Friday, 5 December 2014

The Wedding Industry Awards 2015





Well, once again thanks to the amazing support from all our couples, we made it to the Regional Finals for the Wedding Industry Awards.  Our Region is London and the South East and includes Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire, Kent, London and some other areas.  It is huge and the floristry talent in this region is immense, so we were thrilled to make the final again.  However, despite getting 69.41 out of 70, we didn't make it to the national finals. For us though, the feedback and comments received from all our lovely couples makes it all worthwhile....tears a plenty here!  Thank you so so much.  I've added them onto the website under "What people say about us" but here are all the comments and scores below, with no editing at all.  If you're wondering what we are like to work with, have a skim read....we didn't hand-pick our respondents at all, so this is what we're really like!  Thanks so very much everyone!




General Comments (in random order)

The flowers Amanda supplied for our wedding were simply stunning and perfectly complemented our venue. Amanda was great to work with from the very beginning, listening carefully to what we wanted, being responsive to our questions, and keeping us informed of what was going on. Fantastic supplier!

Distinctly Floral were by far the best florist I visited. Amanda was so professional throughout and so helpful. She understood immediatly what vision I had and came up with the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen. I would recommend her to everyone. She thououghly deserves to win this award.

Amanda & the team really knew how to interpret & understand my vision. The floral displays & quality of the flowers was exquisite. They exceeded my expectations & were exactly what I wanted. Amanda has provided an outstanding service from start to finish & I would not hesitate to recommend her.

Our wedding flowers were beautiful. We could tell that so much effort and passion had gone into making the bouquets and garlands, which made our day even more special. As soon as we met Amanda we knew we had to book her, she was kind and easy going and obviously hugely talented at what she does.

An amazing service provided on our special day. We appreciated all of the help and advice with the planning, and of course the final outcome. All of the flower decorations including the table centre pieces, and table plan looked so beautiful, and were appreciated by everyone there.

Distinctly Floral was recommended to me and the minute I sat down to discuss flowers I knew I had to have them for my wedding. I am not very good with flowers and Distinctly Floral practically made a mock up bouquet in front of my eyes...OUTSTANDING! They could not be more helpful if they tried!

Amanda and her team were flawless, in their customer service, quality of work and the outcome on the day. I wanted my wedding to be different as all I see is the same "vintage" style, the moment I told Amanda my theme the amount of different ideas that she had was amazing, loved every bit of it.

There are no words for how wonderful Amanda and Distinctly Floral are. From the moment I met Amanda her ideas, creativity and warm heart shone through. When I walked into our marquee it blew me away - I had no idea just how much the flowers would transform the venue. Amazing florist and service.

Amanda and her team knew just what we wanted and was so passionate about her profession we just couldnt go anywhere else. Nothing was too much trouble from spraying things and adding extra sparkle for our winter wedding.

Amanda at Distinctly Floral was just amazing from the moment we met! She knew exactly what I wanted and she had loads of experience and passion!The flowers on my wedding day were breath taking, even more so that I could ever imagine. everyone at the wedding commented on how lovely they were.perfect

Amanda from Distinctly Floral was amazing leading up to our wedding day and on the day itself. She is incredibly talented and understood our concept and her work is outstanding! All our guests commented on how beautiful our flowers were and I would highly recommend her to any future couples.

Amanda at Distinctly Floral could not have been more friendly, helpful, creative and excited about our big day. She had wonderful ideas and photographs from previous weddings that really made us confident in her experience and ability to do a fantastic job. The flowers on the day were incredible!

Was so pleased with our flower arrangments for our wedding, they were even better than how i had imagined them to be. She had incorporated everything i had asked. They was truly amazing! Big thank you.

Amanda is amazing. She pulled together all of our ideas (some of which were quite random) and using her creative flare made the vision for our wedding a reality. In fact it was much better than we could have hoped for.

