A Day in the Life – Mullica Hill Floral Co.
27 years is a significant chunk of time. For starters, it’s the length of time that I’ve been roaming this Earth. Yes, since 1987 I’ve been crawling, walking, talking, and accomplishing a few other miscellaneous tasks here and there. In the same 27 years since 1987, Mullica Hill Floral Co. has been a successful small business in South Jersey. That’s right, owner Hildegarde Mirenda and former co-owner, current part-timer Kathy Mills (above in 1989 and below 2014) have floral experience as long as my life – an accomplishment not many will ever achieve.
Running a successful small business for any amount of time is a great feat on its own – but to keep that business flourishing for 27 years – wow! So to say these ladies are experienced florists is…well, sort of an understatement. They’re more than just experienced; I’d have to classify them along the lines of ‘experts’ or perhaps ‘floral extraordinaires’…yeah, that one has a nice ring to it.
Hilda’s cousin, Kelli Sandifer (above), plays a incredibly vital role in the success of the business, bringing 13 years of hard work, creativity, and dedication to the shop, and a lifetime of knowledge from growing up here as a child. Kelli not only has the passion and creativity for floral design, but keeps the shop up-to-date electronically. Kelli is the face behind the @mullicahillfloraco handle on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter, and the brain behind the genius idea of gaining additional popularity with puppies.
Unfortunately for me, these adorable pups weren’t present when I took the 11 minute drive from DVFlora down to Mullica Hill Floral Co. on Friday, September 26th to spend a few hours documenting the ongoings of this lovely, local shop. For those unfamiliar with Mullica Hill, and more specifically, Main Street Mullica Hill – it’s essentially a small business paradise. Lined with cafes, restaurants, antique shops, boutiques, and always heavy with traffic – from locals wandering on foot to out-of-towners driving toward the highway – Main Street is a great place for any entrepreneur to land a space.
The sunny color of their building, and the added pop of ever-changing floral decor helps the studio stand out, and the recent addition of their incredible neon Florist sign gives them extra flare in the evenings.
The 3 ladies were in the midst of creating bouquets, centerpieces, boutonnieres, and corsages for 2 weddings and a restaurant event, all while stopping for the occasional walk-in customers. Beautiful DVFlora stems were spread across the table, and trimmed ends discarded on the floor. Empty vases and vintage bottles waited patiently along the sidelines for their turn to be filled with colorful blooms, and their signature leopard print tissue paper lined labeled vase boxes for deliveries and customer pick-ups.
To-do lists were crossed off as tasks were completed and the day progressed, and the occasional sweeping session took place when breaks were needed. Familiar faces stopped in to say hello, customers on their way home from work stopped to pick up a freshly made bouquet, Hilda’s husband who doubles as the delivery driver stopped in and out for his assignments, and close friend Kara Ferguson gave hugs as she dropped off more vintage bottles and checked on the progress of her center pieces for her restaurant’s (Canteen) event that night.
Kathy was tasked with the tedious job of corsage creation, her hands more steady than mine have probably ever been, as Kelli reviewed her brides’ wishes, and took to the coolers to pull huge bunches of plump, vibrant stems. Hilda took a ‘break’ from her bridal bouquet-making to take a trip outside to cut and prep some beautifully home-grown Zinnias.
The ladies share laughs while they worked, as they recounted stories of vivid floral memories. One that truly sticks with all of them was the time Hurricane Sandy came to town and put a halt to all of New Jersey. The shop was expecting to receive a specific order of blue, yes blue, roses for a wedding that weekend – but with the state of emergency in place, deliveries and pick ups were out of the question. With a little quick thinking, and a lot of patience, the ladies used every stem of white roses in their possession, and proceeded to Smurfiy the roses on their own.
“We tried spray, we tried to cut the stems, splice them up the middle and soak it up through the stem and they just became like blue speckles. We had to land on hand dipping the heads in a vat of blue. Blue. Everywhere. We’re still finding blue spots now and then. It was a huge mess, but we promised our bride blue roses, so she got blue roses!” Kelli exclaims as she recalls the events of that weekend. “Seeing my ideas and visions come to life is my favorite part of being a florist, but not having a plan, or running into a last-minute event when you’re on a roll is my enemy…I like plans.” she says.
“Yes, but a lot of the time those spur of the moment stuff works out to be the best, ya know?” Kathy adds as she continues her tedious crafts.
As the day quickly came to an end, I found myself amazed at the pace and organization these 3 held, and was incredibly appreciative of the creativity and passion they displayed, especially when creating on the spot bouquets or arrangements for their walk-in customers. I was surprised to learn that Kathy’s allergic to Alstro, that Kelli is not a big fan of mums, and that Hilda has a daughter who’s currently in London, but grew up, like Kelli, roaming the shop. I learned that while last minute events can truly be a burden on the floral community, some times they turn into the best, and most memorable projects. I was happy to learn of the collaborations that take place between small town floral shops and their surrounding businesses, and I was really surprised to learn that when under the threat of a blizzard, florists are not afraid to sleep in their shop so they can finish their Valentine’s Day orders on time as promised!
Finally, I was truly shocked at how terribly my feet hurt after just 4.5 hours! I do hope that all florists reading this will invest in some comfy shoes to get you through the day.
While documenting half of a work day might not be quite enough time to truly give outsiders a complete understanding all of the hard work florists across the globe put in, we hope it gives you a better appreciation of the trade. Help keep local shops like Mullica Hill Floral Co. going strong by shopping local when you’re in the market for some blooms, and join us for our next visit to another amazing DVFlora customer in a few weeks!
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