Melbourne florist Victoria Whitelaw designs award-winning floral arrangements, from flowers by subscription to incredible standalone pieces using taxidermy pieces for private events.
Victoria Whitelaw’s interest in styling flowers began as a young girl working alongside her mother who was a florist herself.
From these early days, Victoria then went on to own multiple stores of her own, and more recently, the Victoria Whitelaw School of Flowers.
Victoria is proud to have personally trained her own daughter, Jessica, a third-generation florist, who works with her in the Victoria Whitelaw Beautiful Flowers flagship store in South Yarra.
Source: Victoria WhitelawRecently, Victoria Whitelaw Beautiful Flowers has partnered with the team at Kay & Burton Concierge, a curated network of qualified professionals, skilled-and-reliable tradespeople and creative talent to meet all their client’s property-related needs.
WILLIAMS MEDIA spoke to Victoria Whitelaw about the flower business and her partnership with Kay & Burton Concierge.
What inspired you to start Victoria Whitelaw Beautiful Flowers?
Opening Victoria Whitelaw Beautiful Flowers was the next step for me following previous flower stores that I owned. I was inspired to create a high-end floral boutique unlike any other flower store in Melbourne. My mother was a florist, so I grew up surrounded by flowers working alongside her from a young age. My daughter Jessica, a third-generation florist, now works alongside me as my operations manager and is a huge part of my business. You could say flowers are in our blood!
Source: Victoria WhitelawWhat is your favourite flower? Why?
I love bouvardia, a beautifully scented summertime bloom. When it’s in season, I can’t help but to fill my store and my home with it.
What attracted you to join Kay & Burton Concierge’s team of trusted referral partners?
With both our businesses being situated down the road from each other on Toorak Road, I have developed an ongoing working relationship with Kay & Burton over the years. They are a respected real estate company with a similar clientele to my own, so I had no hesitation in joining the Kay & Burton Concierge team to further cement our partnership and provide an impeccable floral service to their clients.
Where do you draw inspiration when asked to style a home or a room?
Always from the room itself. I look at the style of the room, the textures, the colours, the artwork, the forms and carefully select flowers and vessels to suit. The flowers should not overtake the room but complement the space.
Source: Victoria WhitelawHow do you create atmosphere with flowers?
When styled well, flowers truly breathe life into a room. I create atmosphere with blooms and plants by using them as another styling element within the space. They look incredible styled as a standalone piece as they do as part of a vignette.
What are your favourite places to see flower arrangements in a home?
I love to see flowers styled at the entrance to a home to make a welcoming first impression and a lovely abundant arrangement in the heart of the home which I believe to be the dining table or in the kitchen.
Source: Victoria WhitelawWhat are unusual places that people don’t think to put an arrangement?
People often forget about the small rooms of the house such as the powder room. It is a lovely touch to style a petite vase of scented floral in the bathroom next to a fragrant candle and fluffy hand towel. Small vessels are also a wonderful way to utilise off-cuts or broken blooms and foliage.
Victoria Whitelaw Beautiful Flowers offers a subscription service for weekly, fortnightly or monthly arrangements. How do you tailor arrangements to suit each client?
We speak to our clients about the style of their home, their preferred colour palette and any floral likes and dislikes they may have. Then we create a stunning everchanging arrangement of blooms personalised to their preferences.
How has ‘work from home’ affected subscriptions?
We have found our subscription sales have increased while many have needed to work from home. A regular delivery of flowers really stimulates those who are feeling a little bored or uninspired by their surroundings and they undoubtedly bring joy during difficult and isolating times.
Source: Victoria WhitelawWhat is the most unusual/interesting brief you’ve been given?
It wasn’t so much an interesting brief but more that the client gave me complete freedom and let me run with my wild ideas! She was hosting a private sit-down event at home with dining tables set up in different rooms. I was inspired by the beautiful artwork in each of the rooms, some of which featured animals. I asked her how she felt about including taxidermy animals in my designs. The response was a positive one! Among other designs, I styled taxidermy peacocks perched over luscious ferns on one table; and in another a full-size jaguar took centre stage in the middle of the dining table. It was incredible and one event I would have loved to be a fly on the wall to witness the guests’ reactions!
With whom is your Flower School most popular?
Our flower school is most popular with ladies wanting to learn how to style flowers for their own homes. They often come in pairs and groups and have a lovely time together while learning a new skill. They leave our school knowing how to turn a few humble bunches of blooms into a stunning arrangement to display at home.
Source: Victoria WhitelawWhat geographic areas does Victoria Whitelaw Beautiful Flowers cover?
We cover all of greater Melbourne, Geelong and the Mornington Peninsula but can travel further afield too.
What are you working on at the moment?
We are always working on a number of exciting projects at any one time! Currently we are working with a petrol brand rolling out a gorgeous selection of dried and preserved floral arrangements, hampers and plants throughout their various outlets in Victoria and interstate. We were also invited to exhibit at Art of Bloom alongside the best Australian and international floral creatives which is set to be a stunning event at the NGV in April 2022. My team and I are busy planning our exhibit for that as well as designing many other beautiful weddings and events for 2022.
Source: Victoria WhitelawWhat is something that would surprise our readers about you?
I survive on much less sleep than most! With very early morning trips to the flower market and the somewhat anti-social hours of event styling a 100-hour working week is not unusual for me. I have a wonderful team who help ease the pressure of running a successful business, but some of my favourite parts of being a florist are tasks I could handover to my team. I love being on the flower benches creating alongside my team and I enjoy the early mornings at market buying beautiful blooms for our clients and witnessing the change of seasons.
Source: Victoria WhitelawWhat do you enjoy in your down-time?
I love pottering on my farm in the Goulburn Valley whenever I find a moment to step away from the business. Although, I am guilty of taking work to the farm on occasion!
Source: Victoria WhitelawI have an organic veggie garden on the farm, and I love to get creative in the kitchen cooking big family feasts and homemade meals from freshly harvested produce. I also love skiing and adventure. Being out in nature and away from the hustle of the city really helps to make me feel refreshed and recharged and ready to take on the world again!
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