Local florist Claire Carter, from La Luna Floral Design in Oakley, was nominated for the Best Florist for Hampshire and Isle of Wight awards in this year’s awards.
Although La Luna missed out on first place, the florist was placed in the top five across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which is blooming impressive to say the least.
CommunityAd were lucky enough to catch Claire in between her busy schedule of organising weddings and carrying out freelance work to chat about herself and the much-deserved award.
Claire moved to Oakley from Devon in 2012, having previously grown up in Waltham just down the road, and brought La Luna Floral Design with her, having to find new custom and start the business from scratch again.
Where did your passion for floristry begin?
“I’ve always been creative and upon leaving school I went and did art & design at Basingstoke, during that time my parents bought what was supposed to be a side-line business of a florist wholesalers in Andover in which I did a bit of part-time work. Unfortunately, my grandad passed away and I wanted to do the flowers myself, which I’d never done before.
“I did the flowers for him and the florist next to the funeral directors where he went saw the display and said “she’s got a real flare for it, she should become a florist” and it’s gone from there really.
“To be recognised was incredibly nice, I’m really grateful and pleased to have got that far. Of course, it would have been nice to win, but I’m thankful to everyone who voted for me.”