If truth be told I’m a bit of a history nerd...

Three years ago I moved from Australia to the South Coast of England to live on a beautiful marina. This is where I now work from my flower studio. Close by is an impressive castle built right up to the waters edge, and this is where I love to go for my walks.

The castle features historic flint and stone walls, the flint of which is from the Chalk Downs. It's visited daily by local dog walkers (LOTS of dog walkers), tourists, families, schools, picnickers and people like me who just love to stroll around its exterior and look across the water to Portmouth Harbour.

Though it was originally built by the Romans as a naval fortification, King Edward the Elder later converted it into a fortified burh. Following the Norman conquest the Great Tower and St Mary's Church were constructed. It also hosted a royal visit by Henry V111 in 1535, and Elizabeth 1 briefly stayed here in 1603.

I highly recommend a visit... I've just come back from a lovely walk there myself.

Florence & Alice has officially launched!

For as long as I can remember I have loved flowers. From when I would rush to the flower markets at 5am to select the freshest flowers of the day for my florist business and freelancing for hotels creating their floral displays for wedding receptions and events. Now we have Florence & Alice and I am absolutely thrilled!

I adore fresh flowers, their shades and their perfumes. Yet, if I was to venture into the world of silks they had to be good... and I mean REALLY GOOD. They had to look realistic or I wasn’t going to do this. Silks have come a long way in recent years and I hope you will agree that with my experience in the ‘real world’ of flowers I have been able to craft a collection of bouquets that look as natural as humanly possible.

For my youngest daughter, ( meet Florence) the launch involved months of patiently working as my model and website technician, coming and going from university where she was studying Journalism. I will forever be indebted to her. She has a passion for wildlife and the environment, and features much of her work on her blog: https://madeleinemblog.wordpress.com/

For myself, months have been dedicated to research, planning, styling and designing.

I'm incredibly proud of what we have created and I hope that you will entrust me with your wedding flowers, I promise not to disappoint.

Thank you to my husband Mr F&A and daughters Florence and Alice for their encouragement and for cheering me on!