He was a chef who trained at the world-famous restaurant L'Ortolan,
he's worked in the world of hospitality and event management, and
he's even been a wedding planner who was approached to appear on
the TV show Wedding Planners. He has had an illustrious career in floristry,
ranging from designing and creating magnificent installations for award ceremonies, TV programmes, advertisements and theatre sets such as
The Bodyguard, Priscilla and The Sound of Music. But you probably know
him best for creating imaginative and spellblinding florals from his florist boutique on Cookham High Street... Here, Adam Garrett gives us the lowdown on his new web shop and floristry courses, his dance classes and the annual Cookham ball...

 

What brought you to Cookham?
I was looking for a beautiful, unassuming location to establish a base for a bridal flower consultancy. I remembered coming to Cookham as a child to visit my aunt and uncle who lived here, and drove over one day to see if there was anything suitable. I spotted a little shop on the high street, which I turned into the Rose Boutique and opened on Valentine's Day 2004. 
   Cookham is such a beautiful village and we are lucky to have so much around us. The beautiful riverside, the stunning countryside, fantastic restaurants, great pubs and, more importantly, such a wonderful collection of people and sense of community.

 

What's happening business-wise?

After being here in business for 12 years, we have decided it's time for a makeover.
Thankfully, the business has grown with the support of many people and other local businesses, and we have started to diversify into other areas, so with that we have developed a new website and web shop, which means that flowers can be ordered
through us for delivery anywhere in the country. We are developing a range of classes,
for example, you can learn to do a Basic Vased Arrangement at our course on Wednesday 25th May. Or we are offering a Wedding Flower Workshop, or Advanced Florist Skills, Hand-tied Bouquets and Posies, and many more. We are also in the process of launching an app (with a lot of help from our technical man Sam Sethi).

   I've always loved flowers. I think that they complete things. I've always worked in hospitality in some form and I feel that an event really comes together when the flowers are added in, whether it's a wedding for 200 or a dinner for two, and can be as simple as a scattering of rose petals across a table or lavishly opulent candelabras.

    I am totally self-taught and I feel that we are always learning, always picking up new ideas and inspirations. I see things or elements from fashion or architecture or food and drink that we can extract and use in design. I'm very lucky to work with my floral assistant, Zara, who is very technically trained and has a passion for flowers, and also has the benefit of having worked with flowers in Cookham for the past 15 years or so, and equally knows a great deal of our local residents.

 

What are your favourite flowers?
I'm very much a seasonal person when it comes to my favourite flowers. I love tulips, especially the double or triple varieties, peonies are always beautiful and, of course,
stunning roses.
 

You are so busy! You also run dance classes – tell us about that.
Dancing is something that I've always done (a social occasion dancer!). It was something that my mother taught me: it's very important to be able to dance at an Irish wedding. And it's always a great way to get any party started. Then came Cookham! A holiday brought
the whole thing together... And Jayne, Helen and myself created Strictly Adam and Hells  (clearly we are the two at the front and Jayne runs the whole thing). So many people had been asking us to do it so we thought: 'Why not give it a go?' The idea was alway to try and learn a new skill in a fun way... And it really has been fun. We also take the dancing into the nursing home and run reminiscence sessions for the residents, which are always amazing.  It's incredible to see the power of music and the way it can lift and encourage people.
 

How did you get involved with the Cookham ball? What's the secret to getting tickets?
The Cookham ball originally started as a way to raise money for different Cookham events.
It has since grown from strength to strength and that is massively thanks to the incredible support from our local community. Our aim with the ball is always to ensure that guests
have the best night possible and along the way we raise some money for local charities.
Over the last few years, we have donated almost £100,000. We are always grateful to the Odney Club for their support and we are very much looking forward to this year's ball,
which will be held on Saturday 19th November. We are shaking it up this year for a bit
more fun. Tickets are always hard to get hold of as we are so very lucky in the support that we get and tables are booked year on year, but it is always possible. Tickets are due for release at the end of June. 

   [Most recently, Adam's charitable links and philanthropic work has seen him being made an Ambassador for The Alexander Devine Children's Hospice Services where he works alongside the founder and patrons of the charity, Fiona Devine, Sir Michael Parkinson and The Rt Hon Theresa May MP.]

 

Where do you usually like to go out in Cookham?
We are very lucky to have such an amazing choice of venues in Cookham for a night out... I've got to say that I do believe in spreading the love and enjoy being a very sociable person. We have fabulous restaurants, great pubs – with the addition of a new pop-up wine bar at the Old Butcher's – and I've also had great nights at the social club doing karaoke. I think that I've managed to hold a birthday party at each one! We are very lucky to be able to have a picnic by the river or a pizza at Uncle Tom's. Variety is inspirational and meeting new people across the Cookham venues is always good fun.

 

Visit www.devineflowers.co.uk