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Her whimsical floral creations have been featured in countless Bed Threads shoots.
The Routine That Helps Dandy Flora Founder Beth With 4 am Starts
Her whimsical floral creations have been featured in countless Bed Threads shoots.
Welcome to Bedtime Stories, an interview series where we ask inspiring individuals to share their nighttime routines and sleep secrets. For this instalment, florist Beth Parry of Dandy Flora shares the nighttime routine that preps her for her early starts.
Florists are notorious for having early morning starts. Whether it’s a flower market visit or straight into prepping arrangements, their days can start as early as 4 am. For Beth of much-loved Sydney florist Dandy Flora, having a solid night-time routine to help kickstart the next day is crucial.
Growing up, Beth didn’t always know she wanted to be a florist. “I certainly didn’t grow up in a household that regularly bought or appreciated flowers. My dad used to remove nice trees and plants from the garden because of their mess!” She shares with Bed Threads Journal.
After school she went to uni and studied PR and advertising before taking a job as a media planner buyer. “I found it a bit tedious and unfulfilling,” she says. After a holiday to the US in 2012 she came home feeling creatively inspired and knew she didn’t want to work in media forever. “I’d been spending a lot of time on Pinterest, which is where I became completely fascinated by the work of New York florist Amy Merrick. Her work was so beautiful it led me to enrol in a floristry course which I took every Saturday for nine months while still working in media, and after finishing the course I began working half the week as a florist.”
In her mid-20s she moved to London, where she planned on creating the same work arrangement. “My naivety about the cost of living there led me to accept a full-time media job. I worked hard there for the next three and a half years until I once again got that niggling feeling that I was in the wrong career.”
She came back to Sydney to work as a florist for Jane of Floreat, learning all areas of floristry. “This time really helped me uncover what parts of floristry I aligned with and enjoyed most, and so when the pandemic hit and work hours were reduced, I felt ready to move on and bring my own creative floristry ideas to life through Dandy Flora.”
Dandy Flora has become one of the most sought-after floristry businesses in Australia. In the last three years, Dandy Flora has evolved from doing a little bit of everything to now just focusing on photoshoot sourcing and styling and event floristry. Her vibrant and sculptural creations enliven the spaces they inhabit and have featured in countless Bed Threads shoots.
Below, we spoke to Beth about her early morning starts, her flower of choice, and the nighttime routine that preps her for the next day.
What sleep or beauty products do you swear by that you won’t go a night without?
A friend gifted me Being Balm which I put on my lips and my hands also get quite dry from work so I use this Aesop hand cream. Also, a good fiction book!
How do you create a calm and relaxing environment in your bedroom?
Our bedroom is very minimal. My husband and I just have our bed with two pillows, a cosy blanket, our bedside tables with books and a lamp. Everything else we own is behind wardrobe doors, so it’s mostly clutter free which makes it easy to feel relaxed.
What is your solution for those nights you simply can’t nod off to sleep?
If I’m going through a busy or overwhelming work period I’ll fall asleep listening to positive affirmations on Spotify. About six years ago I learned some deep diaphragmatic breathing exercises, which also help you to fall asleep when anxious. They work without fail within a couple of minutes every time!
Florists are renowned for starting their days early in the morning. How did you initially get adjusted to this routine?
I think getting up that early is a shock to everyone’s body at first, but the best way to get adjusted I found was to go to the flower market consistently. When I first started Dandy Flora, even if I didn’t have anything to buy, I would still get up early and go to the market to research what I could use for upcoming jobs. I think the consistency of getting up to the early alarm allowed my body to automatically adjust, and eventually, the shock of the alarm wore off. Nowadays I barely give the early start a second thought, it’s just part of my routine.
What does self-care mean to you and how do you practice it?
Self-care for me is performed mostly through my habits. Daily walks outside (especially in winter when my house feels cold!), 30 minutes of yoga, take a pregnancy and iron supplement, journal, do my skincare, cook a healthy dinner, and read a fiction book. I also go on coffee dates and dinner catch-ups with friends regularly. It sounds like a lot but it’s all pretty much on autopilot now and for me these things are a priority, as I know they keep me feeling more motivated, happy and productive in the other areas of my life. I’ve fallen out of the habit of meditation this year but I’d love to get back into it, last year I did a daily 10-minute manifestation meditation and I am really reaping the benefits of that in my life right now, it’s been wild!
For more from Beth follow her @dandy.flora
