Up to 100 florists from all over Ireland will be competing for the coveted prize of Irish Florist Guild ‘Florist of the Year’ this Sunday, at the Moran Hotels Convention Centre in Dublin. The Guild is the trade representative body for florists in Ireland and will be using the event to showcase professional floristry as an artistic dynamic craft, executed by passionate and skilled artists. Assisting the competitors to stay ahead of the curve, will be five time Chelsea Gold Medal Winner Joe Massie, who is holding 2 workshops for the professional florists. The Guild have also introduced a ‘New to Competition’ category for those just starting out in competitive floristry. There were over 80 entrants last year fighting for prizes worth over €3000 and of course IFG ‘Florist of the Year’ crown.
The Guild are keen to promote the differences between the service you get from a professional retail florist versus a supermarket flower buying experience.
Ciara Quigley, Secretary of the Irish Florist Guild explains “Of course you can buy flowers in a supermarket that may or may not be cheaper than those from your local florist. The gifting of flowers though, is such an emotional experience for both the giver and receiver. It is important that the seller knows how best to care for, display and make the gift last as long as possible.” She goes on to say, “As floral artists and retailers we are unique in that we have an emotional relationship with our customer’s through birth to marriage, death to remembrance and everything in between.”
This relationship also includes many Irish men who can attest to having been saved from a fate worse than death, due to a timely reminder of a partners birthday or special occasion, from their friendly local florist.
