Who the Heck Is The Crafted Garden?

So, you've clicked on here because you have absolutely no idea who The Crafted Garden is, who I am, or why on earth you should trust me with your flowers.

Fair enough.

Let me tell you a bit about me.

First things first... hey, I'm Jael!

My name is Jael - you say it J-L - and yes, I know, it's a wonderfully weird name.

My family are from Portugal, so I was gifted a strange name (even for Portugal, it’s strange…). Little fun fact for you before we get into the flowers.

And flowers haven't actually always been the plan. In fact, the beginning of my career looked completely different. I started out working in the care sector and spent years working my way up, eventually becoming a supervisor. I loved a lot of things about working in care, but I was also completely burnt out.

And I've always been somebody who needs to be creative. I need to make things. I need colour. I need ideas. I need something that makes the slightly chaotic part of my brain go oooooh, what can we do with this?! Unfortunately, my job at the time wasn't exactly scratching that itch.

And then Netflix got involved….

Yes, I genuinely became a florist because of a Netflix programme

I started watching The Big Flower Fight. And that was it. Genuinely.

"THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO DO!!!"

Light bulb on. Path suddenly very, very clear. I didn't just think oh that looks fun and forget about it two days later either. I booked myself onto a Level 2 floristry course and started studying while still working as a supervisor in care. I went on to do my Level 3 and then that was the real turning point for me - because by that point, I knew.

This wasn't just a little hobby I fancied doing at the weekend.

I wanted to be a florist.

And then came the slightly terrifying "sod it" moment

At the time, I was completely burnt out. I was trying to work, study floristry and somehow function as a normal human being. Eventually I reached the point where I thought:

Sod it. I'll figure it out.

So I handed in my notice - without a florist job lined up, without some beautiful five-year business plan, without really knowing what was going to happen next.

A very sensible and calm career decision, obviously…

And then, about two weeks before my notice period was due to finish, my floristry tutor messaged me.

A florist was looking for someone.

BOOM.

There it was.

My ticket in.

I applied. I called. I texted. I made it VERY clear that I was enthusiastic and, basically:

Hello. Yes. It's me. I'm the one you want. Please employ me immediately.

I got the interview.

And then I got the job.

I WAS A FLORIST.

And then I realised... hang on. I am actually the florist.

My first couple of months working in a flower shop were completely wild. There was me, fresh out of college.

The shop owner.

And our delivery driver - who is now one of my best friends and a fantastic florist too.

And suddenly there was one small issue.

I was the main florist.

AH.

There wasn't really anybody standing over my shoulder going: "Yep, that's right." It was much more: "Urm... yeah? Maybe? I think that's right?" And somehow, I did it.

I made the bouquets.

I took the orders.

I worked out what flowers we needed.

I dealt with customers.

I ran the shop floor.

I made mistakes.

I fixed things.

I learnt very, very quickly.

Thank GOD for Evian.

That's all I'm saying.

Eventually two more florists joined the team, and I learnt loads from working alongside them too. Different techniques, different ways of designing and all those little bits of knowledge that you only really pick up from actually working with flowers day in, day out. Because college teaches you the foundations, but working in a real flower shop teaches you a whole different side of floristry.

Flowers don't always behave how the textbook says they should. Customers don't always know the name of the flower they're describing. Deliveries arrive, and suddenly something you ordered isn't available. Wedding morning arrives whether your flowers are cooperating with you or not. You learn to problem solve, and you learn to trust your eye.

And eventually, you stop saying "urm... yeah, maybe?"

Well.

Most of the time.

Three years later, I walked away from floristry

After around three years, life did what life sometimes does. It got in the way. I needed to earn more money, and I made the decision to leave floristry and go back into the corporate world. At that point, opening my own floristry business didn't really feel like an option. I didn't have the money, but more importantly, I didn't have the confidence.

I knew I could make flowers.

I knew I could run a shop.

I knew I loved floristry.

But doing it completely on my own? Putting my own name to my work? Charging people actual money for something that was entirely mine?

Nope.

Terrifying.

So I left it. Except apparently flowers weren't quite finished with me.

