When it comes to floral design, Michele Coomey and Ainsley Henry don’t believe in rules. It’s all about shape, colour and texture. They’re in demand for weddings and events and with their no-rules policy, anything is possible. Key considerations are not just the flowers, but how they will look within the setting and other elements of the overall design. 

Michele and Ainsley are the mother-daughter duo that make up Floralcentric. They’re down-to-earth and inspired by everything around them: grand gardens, fashion houses, architecture and food. They are the fresh new kids on the floral block. 

When I visit the Floralcentric workroom, which is tucked down a lane at the top of Khyber Pass, bunches of dried hydrangeas from a previous wedding hang from structures, waiting to be reused. Bunches of brightly-coloured preserved flowers are dotted around the floor, stunning white dried hydrangeas fill the window, and shelves of vessels made by Mark, Michele’s ceramic artist husband, line one wall. 

Gesturing to the preserved flowers, Michele says “this coloured stuff is a new thing in New Zealand, it allows you to create a different look, to create modern contemporary floral arrangements.” Dried flowers, she says are also a trend, “people love the fact that they last forever”. Even so, Michele says that she still favours fresh flowers to dried ones.

There are no fresh flowers, because currently customers can’t walk in to pick up a bunch of flowers. The workshop is where Michele and Ainsley design and arrange floral creations for events and weddings. Plans are in motion to take over the shop in front of the workroom. It’s a six-month lease and if it works, they will stay on.

Michele says the new shop is “for the local people in the area. We hope they will come to know that on Thursday to Saturday, we’re going to have a shop full of beautiful flowers that we have sourced locally.” 

Michelle is quick to emphasise that the shop will “break retail rules” as well. She has owned floral shops before and says they’re a dying breed. The new shop won’t be open all hours, but it’s where she hopes locals will pick up their weekly flower fix. 

“I want a space where we can display our nice things and where people feel comfortable coming in to buy some flowers or potted colour or some herbs. We hope local people will get to know our hours and our brand and we’ll always sell flowers online too.”

Being on the cover of wedding magazine Together Journal has helped build their business, but Instagram has been the main source of new business and is how they have become known.

Michele says it helps that Ainsley’s age group is all about PR on Instagram. In return, Ainsley credits her mother’s eye for photography for building their Instagram page. “She’s really good at Instagram,” says Ainsley. 

Michele’s talent and reputation of years in the industry coupled with Ainsley’s younger aesthetic and love for the craft is a winning combination and they clearly enjoy working together. “We like the same things, so it works,” says Ainsley.

Michele encouraged her daughter to get into floristry during her OE, when she couldn’t find the job in London. “I’d dabbled with Mum for years,” says Ainsley. “So I started interning with florist shops and ended up getting a job on major floral installations for events around London – it was fun.” 

When Ainsley returned to New Zealand, she and Michele decided to give working together a go and they have been flat-out ever since. Creating the floral installations for the opening of the new Naumi Studio Hotel in Wellington is one of their highlights. 

I ask about apartments, because we have a lot of them in Uptown. Michele’s tip is to buy flowers every week to add that little bit of colour to apartment spaces. “Treat yourself to a bunch of tulips, or whatever is in season. Or just buy one flower – but have something fresh, alive and beautiful in your apartment.”

Floralcentric’s tips for flowers

• If you want flowers to last a long time, buy them in a tight bud state and enjoy the opening-up process during the week 



• If you’re having a dinner party and want amazing flowers for the night, buy them fully open

• Look after flowers by changing the water and adding a little bit of sugar or sprite. The sugar helps to preserve the flowers

• Have a clean vessel and a collection of different-shaped vessels made from a variety of materials. This gives you options to create different looks
  
  
• There are no rules on how you style your florals, rather spend time contemplating your flowers. The shape, colour and texture will help you  decide how you’d like to see them featured in your home or workspace

• It’s really important to just enjoy the flowers for what they are, instead of getting flustered about how they should be arranged

• Recut the stems every couple of days, as flower stems will seal up. Floralcentric is going to stock flower snips for this purpose
  
  
• Regularly buy flowers, even a bunch from the dairy. It supports the local growers and industry. It’s awesome to see people enjoying and appreciating flowers  
  

• A flower generally has a lifespan of about a week. It may not be forever, but it’s good to remember how it made you feel. Michele says it’s great to see and hear the reactions when people receive flowers, or even when they’re looking through the studio window