The personal touches, passion and enthusiasm amanda has was amazing. I was blown away and emotional at the outcome of our disscussions and ive had so much feedback from guests how they loved it all. Cant thank amanda enough for going that extra mile for me. I coukdnt stop staring at all the flowers.

Amazing flowers and wonderful staff

Meeting a florist who I could connect with on not only a creative but organisational front was a huge factor for me, Distinctly Floral did not fail to disappoint. Amanda manged to exceed my brief and produce an absolutely wonderful display, her creativity and attention to detail is second to none.

Amanda was brilliant, made us feel comfortable from the moment we met her for the first time. She understood exactly what we wanted and added to it to make our day unforgettable. Everyone of our guests thought the flowers were amazing and the mothers loved their bouquets.

From start to finish, Distinctly Floral provided us with a 'John Lewis' style service, absolutely impeccable and outstanding. I cannot recommend them highly enough. Even though we probably chose a much cheaper option than most, the service was superb and the amount of flowers we received were overwhelming (in a very good way!) - of all our wedding suppliers they were the best.

If I could vote 11 I would. Amanda went over and above what I expected. On the day I was surprised with an extra rose I wasn't expecting. It smelt amazing and complemented the rest of the flowers beautifully. Words cannot adequately represent my gratitude. I will remember the flowers forever!

Distinctly Floral's service was first class, friendly and personal. Amanda welcomed us into her home to look through her extensive portfolios and took her time to discuss our requirements. The flowers looked absolutely stunning on our special day and were even better than we imagined!

I can't seem to find the right adjective to describe how breathtaking Amanda's floral displays were. We came to Amanda, with only an idea of how we would like our flowers to reflect us and give a romantic, simple and elegant feeling to the day. They were and so so much more. Truly beautiful.

Amanda at Distinctly Floral literally realised our dreams. We came to her with a few unique ideas and a tricky colour of pale blues and creams for our September wedding, but nothing was ever too much trouble for Amanda. On our wedding day every detail was perfect, as if pulled from my imagination. Even a large willow and birch photo frame decorated with flowers. Amanda is worth every penny and more. Not only did we find a florist but we have made a new friend throughout our wedding planning.

The flowers at both the church and the venue were beautiful. The pinks and blues worked perfectly for a summer wedding. There was a high attention to detail on both the bouquets and table decorations (pitchers/jam jars). The final design looked amazing!

Amanda was an absolute pleasure to meet. I visited her lovely house and had a cup of tea whilst looking at photos of flowers and discussing ideas for my day. I have no idea about flowers...photography, yes... flowers, no!! Amanda was so helpful and I was blown away when I saw my flowers on the day

Our flowers were beyond anything we could have imagined! Amanda listened to our 'rustic autumnal vision' and interpreted it to give us the most spectacular magical flowers. Service was warm, friendly and personal and Amanda went the extra mile in sourcing additional items to help create the theme.

Amanda and her team are fantastic and very creative with their floral ideas. The flowers were lovely and everyone commented on how lovely they looked on the day. I was so happy with all the flowers on how beautiful they were. Distinctly floral have done a fantastic job. The service was a 10 out 10.

Amanda was the very best florist we could have chosen. From the very beginning, she has always listened to our ideas with a huge amount of respect, and continued to make me feel that my ideas and feelings not only came first but that they were important to her. Our flowers were absolutely stunning.

From the first moment I met Amanda I got a great sense of exceptional creative talent and strong organisational ability! She really is the top of her game and I couldn't have been happier with how our flower plans progressed, her thoughtfulness, flexibility and enthusiasm made every contact a joy!

I was completely blown away by the flowers and I actually got quite emotional both when I saw the bouquets at my mums house and again when I saw Cooling Castle. Everyone commented on how gorgeous they were and were over the moon when I handed them out to some of our close friends and family the following morning. We also went to visit my husbands late mums grave the following day to place our gorgeous top table flowers down. They looked beautiful there and we knew she would have loved them.

