Innovative slow falling petals. Confetti that the earth loves more.
Innovative slow falling petals.
Petals that the earth loves more. Shropshire Petals are making a difference.
Meet Shropshire Petals who are on a mission "To sustainably provide the best nature has to offer, produced with integrity on our family farm". 100% natural, biodegradable, sustainable, eco-friendly, carbon footprint low, handpicked, quality, lovingly grown, local and British, dye-free, family run and with integrity at the heart … ah yes please, where do I sign up? Everything the Shropshire Petals ethos and values stand for feel so good and are a great match to what also Woven as a brand strives for. Excellence, distinctiveness and conscience at the core. That is why I just had to find out more.
Did you grow up thinking you would be a confetti growing expert? Well, that’s what happened at the Bubb family who have been championing dried flowers for over 30 years and are in the 4th generation. Shropshire Petals are dried flower and petal confetti experts for any occasion from PR launches, events, weddings, proposals through to any milestone life celebrations.
Quality control from growing, to picking, to taking the petals off to sorting and eventually packing. All the way through. Ever heard of colour management. Well the Shropshire team is quite well experienced in this process and will be able to match most colours for your celebration. It’s quite clear they have a finger on the pulse for wedding ideas that inspire and are beautiful and allow all involved to be less wasteful. Discover some of the ideas on their Instagram account filled with moments and ideas to incorporate into ones big day. All petals are biodegradable, grown on a British farm, handpicked, handpacked, slow falling, dye-dree and natural all around.
Freeze dried, up to a 1 year life cycle, a confetti calculator, how size and weight can impact the floating speed, petal colour sampling, personalised cones, how many handful of petals 1 liter makes, colour management, blush, summer nights and Kaleidoscope. Quite impressive. I have learned so much about what really goes into their everyday passion and vision. Also made my heart sing to think that during the growing process their flower fields give wildlife the most amazing oasis to buzz and flutter around in.
Putting the florals and petals to one side, I love the fact that Shropshire Petals have been awarded Feefo’s Platinum Trusted Service awards. As my background as a founder of Woven is rooted in customer service having spent 20+ years in international hospitality in Switzerland, Germany, USA and UK, I am an advocate of the power genuine customer excellence has. Well done to your achievement. Even for the touchpoints I had for this interview and article, I can only say true customer service (or let’s in our case say partnership service) shone through all the way. Genuine, attentive and it felt from the first moment they cared. As a service business myself, customer service and excellence is of paramount importance and I felt so good to find it here on a gorgeous flower farm. Thank you!
But now finally over to you Ashley
Thinking local, supporting local and staying local fits so well with your brand. Now more than ever this is so important. Your business recognized the need for a more sustainable way forward to serve the events and weddings industry long before others did. Are you able to share some key learnings along the way that have made you stronger today?
Ashley: “Taking steps to be more sustainable has definitely been a learning curve, from improving our packaging, to making internal changes in the petal shed. I don’t think there is one key takeaway point, it’s about being responsible for what we put out into the world and ensuring future generations can enjoy it all too.”
You were featured in The Stylist for your beautiful soy candle making kit with your petals. What a great idea for wedding gifts, even favours. Impactful on one’s senses, something to keep and remember. Are there any other wedding gifting ideas you create?
Ashley: “We’ve been overwhelmed with the response from our candle kits, and have since created confetti wax melt kits, and even confetti bath bomb kits too. It just goes to show petals aren’t just for wedding confetti, there are so many wonderful uses.”
Being a brand myself who strives to balance beauty with conscience, meaning achieving those breath-taking or unique aesthetics for events and weddings but at the same time being kinder and less wasteful to the world around us, I must ask about your packaging. Tell us about your journey to a more sustainable packaging.
Ashley: “To be honest, we’re still on that sustainable packaging journey and it will always be a factor of what we do. We’ve built strong relationships with our printers and it’s through working together and having those conversations that we’d been able to achieve quality packaging that doesn’t impact the environment, from using home compostable materials, plant-based inks and FSC sourced paper. It’s not always been plain sailing though, and we’ve spent many hours researching and educating ourselves to make sure we’re happy with the process and materials used.”
Tell us what’s on the horizon for your farm in the next 2-3 years? What can we expect and look forward to?
Ashley: “We’re continually brimming with new ideas and equally listening to what our customers are telling us too, but it all comes back to our mission of sustainably providing the best nature has to offer, produced with integrity on our family farm. As the past 12 months have taught us, things can change and we’ve learnt we can adapt, even in exceptional circumstances. You’ll just have to wait and see what’s up our sleeve!”
Life of a petal at Shropshire Petals
Ashley: “We plant in the spring and the beautiful flowers start to bloom around June and July through to August. The flower field is a stunning site, bustling with wildlife, we’re visited by bees, butterflies, insects, birds, hares and on occasion dear. Once the flowers are in full bloom each stem is picked by hand, brought back to the farm for drying and removing the petals. They’re then stored for months and even years until they’re mixed for an order which can be shipped worldwide. Once the petals have been throwing over the newlyweds they naturally biodegrade just like blossom falling from a tree, leaving no negative effect on the environment.”
Ashley, it’s been wonderful to learn so much about your ethical and sustainable focused business and the powerful brand you have built. Cannot wait to see, as you mentioned, what is up your sleeve. Excited to work with you in the future and share more of the good things you do at your farm and business. Thank you for sharing your story.
