Meet The Elopement Society: Ochre Botanical Studios
Ochre Botanical Studios is an Edinburgh-based collective of florists who cherish the wiggly and wonderful stems that nature produces and love to champion these unique floral characters in their designs. They joined forces in 2020 to grow their own flowers in a community garden in central Edinburgh.
We are delighted to have them in our little black book of collaborators and are always truly wowed with what they come up with for all of our couples.
Ochre all lined up for Riz + Nicola’s Keep It Simple Elopement, 2022
Where did you all meet?
The Edinburgh floristry scene is fairly small! We met and became friends while working or freelancing for other florists at certain points in time over the past few years. There was one occasion where all six of us worked on a wedding together and everything just clicked so well! That cemented the bond between us for sure.
Coming together to work as a collective is a really wonderful approach to the craft. Can you tell us a bit about how that came about?
We all love working with locally grown flowers (the scent! the natural shapes!) and all endeavour to use sustainable practices in our work. During 2020, we began to talk about if it would ever be possible for us to venture out and find ways to embody these notions in a more tangible way - make our own rules, if you like. The idea of growing our own flowers seemed impossible from an individual stand-point, but knowing that we had the support of one another really helped our confidence to take the leap.
Plus, we love working together so having a collective was a way to ensure that we would take on projects together. Being in lockdown, with more time and headspace for all these ideas, really pushed us to go for it!
Introducing the florists of Ochre Botanical Studios...
Your instagram bio says that you’re “learning to grow in Granton Castle Walled Garden”. How’s your growing adventure been so far?
It’s a constant learning curve and a lot of work, but it's super rewarding at the end of the day! We feel so lucky to have the opportunity to grow flowers in the middle of Edinburgh and the support from the other volunteers in the Walled Garden has been incredible. The space we grow in was completely neglected for a long time, so we are still working on clearing areas that have been plagued by perennial weeds for a decade or more, even now. We just try to take it a year at a time, without putting too much pressure on ourselves and try to understand what works for us and what doesn’t.
Tell us a bit about the garden itself. How did you get started?
Long after the castle itself was lost, Granton Castle Walled Garden was run as a market garden. They were growing and selling fruit, vegetables and flowers to the people of Edinburgh for three generations before it was sold to Edinburgh Council, and the charity that looks after the garden was keen to ‘restore’ some of this history in the way the garden is used today.
Marion had been a volunteer at the community garden for a while, so got to know the space and people well. There weren’t any particular plans in place yet for the space which we now occupy, and so we put forward a proposal to grow flowers and they accepted. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship!
What have been the highlights?
Being able to cut buckets of our own flowers will never get old. Even though we’re going into our third year of growing, it is still astounding to us that we can actually grow things. We’re always like, ‘Wow! We grew that!’ We especially love seeing the first flowers to show their faces at the beginning of Spring - it’s a highlight every year!
There have definitely been some real stand out weddings. Too many to list here, but we particularly love the ones where our couples put their faith in us, and trust us to bring their wedding day to life with our flowers.
Any steep learning curves?
Taxes, lol.
Can you share some of your favourite local haunts, small businesses/events etc.?
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just off the cuff, here are a few things that come to mind…
Coffee/Eats
You’ll find us getting coffee at Little Fitzroy any day of the week, and especially if we have a busy day of flowering ahead of us. We’ve been enjoying Ante too since they opened (also wine at Spry upstairs!) - you have to try Felice’s insanely good cookies. 101 Bakery and Elliots are definite haunts of ours too.
Makers
We are all big stans of Borja Moronta, he makes the most beautiful ceramics. Studio Emma has been a big supporter of Ochre from the start, she puts the fun in functional!
Creative Spaces
Agitate, near Stag (hello great haircuts!) in Haymarket. It’s a photography gallery / shop / come studio space that’s definitely worth a visit. We also love Custom Lane down at the shore - great coffee, great space and home to some other great creatives like Laura Meek, Ruth Leslie and Juli Bolaños-Durman.
Check out Anish + Nicola’s stunning day at Timberyard with Ochre Botanical Studios. A joy to shoot.
Venues
We always love working with Timberyard. Whenever an enquiry comes through, and Timberyard is the venue, we get excited. They’re one of the few venues that care for other vendors. Whenever we arrive onsite to start installing, we are always offered water and coffee (this may seem simple, but it goes a long way). Dovecot Studios is another amazing venue we’ve worked with recently - their artistry is incredibly inspiring and it’s the perfect backdrop for creative installations. We’re excited to have a few weddings lined up at The Free Company this year - we love their seasonal dinner series.
What should elopers think about when exploring floral options for their big wee days?
Seasonality is key to what we do, so thinking about the time of year you’ll be getting married in connection to your flowers can be really important in terms of what might or might not be available flower-wise. If you love any particular varieties and want to include them in your wedding, consider whether they will be flowering at the time of year when you’re planning to get married. If you’re not fussy about varieties per se, we recommend putting your trust in your florist to choose the absolute best of what is on offer at your time of year. We are obsessed with flowers! We will make sure you get THE NICEST things!
Nice people =
SWEET AF moments
Weddings and elopements are all about love and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate that than by working with businesses, creatives and makers from in and around Edinburgh and East Lothian. Support whole neighbourhoods while you marry.
Collective Gallery and The Lookout on Calton Hill are the lushest of places to shoot a small wedding. I think it’s something to do with the wide open horizon in the middle of the city. It’s also great attention to detail and service from the team.