When we met Amanda from Distinctly Floral, she put us at ease straight away. She has a bubbly personality and was a pleasure to work with. She had some fantastic ideas but encouraged us to develop our own ideas and put our own "stamp" and personality into the flower arrangements. Amazing florist!

Amanda understood from the first meeting exactly what sort of person I was and because of this was fully able to design my flowers accordingly. She was full of ideas which helps when your knowledge of flowers is non existant. She was so full of passion for her work which showed in the end product.

Amanda was brilliant from the moment I met her to after the wedding. She was really easy to get on with and she went above and beyond to help me. She took time to hunt down the crystal hurricane lamps I wanted and took a load of stress of me as her services covered a major part of my styling. Her emails have always been so nice and friendly and it felt she was really invested in me and my wedding.

I can’t praise Distinctly Floral enough for the stunning display of soft, romantic themed flowers for our wedding. We are still receiving comments from our guests a month after the wedding on how amazing the flowers were, even from the men, which I did find suprising. Amanda is a creative genius!!!

I could not have dreamed of anything more beautiful as I saw my venue complete after Distinctly Floral had worked their magic. The customer service was outstanding from our first meeting, brilliant at suggesting ideas and inspiration as well as being adaptable. Their skills incredible!

We were really pleased with the displays and they incorporated everything we were looking for, including some more unusual/non-traditional flowers native to Australia. The advice and support given in realising our ideas was second to none and it was great to see everything in place on the day. Everyone commented on how good the flowers were at our wedding and we loved them too!

I chose to go and have a consultation with distinctly floral as a friend had them and said they are simply amazing, and I have to completely agree!! From the moment I meet Amanda she was nothing but kind and helpful. I would recommend Them in a heart beat!! My flowers were simply gorgeous!!

From the first meeting Amanda picked up on Sam's (Bride) wishes, and was able to show ideas that matched Sam's thoughts. Absolutely stunning flowers on the day. Faultless!!

Amanda and her team were totally fabulous. I cried when I saw the bridal party flowers and cried again when I got to Cooling and saw how beautiful DF had made the barn as did pretty much all the ladies there! She understood the vision I had in my head and made it a million times more beautiful.

We cannot begin to express how much Amanda and the team helped us all through the process, from when we had no idea at the start, through several consultations we tweaked the arrangements. Nothing was ever too much for them. Their customer service was personal and genuine and left our minds at ease.

Amanda and her team at distinctly floral made our wedding day absolutely beautiful! I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect, my little bridesmaid loved their bouquets too, and I loved how they matched my mums corsage to match her dress so well. Thank you so so much.

Even though Amanda was very busy at the time, she stepped in at short notice to provide my flowers. She was incredibly helpful, friendly and responsive throughout and spent lots of time running through ideas and answering questions - nothing seemed too much trouble. I would not hesitate to recommend

Distinctly floral are amazing! I only had to speak to Amanda and she knew exactly what I wanted. Her ability to know what a bride wants and pick the most beautiful flowers is outstanding!

Distinctly Floral were amazing, the only florist willing to get sweet peas in April, because it's a little early for them. Amanda was an absolute pleasure to meet, and her work is absolutely outstanding.

I absolutely loved working with Amanda from day 1. Her enthusiasm & excitement was infectious. I trusted her ability to match my ideas with complementary flowers completely. My bouquet was perfect, the gazebo amazing & the tables incredible, all totally capturing the essence of our day precisely.

I could not recommend Amanda enough. She was very welcoming and I instantly felt at ease with her. Amanda had some fantastic ideas that blew me away and instantly had me beaming with excitement. On the day Amanda did a fantastic job and I felt she really went that extra mile for us. Thanku so much.

We were recommended 3 florists from the wedding venue and I knew as soon as I met Amanda that she would create the perfect flowers for our wedding day. If I could have my whole wedding day again I would definitely ask Distinctly Floral to work with me again.

Amanda is both professional and a pleasure to deal wife. Despite my mind changing she never made me feel a pain. She united me with my now favourite flower "miss piggy". My flowers were beautiful and I had lots of compliments.

