Jennifer|@flora.and.forest

Jennifer is a passionate floral artist and the creative force behind Flora and Forest, located in the beautiful Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. Growing up amidst nature, her love for flowers began in childhood, with summers spent pressing blooms alongside her aunt. Over nearly a decade, this passion has blossomed into a successful career that spans from flower photography to crafting stunning pressed flower jewelry, and most recently, specializing in bouquet preservation. Working from her home studio in Kelowna, Jennifer dedicates herself to capturing and preserving cherished memories for her clients, focusing primarily on memorial and wedding florals. Utilizing high-quality products like Wisedry silica gel, she ensures that every piece reflects the heartfelt sentiments behind each bouquet. Balancing her thriving business with family life alongside her husband and young daughter, Jennifer continuously infuses love and artistry into her work, transforming blooms into lasting keepsakes of affection.

Jennifer’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flora.and.forest/

Jennifer, can you do a little bit of an introduction of yourself first?

Well, I’m Jennifer. I have grown up in the Okanagan Valley surrounded by nature and have had a love for flowers since I was a child! I used to press flowers for greeting cards with my aunt in the summer months and as I got older I moved into flower photography, then pressed flower jewellery and now into bouquet preservation! I work out of my home studio in Kelowna, B.C and live with my husband of 6 years (15 years together), our 4 year old daughter and our two cardigan corgis. I’ve been running Flora and Forest for nearly 9 years now and started bouquet preservation in 2021. This is my 3rd year doing floral preservation and I mostly work on memorial and wedding florals.

It’s so beautiful. Nice to meet you Jennifer! During the years of flower preservation, you must try many brands of silica gel crystals. Why do you choose us at the end?

I have tried at least a half dozen different brands! Honestly I love wisedry the best because it’s so easy to tell when it needs to be recharged, the consistency of the sand is really great, it’s a good price for the packages I can get here in Canada and it lasts the longest!

Thank you so much for your love! I am so glad that our product can help you preserve flowers better! Why did you choose to start your flower preservation journey? Is there a special moment?

Well, I always wanted to move in that direction (larger scale preservations) after having done pressing for my jewellery and after we sold our first home and moved into our second home, I was able to expand my workspace and finally able to start learning the ins and outs of large scale preservation. I’d have started sooner but without a separate workspace in our first home, I didn’t feel as though I could take it on. So it came when I was able to create a home studio space in our new home.

During the career, you must have preserved memories fore many people. Is there a story that leaves you a stong impression?

I don’t have any big memorable stories from clients, but my most memorable preserved flowers was a dried bouquet that made it all the way back from Italy, which I thought was really special that they made the voyage home. Another that I’m actually currently working on is a memorial order. The daughters asked me if I could preserve a bouquet of flowers their father had bought for their mother before he had passed. I thought it was so special that they wanted to preserve the last flowers he had bought for their mother so she could always have them with her.  Truly a special keepsake.

So beautiful! If you could sum it up in one sentence, what does this job, flower preservation mean to you?

It’s truly a dream come true. I get to work with flowers and create mementos for people that are full of meaning and love. Even memorial flowers are full of love, because they miss that special person in their life and want to hold on to every bit of their memory.

It’s amazing. Thank you so much!

writer Mingzhu Wu

22.08.2024