Where has the week gone? I can’t quite believe that it’s already Friday again…and time for this week’s Florist Friday interview! It’s the turn of London-based florist, Zlatko ‘Todd’ Todic of Todich Floral Design.
Could you tell us about your floristry background?
Someone who once asked me this same question remarked that I obviously ended up here because it was ‘somewhere between science and art’. From being an agriculture student at university and working part-time as an extra at the opera and ballet, I eventually found my way to a career in floristry, which as a mixture of science and art itself, is somewhere between them both.
When I first arrived in the UK in the early 90s, I worked at New Covent Garden Flower Market for about a year, before starting to do some work for Paul Thomas. So, my career in floristry really has grown from the floor up, so to speak. I also did some work for Rob van Helden and Harper & Tom’s. And one day, after Tom asked me how old I was (26 at the time), he said ‘you should really make up your mind about what you’re going to do with your life’. His suggestion had a profound effect on me, and I thought about it long and hard when I got home. And it was really at that point that I decided to focus 100% on becoming a florist, and that this is what I wanted to do. For the next few years, I concentrated on building up my experience, working regularly with Paul Thomas and freelancing for other designers too, as well as taking projects on myself, when I could.
When did you set up Todich Floral Design and where are you based?
I set up Todich Floral Design in 1998 after saving for what seemed like an eternity! For the first few years, I actually worked from home. But then finally in 2000, we moved to our current location in Camberwell. I took on one employee, who I met at the flower market looking for a job and trained her from scratch. I remember it well. She came up and asked if I had any jobs going. And I was desperate for help at the time, so we literally just hopped on the van and that was it. I had my first member of staff.
Today, the business consists of a talented team of five florists and designers, plus myself, our customer services representative and book-keeper. We operate out of two workshops and have worked on some amazing events in some of the top venues in London over the years, including The Painted Gallery in Greenwich, The Mandarin Oriental, The Dorchester and The Natural History Museum, to name just a few. The business really has grown more than I had ever dreamed.
??What kind of floristry services do you offer?
We offer a full floral design and styling service, including wedding flowers, corporate flowers, and decoration for events both large and small. In addition, we also provide same day flower delivery in London and next day deliveries within the UK via our online shop, Flowers24Hours.co.uk.
How would you describe your style?
?It really depends on the client’s brief, since we deal with such a wide variety of requests. But if I had to sum it up, I would describe our style as ‘upmarket floristry at a reasonable price’. Whether clients want something striking and modern, wild or vintage, our florists and designers combine both their technical skills and creative ability to come up with designs that perfectly fit the budget and brief. So, whatever the style, our signature, I would say, is technically smart work with a creative edge.
Where do you get inspiration for your floral designs?
As a team, we’re constantly taking inspiration from everything around us..the flower market, which we visit daily, plus the fashion and interior design worlds, as well as our collective history, travels and experiences. The team has a diverse background and includes five different nationalities. So everyone brings a slightly different perspective to our work, resulting in a really great fusion of creative ideas.
Trends in design come and go but one thing remains constant, which is the natural beauty of flowers and plants. I’m really enjoying and taking inspiration from the movement towards more organic looking, wild designs at the moment and I particularly like the emerging trend towards ‘bringing the outdoors in’. I think it reflects a growing desire among people to reconnect with nature. In floral design, we can echo this with the incorporation of materials such as twigs, logs/tree stumps, blossom, moss and planted flowers in designs.
What is your favourite flower??
My favourite season is spring as it signals the beginning of everything coming back to life. So I love all spring flowers, particularly daffodils and muscari, as they also remind me of my garden at home.
What are you plans for 2014?
My focus in 2014 is to really build the Todich Floral Design brand and get the message out there about the wide variety of services we can provide…from small weddings to large scale floral décor. I’m also working to improve the efficiency of our systems so we can reduce the burden of admin and on developing a streamlined quotation system that helps deliver a much more efficient service to clients…from our initial quote, through to delivery of their flowers and billing.
Many thanks to Todd for all his help in compiling today’s blog post. If you’d like to see more of his beautiful floral designs, simply pop over to the Todich Floral Design website.
Social Media
To keep up-to-date with their news from Todich Floral Design, here’s where you can find them on social media:
Facebook: Todich Floral Design
Twitter: Todich Floral Design
YouTube: Todich Floral Design
Blog: Todich Floral Design
P.S. Look out for a very special guest blog post later today. It’s a definite ‘must-read’ for florists and is brimming full of lots of hints and tips!
(Images : Todich Floral Design)
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