It's safe to say that Amanda and her team capture the heart and spirit of your wedding and make your ideas a reality. From the very first meeting Amanda listens, takes the time to understand, and then delivers exactly not what you'd asked for, but what you'd dreamed of. We simply loved them!

The floral arrangements were simply stunning! One of the most amazing florists I have ever used.

I immediately developed a good rapport with Amanda (Distinctly Floral) and trusted her judgement, which is very important when you are entrusted someone with your wedding flowers. She is extremely creative and able to understand and realise your vision of the day through the flowers. Just wonderful.

Why They Booked (in random order)

After our initial meeting we were so impressed with Amanda's portfolio, but also that she never tried to oversell things we didn't need or want. We worried she's be above our budget but her quote really surprised us (in the best way possible!) we trusted her with our vision from day one and was just as excited as us to make it a reality.

I knew after 5 minutes I wanted Amanda to be my florist 100%. her enthusiasm and love of her job is totally infectious. She understood my rustic theme so well and I knew almost instantly she would do an amazing job and she totally exceeded my expectations. I myself know nothing about flowers and all I took with me when we met was an image in my head and she literally made my dreams come true !

Found them on rock my wedding and they were local to us.

We had quite a few quotes but the price wasnt the most important thing to us it was knowing we would get just what we wanted from that initial meeting. My floral knowledge is quite limited so having somebody who took the time to explain all the latin names and pictures sealed the deal.

I chose distinctly floral as they were recommended at my venue and when we met Amanda she was fabulous and seemed to know my taste in flowers immediately! Fab fan florist.

The level of knowledge and expertise in flowers from Amanda at Distinctly Floral was out of this world. I felt so confident that my wedding flowers would be just perfect from the minute we started to discuss a flower arrangement to meet all my criteria. Excellent service, excellent price, excellent staff!

Being a wedding photographer, I have come across many florists however I was looking for something really special for my own wedding day last year. Photos of Amanda's previous work had captured my attention after initially coming across Distinctly Floral on TWIA's website. We didn't have a theme so much but we had a Midsummer Night's Dream inspiration. I had bombarded Amanda with photos of ideas that I had seen and the end result was nothing short of amazing - I had to hold back tears when I saw the flowers on the day, simply beautiful. Thank you Amanda, I would thoroughly recommend you to everyone!!

For being so kind and helpful and such good value for money!!

Amanda’s enthusiasm, creative flare, knowledge and warm personality made the whole experience enjoyable and stress free from beginning to end. Nothing was too big, too small or too much trouble. She provided us with different options allowing us the flexibility to manage our budget effectively. I was confident from our first meeting with Distinctly Floral that they would provide gorgeous flowers for our wedding, but they still managed to exceed our expectations.

Why look around when the first florist we came across was perfect?

I spent 2 years looking for a Florist for my wedding day as my flower arrangements were so important to me. As soon as I met Amanda from Distinctly Floral and viewed their portfolio I knew that they were perfect for my wedding. I met with Amanda on several occasions and via emails to get the flower arrangements and price just right. Amanda was brilliant! She was so friendly and accommodating and I loved working with her. I can honestly say that I would recommend Distinctly Floral to anyone who wants beautiful quality flowers at a very reasonable price. I'm so pleased that I chose Distinctly Floral and I will miss working with them.

I had seen and heard about distinctly flowers through a few friends & family and knew I wouldn't use anyone else as we'd heard such great reviews from people.

Amanda is one of the nicest people I have ever met & was the most professional supplier that I dealt with during the whole wedding. From the moment I met her she was full of life, and her love for her job is infectious. I enjoyed our meeting so much discussing the flowers she recommended and I really felt she listened and interpreted what 'i wanted. Her quote was so detailed and thorough and I knew she would do an amazing job. Seeing the floweres on the morning of the wedding day brought on the tears. I do hope Distinctly Floral win the award as they really deserve to. I will be keeping my fingers crossed!

