, Early Hours started out, like most, with just few small projects but Lizzie and a group of enthusiastic florists were deeply passionate about style and creativity balanced with good value, so they quickly gained a reputation for producing innovative floristry and the ability to take a client’s idea and turn it into a design that both exceeded their original expectations but was also affordable and realistic. “We are really passionate about creativity and moving away from the expected when it comes to working with flowers, and we pride ourselves on coming up with innovative designs that combine both flowers as well as other interesting elements…” Lizzie explains. “My grandparents were both professional gardeners and they instilled a vast knowledge of flower varieties in my late mother, giving her a passion for all things floral. In turn, my mum and my grandparents both passed this love of flowers and nature onto me” 
Lizzie went on to study Textile Design at Leeds University where she learnt how to fully explore creative concepts. After leaving university she became increasingly interested in floral design and had her first experience of high-end floristry at none other than world-renowned florists - Jane Packer London. “Here I learnt the reality of the industry and was inspired by the various pathways flowers could take you. After working there for 5 years I took a break, and moved into creating my own floristry business vision…” 
Despite the evident success of her very own floristry business – Lizzie describes the creation of Early Hours as a “a happy accident'. “The business found me when I was offered an opportunity to create a weekly large floral display in an office for a friend - I made the most of the opportunity and put my heart and soul into making every design interesting and different” she explains. “From then on, new and exciting creative projects kept finding me, before I knew it I'd accidentally started a business!” 
Today, Early Hours is one of the leading florists London with a reputation for designing innovative, beautiful floristry that makes a maximum impact without costing the earth. It is this attitude and an honest approach that has gained them both trust and recognition, and the title of ‘flower artists’. “We actually didn't come up with the term Flower Artists ourselves! But our job title has been described as this by some of our clients” explains Lizzie. “I'm guessing the labelling came about because we mix both flowers and other creative mediums into our designs, so sometimes 'florists' isn't always the most appropriate job title for us…” 
The other creative mediums that Lizzie mentions vary; Early Hours’ stunning Easter installation at London’s Covent Garden featured brightly coloured bunny rabbits and eggs nestled in amongst the abundant, beautiful florals. Their work for luxury London restaurant Sexy Fish featured water lilies and lily pads, shiny perspex sharks and hundreds of trailing orchids. More recently there were colourful tennis balls and vintage racquets aplenty intertwined with sunflowers, foliage and wisteria that made up their jaw-dropping Wimbledon displays for The Ivy Collection. “We are always looking for beautiful or exciting colours and textures - there is no great thought process but we never randomly include something just for the sake of it” Lizzie explains. “Usually the piece will be lacking something and it then becomes obvious what is missing…it might be a bright yellow or a bit of sparkle and sometimes only a lemon or a piece of mirrored perspex will give us the lift we are looking for.”
By: THURSD. | 30-10-2019 | 4 min read
