Boutierre Girls - The Country's Favourite Florist

At Home With The Country’s Favourite Florist

Where petals meet Preen inside this Sydney florists home

When we say florist, you’re probably picturing a straw hat donning, middle-aged woman trying to sell you overpriced, second-day bouquets. 

But, meeting Emily Smith from Boutierre Girls confirms she is everything but your stereotypical florist and we can only begin to describe her sense of style and penchant for the finer things as an epic tale of print clashes, beauty must-haves and fur babies of the cat variety.

This self-confessed cat lady has no trouble pairing market-fresh Calla Lilly’s with combat boots, so please join us en-route inside this social media sensations home to uncover her beauty must-haves and fashion splurges. 

EN - Why a florist? What was your journey getting here?

I neverrrr thought I would end up as a florist. Growing up I wanted to be a doctor or a fashion designer.

I was obsessed with crafts and anything creative since I was a toddler but I never thought it was possible to make it a career option.

I was at uni studying and I started up Boutierre Girls on the side for a LOL and some extra money while I was a starving uni student.

Boutierre Girls started as cakes, which everyone loved because I decorated them in fresh flowers and they tasted good and everything snowballed from there. I deferred uni and focused full time on my business pretty quickly after that. 

A year or so into the business I realised it was the flowers that I loved and not so much the baking. So I quit cakes and became a florist only and have never looked back.

Fun fact: I’ll still make the occasional cake for a good friend.

EN - What does a typical day look like for you?

If it’s a market morning (3-4 days of the week) I get up at 3.50 am and leave the house at about 4.20 am.

I spend up to two hours at the market and then head home to start prepping everything for the day, strip all the stems and get it all into water aiming to have our orders out by 10 am just after peak hour.

If we have events and weddings, we often work through till midnight then start again at the crack of dawn all over again the following day.

Every day is really different but there’s always SO much to do whether it’s emailing and quoting, site inspections, meeting with clients, meetings with accountants, styling shoots, cleaning the studio, going to the tip, collecting vases and structures from events, designing and delivering arrangements etc. The list is never-ending. We spend a huge amount of time on our feet and running around all hours of the day.

I try and grab sleep where I can. It’s often around 2 pm to 6 pm it really just depends on the day. 

EN - What do you wish more people knew about flowers and how to order them from a florist?

I love it when clients give me a budget and just leave the rest with me. 

I would love to educate people more on the cost of flowers and how many hands they go through before they reach mine.

Whether they come from overseas or an Australian farm, they are grown, cared for, watered, cut, packaged, taken to market by growers, sold to florists, cut and prepped back at the studio, designed into an arrangement, delivered by a courier and then received. A huge amount of work, love and care goes into an arrangement.

It’s a real labour of love.

 

I would love to educate people more on the cost of flowers and how many hands they go through before they reach mine.
EN - When you shop online what are 3 brands you’ll always look at?
EN - Where do you shop online and in-store?

I love shopping in Paddington and David Jones in the city when I have time

I love shopping on Matches Fashion, Mythereasa and Forward. They are all so easy and I am literally mind blown that they arrive 2 days after ordering.

 

EN - If you have exactly $1500 what would you buy right now?

Yikes… 1/3 of a handbag haha!

I also love shoes. I’d probably buy a pair of chunky patent Prada boots in black, I think they are called Moonlight.

EN - Where did you buy your last Chanel bag from? Tell us the story...

I bought it from Chanel on King Street in Sydney. I saw it in their show and stalked it (the Mermaid Bag) for months.

I had just done one of my largest jobs ever and it really took everything out of me emotionally after working on it for so long.

It was an impulse buy with my best girlfriend – she egged me on!!

Sometimes I like to buy myself something special after a big job that we worked really hard on.

My one rule with a designer purchase is that if I’m dropping bank on it then I have to thrash it.

A lot of people have the mentality that buying designer means buying something black that they can use every day – I am the total opposite.

If I’m spending a good chunk of money on something, I want it to be special and wacky and fun, so I’m excited every time I use it.

Dr. Dennis Gross

Alpha Beta Peel

Preen

Eau de Nil Floral Cushion

Fishpond

Kate Moss Poster

Tom Ford

Soleil Blanc Body Oil

Palm Angels

Pink Logo Shirt

Fendi

Logo Slides

EN - How do you incorporate fashion into your daily life? Do you shop for comfort?

We are always wearing really practical clothes for work and we opt for mostly dark colours because we get so dirty and covered in tree branches etc.

I love spending money on a good pair of cool boots so I don’t feel like a huge dag… And I always like to wear nice jewellery/statement earrings/hoops

EN - Preen, is this your new label to love?

I loveeee Preen. I have always loved their clothing and now that Preen has started up Preen Home I’m all over it. I love the classic traditional floral patterns, mixed with whacky prints. It’s very me.

I just have a few pillows at the moment but would love some cool throws. 

EN - Guilty fashion pleasure?

Shoes and handbags…. and fine jewellery

EN - What’s one beauty secret no one knows about you?

I wear foundation/makeup maybe 4 times a year if that.

I also often don’t wash or exfoliate my face in the mornings which sounds absurd until you meet the Dennis Gross Alpha-Beta wipes. They have literally changed my life and my skin and have become my number one must have/can’t live without product. Expensive but worth every cent.

I don’t often have much time in the morning for a good routine with such early starts so these wipes saved my life. I spend a lot more time on my face and routine at night.

EN - When you have 30 mins of free time what do you do?

I love to go for a swim at Balmoral or just stare at some water – I love spending time by myself.

EN - If you could ask your pet 3 questions, what would they be?

Why do you like to sleep on my clean washing?

How did you get so chunky… I really don’t think I feed you that much.

Why do you want to have a full-on conversation with me at 3 am instead of sleeping?

EN - Who inspires you?

So many different people.

Anyone that has a reputation of being really caring, genuine, kind and fair.

I look up to lots of women in my industry and others that always handle themselves with grace, even through really difficult situations whether it’s business or friendship related.

Want to see or learn more? Leave a comment below or keep up to date with Emily and her team on Instagram here

Make-Up: Verity G

Photography: Lucy Alcorn 

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