Tucked away in a quaint little village outside of Stamford there is a new floral designer at work.With finishing her new studio she is charming her way into the locals hearts with her wild and edgy looks. In a nutshell it is floristry deconstructed:

Jennie Beal is the creative force behind “Quintessentially Wild” creating floral bouquets and arrangements for weddings events and special occasions.
At the moment you can find her creations at “The Stamford Deli”.

I had the pleasure of visiting her brand mew studio, creating alongside her and take photographs of the new amazing space she has just curated:

“Have you ever had a connection to Horticulture or Nature?”

Sort of: I have quite a stressful professional life and i was told that i need to find a way to relax so i took up sport as in swimming, cycling and running the year before last. I got so into it and fell in love with it and ended up doing three triathlons. I was in the middle of the Thames asking myself “what am i doing”.
It´s not the peaceful release that i needed to counteract my stressful professional life.

I was thinking about things that i can do at home and bought a book written by the “Bloomsbury Florists” , that create the flowers for the “Royal Opera House” and there was just this magic and peace about it. I cook and I bake but nothing feels like this: There was something inside me that sparked.
And then last year i grew my own seeds and potted up some Dahlia tubers and it absolutely fascinated me. In the end I had quite the Dahlia collection in my garden.

One of the other reasons I bought the book in the first place was my personal challenge I set up:40 things before 40: The week I started flower arranging was supposed to go to “Silverstone”, race-car driving. That was cancelled because of the weather. It could have gone either way: Me being a professional Formula1- driver or a floral stylist.
Between that and the arranging it created this peaceful space for me.

After attending workshops with many creative and inspiring florists I ended up going to a masterclass by Katie Davis in London realised even more that it´s something I need to express within myself.
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“ How would you describe your style of Floristry?”

I would describe them as Quintessentially Wild!
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“ Where does your Inspiration come from?”

Music, for sure! Depending to what I am listening to it is usually reflected in what I do. During valentines day preparations I tried listening to love songs and it just didn’t feel right, so i started listening to breakup-music and that´s when the magic and the unexpected happened.

That´s when my most popular bouquet happened!

Architecture also plays a big part in my inspiration of example the regency style architecture in London: It´s opulence just amazes me but also the contrast to living in the countryside with natures landscape!
The love of both, the buzz of city and the rural quiet of the country is what brings me joy and inspiration.
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Why “Quintessentially Wild” ?

The reason I came up with Quintessential Wild was: My flowers are wild quite frankly.
They are crazy, they are wild there is nothing traditional about them.

“Quintessentially” also means perfect and classic and “Wild” is obviously wild:
You can´t have anything perfect and wild - It is an oxymoron.
Thats why I liked it because it illustrated the craziness of my flowers whilst also trying to be perfect. I won´t create anything for a bride for example that I would want at my own wedding and I like that my style is completely different what is on the market.
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"Where do you want to take your Floral Styling?"

I don´t know is the honest answer, it is happening in it´s own way and it´s snowballing itself and taking it in it´s own direction.
I never thought that I would be offering 1-2-1 workshops until someone recently approached me asking for one! It blew my mind!
I’m now very excited to be developing this further and plan to hold more 1-2-1 sessions, plus group workshops later in the year.

Eventually I would love to see the Quintessentially Wild brand expanding from the floral and styling side of weddings and events to masterminding, planning and executing entire events from start to finish, so to provide the entire Quintessentially Wild experience for future clients. I would love to create the ideal event in all its depths through the brand. I’m also very excited to be working on Quintessentially Wild Home, where I can share my love of styling by setting up an E-Shop on quintessentiallyWild.com This will include carefully curated and personally sourced interesting interior bits and bobs so that you can recreate the entire Quintessentially Wild look in your own home.

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“What has been the best experience in your floral career so far?”

When I made my first sale at The Stamford Deli: I couldn’t believe someone would by my creation as I just put it in for display. We sold dozens and dozens of wreaths, it was absolutely astounding!
The approach for doing 1-2-1 workshops. That was a brilliant moment for me.

But I guess the Katie Workshop (aka Ponderosa and Thyme) was the best thing I have ever done in my life. Because it was so intense and inspirational on many different levels it gave me confidence in my florals and me as a person wanting to follow my dreams!

Apart from that, probably the first day my first Dahlia started to bloom!
I can work with cut flowers but going them is a whole other story so i was enchanted.
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“How important are British grown flowers for designing?”

Very! Late last summer I discovered “The Flowers From the Farm” website and I emailed local growers around me. I found a grower, me any my husband went down there and bought the biggest bucket of Dahlia you can imagine - they lasted for weeks!

I am very much looking forward to summer to be using a lot of British grown florals, but whenever I do get something form overseas I carbon-offset. I think it is very important and there is an element of me that does like supporting oversea growers as well as it is their main source of income.
Obviously research goes into it to making sure the farmers aren´t exploited.

I would like to have Quintessentially Wild going 90% British in the next decade!
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“ What are your favourite floral combinations for 2018?”

Everything seems to be based around pink for me but if i had to predict for summer there is going to be two combinations one is a lot of dark gothic tones, very dark reds,maroons and purples.
On the other side i do believe blue is going to become a trend for me: I am a big fan of Oxypetalum this year!
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“ How do you think flowers and floral styling can influence people?”

Well, the influence me massively: The brought me to life.
They can bring happiness to people, empowering them, lifting them up!
Flowers can bring a smile to their faces and that is the whole point of them.
The beauty of it and the joy of giving something so beautiful, and as a quote says on my homepage:
“Flowers are a fleeting beauty, to beholden for all occasions, or sometimes, simply for no occasion at all.”
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And as she is arranging away in her new studio in Stamford we are excited to see her journey, one Quintessentially Wild creation at a time.

Get one of her coveted seats at the Quintessentially Wild Wreath School:
www.quintessentiallywild.com/wreath-school

If you want to find out more about her you can visit her website at:
https://www.quintessentiallywild.com

Or get a glimpse of her magical creations on her social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quintessentiallywild/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quintessentiallywild/

and Twitter: https://twitter.com/q_wild_stamford