We booked distinctly floral because of the willingness to work with the flowers I wanted. Also because Amanda made you feel more than comfortable in her presence

I saw their work at a wedding fair and fell in love!!!

My sister had her at her wedding and I couldn't have chosen anyone else after seeing her flowers!

Value for money and extremely helpful

Found distinctly floral to be extremely helpful, giving great ideas on the types of flowers, (many of which i had never heard of) and arrangement of colours for the bouquets. Very detailed portfolio with lots of previous examples of other weddings she had provided the flowers for. The arrangments all looked perfect, giving you greater confidence in her abilities, I'm so glad i booked you! Will be recommending you to everyone!

Recommendation from my best friend who used her for her wedding in 2012 & said she was her best supplier by far.

Loved Amanda and her passion for her job and her knowledge of flowers

The way Amanda made us feel comfortable during our first meeting and the way in which she understood what we looking for on the day.

The instant like, warmth & personality from Amanda won me over! Her excellent knowledge of flowers & displays was brilliant! Plus she made the Groom laugh!!

I saw them at a wedding fair and was impressed by the portfolio and Amanda's infectious enthusiasm.

I met Amanda for the first time at our venue when she was setting up for another bride's wedding. Her arrangements were beautiful so I decided to set up a meeting with her to see what she could do for us.

I had one meeting with Amanda after seeing the company at a wedding fair and booked.

I saw her work at a wedding fair and after chatting with her knew she would be perfect to do our flowers, she was very approachable and enthusiastic and we booked a consultation with her to look through her portfolio in more detail. At our meeting Amanda showed us several styles of work and once we discussed our theme/ look we wanted to create, we spoke in more detail about different types of flowers, the cost etc. We didn't feel under pressure to book and we did not feel rushed when at the meeting. When we booked Amanda was brilliant at replying to us with any queries, updating any changes we had made and we met another time before our day just to go through the final details. Amanda is very personable and talented and her work is stunning!

We booked Distinctly Floral as they had also supplied the flowers for my brother-in-law's wedding, and we were extremely impressed with how good the flowers looked. My brother-in-law and his wife had also told us how nice a person Amanda had been to work with, which made us even more confident that she would be the right person for the job!

I have used her before for a previous event. I wouldn't dream of using anyone other than Amanda

She was recommended through a family member and we were really impressed after speaking to Amanda at a wedding fair. The quality of the displays we saw online and at another wedding were outstanding and we wanted the same for ours

My mother (AKA wedding co-ordinator) found Distinctly Floral online. We wanted a local florist and were immediately impressed with Amanda. She was extremely professional and gave us lots of ideas. She was very patient and took on-board all my comments and the final result was exactly how I imagined. Stunning!

As above, they weren't the cheapest, but Amandas understanding was first class.

We booked with Distinctly Floral because the flowers were of such an amazing standard, I couldn't have found any better. When I saw them on our wedding day I was so overwhelmed by how stunning they were, and couldn't wait to show everybody. Upon arrival at the venue I was stunned again to see our beautiful table pieces, which fit so perfectly with the venue. We were inundated with our guests asking after our amazing florist, and did not hesitate to recommend Amanda to our closest friends and family.

Because I knew they was the best at what they do and their quality of work is amazing

Distinctly Floral were recommended by a friend and after meeting Amanda I quickly realised she was the perfect person to do our wedding. She is so creative, kind and talented and by far the best florist in Kent. The flowers were beautiful

From the moment I looked at Amanda's portfolio and display, I knew she had to be my florist. first and foremost, she puts you at complete ease as she speaks with confidence and passion in her gorgeous home. Not just professional but warm hearted and fun. Amanda is incredible- an ability to take your ideas and themes and make them beyond anything you could imagine. She kept me updated with pictures and emails and always made time for us as the day approached. Amanda gains an understanding of your personality and what youre like as a couple and can reflect that in her floral creations. She took a small idea and made our big day. She's absolutely incredible and they're we're no end of compliments from our guests. Thank you Amanda

I booked Distinctly floral straight away after having a meeting with Amanda because I loved all the floral ideas and Amanda was very helpful and knowable on what flowers to have. Helen and Matt Leeds Castle 14.06.14

I loved Distinctly Floral’s work from the moment I saw their portfolio. I was made to feel special and from start to finish, I wasn't just another bride.