Then 2025 happened

And eventually I reached another one of those moments. The same sort of moment I'd had years before when I handed in my notice.

Sod it.

I need it. I need floristry. I need flowers. I need to make things. I need colour. I need creativity. I need that feeling I get when I've got a table covered in stems and absolutely no idea how I'm going to fit everything into the van.

And apparently...

I needed The Crafted Garden.

So I started it.

And well...

Here we are.

So what actually IS The Crafted Garden?

The Crafted Garden is my little corner of the flower world. It's where I get to take everything I've learnt over the years and do floristry in a way that feels completely like me. I love flowers that have movement, flowers that feel a little bit wild, beautiful colours, unexpected combinations, and designs where every flower hasn't been shoved into a perfectly round ball and told to stay there.

I like arrangements that feel as though they're doing something. Basically, if the flowers look like they've got a bit of personality, we're probably going to get along.

But The Crafted Garden isn't about me forcing my exact style onto everybody who comes through my DMs.

That's not what I want it to be.

The whole point is taking your idea and working out how we make it beautiful.

You don't have to know anything about flowers to come to me

This is one of the biggest things I want people to know.

You do NOT need to know flower names.

You do not need to know what shape bouquet you want.

You do not need a perfectly curated Pinterest board.

You don't even need to know exactly what colour you're thinking.

You can absolutely come to me and say:

"I don't know. I just want it to feel romantic and colourful but not TOO colourful and maybe a bit wild?"

Perfect.

That's enough for us to start because I genuinely love that part of floristry. I love taking someone's vision and making it real but I equally love working with somebody who has absolutely no bloody idea what they want and showing them what's possible. One of my favourite moments is when I'm chatting through ideas with somebody, show them something and suddenly get:

"THAT'S IT! That's what I want. I just didn't know how to explain it."

YES.

That's the good stuff.

And yes, I really do know what I'm doing

I know this website probably gives the impression that I spend my days floating around arranging beautiful flowers while drinking herbal teas.

And sometimes...

Yeah.

That's basically the job.

But there is quite a lot happening behind the pretty flowers. I've studied floristry, spent years working commercially with flowers, ran a flower shop floor, dealt with the Valentine's Day madness, Mother's Day madness, funerals, weddings, everyday bouquets, last-minute orders and flowers deciding to have an emotional breakdown at exactly the wrong moment.

I've made hundreds and hundreds of arrangements and spent more hours than I could ever count with my hands in buckets of freezing cold water.

And all of that experience comes with me when I'm creating something for you.

Because floristry isn't just putting pretty flowers together-

There's technique behind it. There's colour theory. There's mechanics. There's conditioning. There's seasonality. There's knowing which flowers are going to work together and which ones are going to throw a tantrum. There's knowing how to make something look wild and effortless while very deliberately placing almost every stem.

Sometimes the flowers absolutely do most of the work.

Put an outrageous dahlia in front of me and, frankly, she's already carried the team.

But I'm still the one orchestrating the whole thing.

Why "The Crafted Garden"?

Because that's exactly how I want my flowers to feel.

Crafted - because there is thought, skill and technique behind what I create.

Garden - because I never want flowers to feel stiff, soulless or mass-produced.

Where flowers never just be background noise.

I want them to feel alive.

And whether I'm creating your wedding flowers, something for an event, a bouquet for somebody you love or flowers for one of life's less happy moments, that's what I'm trying to create.

Something made properly. Something with personality. Something that feels like it was made specifically for you.

Because it was.

So... who the heck is The Crafted Garden?

It's me.

Jael.

Former care worker.

Netflix-inspired florist.

Qualified florist.

Ex-flower-shop chaos coordinator.

Serial flower buyer.

And the person behind every bouquet and arrangement that leaves The Crafted Garden.

What started with me watching a programme on Netflix and suddenly shouting "THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO DO!" eventually became this. And I don't think I've ever been more sure that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.

So if you've landed here because you're looking for a florist and you're wondering whether The Crafted Garden might be the one for you...

Have a nose around.

Look at my flowers.

Read my rambles.

And if you like what you see, give me a message - I would absolutely love to create something with you.

We'll figure it out together. 🌸