Hi Hannah, how would you describe your business?
Petal & Feast is a Sussex-based events company, we have a wedding venue – The Secret Barn; a beautiful, rustic, authentic barn, perfect for laid-back weddings – plus a catering service, florist and flower grower, with a focus on seasonal and local produce. We’re really inspired by our location, nestled at the foot of the South Downs, and this influences all we do – with natural, organic and homegrown ingredients being a key theme. We want everyone who chooses to celebrate with us or who comes along to our flower workshops to feel welcome and relaxed, and to just escape the busy-ness of everyday life.
What inspired the idea of setting up your business?
Petal & Feast grew organically from my own wedding back in 2008! I’d say it all stems from a love of beautiful old objects, delicious food and flowers. I had really enjoyed collecting and making things for our wedding, a billion vintage tea cups and 10 miles of bunting, and then once we’d tied the knot, I had lots of requests from friends, and then friends of friends to hire them, and it all went from there!
Then The Secret Barn was born, an authentic old threshing barn, surrounded by the glorious Sussex countryside to be able to hold a limited amount of weddings each year. We’ve never wanted it to be a ‘wedding factory’ – every wedding is special and by limiting them, it allows us to spend time helping couples to ensure their day is unique and personal.
We wanted to be able to grow flowers and food for our weddings – we then started our flower field and veg patches, where we grow our very own British blooms and veg. This has given us the opportunity to launch floral workshops, which has been fantastic, and so lovely to be able to welcome more people into the barn, to unleash their creativity. Of course, I don’t do this alone – and have my right-hand women Amber and Sally working alongside me all year round, plus a fantastic team of staff who return to us every summer. We are a small but mighty team and we get along, so it really is a joy to hang out with them all.
How did your career begin?
My late teens and early twenties were spent backpacking and travelling. I just loved it, and therefore did a lot of different jobs to fund the trips. Eventually, I did a TEFL course and taught English as a foreign language, which I really enjoyed, then four babies came along in quite quick succession and somehow, this very slowly grew out of the chaos!
Where do you find creative inspiration?
I love travel and holidays (doesn’t everyone?) and trips to Morocco, Greece, India, and Italy have definitely played their part in our food and love of colour. We are also driven by the seasons and love using what’s around us in the South Downs. I also love interiors (I’ll stare at a paint chart just for fun!). I’m really inspired by the nearby Charleston Farmhouse (the former home of the Bloomsbury group’s Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant), it’s a magical place full of creative freedom and country charm.
How would you describe your style?
Organic, wild, uncontrived, natural, authentic – we love to work with bendy stems and what we have growing in our field to create something that looks like it’s ‘just come together’. Our food is hearty and unfussy. We focus on easy-going dishes and sharing platters that make the most of the produce in season, and get people together; eating and chatting.
Are there themes or influences that run through your work?
Our work is really inspired by nature. We’re in a picturesque spot, at the bottom of the South Downs, full of beauty and inspiration. We love utilising the bounty of local produce on offer (with much fresh veg and flowers grown by us) to create seasonal recipes and forage through hedgerows on the farm for wild floral arrangements. We also enjoy re-using vintage finds to help create a homely, relaxed feel too.
Tell us a little about your creative process…
Our creative process always starts with the seasons, it is very collaborative and involves a lot of tea. Amber, Sally and I all love working together and sharing ideas and especially love creating BIG installations.
How did you first discover your love for what you do?
Much of my inspiration comes from getting loved ones together over good food – when we all meet up, we always eat, anything from a wedge of cake to a curry or roast dinner – there is always something tasty! Food is a great way of getting people chatting and connecting. After people started asking to hire my wedding crockery and vintage pieces (something I’d just seen as fun) and really enjoying it, it seemed like a very natural continuation to then provide a beautiful, laid-back space for couples to celebrate in. And then, of course, we could create delicious dishes and floral arrangements for them. It’s all grown organically, with one thing leading on from another, there was never a master plan.
Describe a typical working day…
Every day is different, sometimes they start with trips to the market. Every day we go to the field to tend to flowers and seedlings and collect eggs and feed the chickens. We often have a barn viewing. We work from our home office – so again a lot of tea – tea is coming up quite a lot in this…
What is the ethos behind your business?
A really important part of Petal & Feast is our lovely team! We genuinely love working together, there’s a lot of chopping and chatting, listening to podcasts and endless Radio 4. We try to balance between home life and work. Another key focus is using local ingredients – whether meat from the local butcher, or our own-grown flowers and vegetables – is also really important to us. Not just for environmental reasons, but also for seasonality too, which influences our menus and floral arrangements. I love how you can almost date a bouquet to the week depending on the ingredients; roses with the first of the dahlias is a particularly delicious moment.
Is there an element of your work that you love the most?
It’s a lovely place to work, it couldn’t be nicer really, which is lucky, as I spend a lot of time there – pretty much every day between April and the end of October. The very best bit is the people. We love working together and all try to accommodate the things that go on in each other’s lives. In season, the day often starts with a call to or from farmer Johnny at the barn. We are a happy little gang.
We love a Petal & Feast holiday and our family Christmas do. Of course, we also love the people who get married with us too, we usually keep in touch and follow their adventures on Instagram. On open days we often catch up with our ‘old’ couples – they often come back and bring their babies, which is so lovely. With recently launching our workshops, we have also seen brides returning with their mums/friends too, which has been so nice to catch up over flowers, and yet more tea!
Working as an independent – what are the joys, and what are the challenges?
The joys: nobody tells you you have the wrong black trousers on – a horrible memory from my temping days! We all try to make it as flexible as we can for each other, bringing together our varied skill sets and learning new things all of the time.
The cons: there’s nobody to tell you how to do things and you have to work everything out for yourself, which takes so long. There are so many different bits to it; emails, admin, accounts, social media, orders, VAT, washing up, sowing seeds, moving compost about, health and safety… especially in the summer… and you have to get it perfect for the day, whatever is happening. You’re mostly always working, especially in the summer. It can be quite a lot.
What’s one thing people would be surprised you do in your work?
I think most people would be surprised that our team is so small – the ‘core’ team is just the three of us, most of the time, bringing back our wonderful helpers for the busy summer season. It’s us doing all of the things; holding our couples’ hands through wedding planning, opening the barn for open days, sewing seeds, planting, growing, picking, creating recipes, baking, cooking, dressing the barn for weddings and workshops, making floral installations – and then the less fun stuff: cleaning, admin and paying invoices etc.
Do you have any creative hobbies?
Pottery, photography and Pilates – I only do things that begin with P. Sally loves life drawing and painting, Amber is an illustrator and is currently building her own house – so she’s creating something big!
What does the next year hold for you?
I am already looking forward to our ‘dahlia days’ coming up into the early autumn, where we’ll welcome dahlia lovers to come along, take some time in the flower field, and choose their favourites to create their very own dahlia bouquet or display – we also have other exciting flower workshops, wreath workshops and supper club planned too, so do keep your eyes peeled!
QUICK-FIRE QUESTIONS
Books I love: To Kill A Mockingbird, The Life of Pi, My Family & Other Animals
Creative heroes: Charleston (sort of a hero)
Shops I love: eBay, junk shops and Facebook Marketplace
Inspirational places: India, Morocco, Italy and Greece
Instagrammers I love: Claire Thomson @5oclockapron for the ‘whats for dinner?’ question, and Erin Benzakein’s account (@floretflower) is always beautiful.