Amanda was recommended and when I met her I knew that she would do an amazing job

We booked Distinctly Floral because we simply couldn't not! We loved Amanda from the first moment we met her. She completely 'got' our wedding and didn't disappoint!

I loved the examples of their work that I saw, their ability to tune into my vision of what I wanted and their awesome "can-do" attitude!

Distinctly Floral were the only florists I met who were willing to push the boundaries of design. I had a detailed brief but wanted to take on board ideas from a professional, Amanda's ideas are incredible, she is an amazing creative. When I walked into the venue on my wedding day and saw the wonderful display of flowers that the team at Distinctly Floral had created I was overwhelmed. I cannot thank them enough for making our wedding day truly spectacular.

I booked Distinctly Floral for the reasons above and was not disappointed. I paste below the email I sent after the wedding, which I think summarises why I recommend Distinctly Floral: Amanda The wedding flowers were absolutely beautiful, stunning, I loved them. They dressed the venue to perfection, and the scent from them was gorgeous. We all loved our bouquets - my bridesmaids couldn't believe how beautiful they were. Ruby throw her petals, it was lovely. Each room looked fabulous. The marquee looked like a glamorous club! Fantastic. The Penshurst staff commented that the Sunderland room had never looked so good. Everyone loved them - I don't think anyone had seen such a grand display at a wedding before! We have brought a few of the displays home and given one to each Mum - the house is full of gorgeous flowers. Thank you so so much. You and your team must have worked so hard, the attention to detail and creativity was amazing. You are very talented. I have enjoyed working with you, you have been very supportive and full of fab ideas, thank you. I will send photos when I have them! Take care and thank you again. Linda.

Highly recommended and award winning. Great portfolios and friendly service.

Her passion, her beautiful work and her bubbly personality which instantly put me at ease.

From the first consultation she put our minds at ease. The flowers are the one aspect of the day that you don't see before, but I had complete faith in the team from the word go. We knew we were not just paying for high quality flowers but also peace of mind and the 'wow' factor.

Distinctly Floral did my friends wedding, I had already seen how fantastic they were for myself and my friend highly recommends them. They are also recommended by Cooling Castle Barn and I truly believe they would only recommend very high quality suppliers.

Amanda's passion, ideas, experience and the obvious quality of the flowers.

I booked Distinctly Floral because I could tell how much Amanda loves flowers and had so much knowledge of flowers. She came across as very experienced, oozed confidence and I knew I could trust her. I had such a great first meeting with her at her house, and she just got my vision and what I wanted instantly. We just clicked and I could tell she wanted to do an amazing job on the flowers for my wedding. When she sent me he quote, I could not believe how reasonable it was.

I wanted artificial flowers until I met with amanda brady. Her passion and enthusiasm was infectious and I knew instantly that she was the one to go with. I got into a little jam making my own cwntrepieces and amanda was more than obliging to help me out and took the stress away.

Due to the helpful and friendly service received by telephone when making initial enquiries.

Recommended by Cooling Castle


Question
Your average voter score
The regional category average score
Ability of your florist to understand, interpret and realise your vision and ideas.
9.961
9.757
Variety of different designs and ideas in your florist's portfolio. (where 0 is poor and 10 is excellent).
9.902
9.578
Quality of expertise, advice and guidance received from your florist.
9.961
9.774
Quality of customer service and communication received from your florist.
9.922
9.729
Quality of your florist's web presence (web site, facebook etc).
9.88
9.413
Quality of the flowers on your wedding day.
9.941
9.846
Value for money.
9.843
9.67


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