COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHT: Kris Mc Kee Floral Design

Hi Kris, can you share a little bit of your background and what brought you to this passion for flowers and flower design?

For most of my adult life I have been a nurse, I have travelled as a nurse, living in London for 8 years, studied and progressed my qualifications until I reached the top of my field. And for most of those 20 years I had felt like I was waiting for a lightbulb moment and a keen opportunity to take me in another direction. 

I have definitely enjoyed my nursing career, and it's been very rewarding but deep down my passion has always had a creative flame. 

When I was a kid, until my early 20's I sang, and then studied Opera at Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, I wanted to be a professional opera singer but I didn't want to wait tables while I made that happen, so I thought that nursing would be a solid side career. Nursing was a solid career, so much so that it took over and left no room, time, physical or mental energy for anything else. But it did allow me the skills to be able to travel the world and experience so much in my mid 20's. 

COVID was the catalyst for taking the leap out of nursing and into something that fed my creative passion. COVID was hard as a nurse, it was exhausting and really stressful, so I began looking for short courses I could do online and then eventually in person to act as a creative outlet and reduce some of the stress. One of those courses was florals, and then I just decided to sign up for the full-blown TAFE certificate, by that point I had committed to jumping right on in, I completed my qualification and started my own business. Zero regrets! Love it! 

I still work 1 day a week in nursing, giving up that registration is a big decision. I also work for my sister-in-law supporting her business too. 

Can you tell us more about the story behind your flower business, and what makes you different from any other typical flower shops?

Ha ha, I jumped ahead and answered this in the last question, I think. 

However, what makes me different from other typical shops would be my desire to build a really sustainable and environmentally conscious business. There is a lot of plastic waste in floristry and we need to reduce it, NOW. There are also many other industry related factors that contribute to the negative impacts on the environment that are fast tracking climate change. 

I am committed to reducing all plastics within my business, using paper and biodegradable or recyclable materials, sourcing my flowers from local growers as much as possible and  I do not use floral foam (those green blocks that are soaked in water and then used as a base to hold flowers). Floral foam is made up of microplastics and absolutely never biodegrades, so it's sticks around, polluting our environment forever. 

I encourage everyone to ask their florist if they use it and request that they don't use it when providing a service for you. The more community members aware of the impact of floral foam and requesting it not be used, will result in less florists buying it and using it in their businesses. The demand just wont be there, and this is a good thing. 

I am also a proud member of the Sustainable Floristry Network, and completed a course in order to proudly promote that fact!

What does a typical week being a florist and business owner look like for you?

Every week is different. I'll give you an example of a wedding week:

Monday and Tuesday are usually admin days, mixed with working my other 2 jobs. I would also be contacting the couple getting married  to check on any last minute details and confirm all is on track

Wednesday morning, I would hit the road at 4:30am in Kenny, my little white van, and head out to the Flower Markets at Flemington. Depending on the size of the job, I might be out there sourcing flowers for 1-2 hours, trying really hard not to buy extra bunches of anything beautiful I see, just because (oops), then it's back to the studio to prep the flowers. This involves removing rose thorns, leaves, and trimming stems, popping everything into buckets of fresh water and into the cool room. This can take me til lunch time. Then it's time to prep vases, and foam free mechanics for the designs. 

Thursday I might be working another job, and then in the evening I will set up the studio, ready for arranging the flowers the next morning. I'll also prep all of the non flower related materials that need to be packed in the van, ie trollies, ladders, bags, tools etc. I'll also check on all the flowers to ensure they are well hydrated, blooming perfectly and looking their best. Depending on the flowers types, some will need extra TLC to get them to their best selves. 

Then it's flower day Friday! I will spend all day designing many of the arrangements for the Wedding, all the wedding party personal flowers, like bouquets etc, table vase arrangements etc. And then allocating flowers and foliage's to specific buckets for any installations or larger vase arrangements that need to be made on site at the wedding venue.  I will have also been to either 'Ladies and Gentleman' cafe or 'Goods', several times during the day and loaded up on caffeine. 

Saturday is wedding day. We start early, either on my own or with my fiancé Ben, or a freelance florist for extra hands. First up we deliver the personal items, bouquets, buttonholes, flower crowns etc to the couple. Then it's off to the ceremony site to set up. After that's done we move to the reception and set up there. If designs are being moved from the ceremony to the reception (perhaps large plinth arrangements), this is done quickly and quietly at the end of the ceremony so guests are not impacted and then the reception space is finished. 

We then leave, find something to eat and drink, perhaps have a nanna nap.....before heading back to the venue at midnight to pack down and bump out. Back to the studio to unpack the van and then to bed.

Sunday is rest day! After a quick clean of the buckets, and bundling any leftover florals into posies and dropping them off to a local aged care service, or women's shelter. It's a big week, but it's rewarding! 

What do you most love about your job?

Running my own business. And working with flowers! But, for every hour I spend working directly with flowers there is 5 x that spent on admin, bucket cleaning, and many other unglamorous tasks. But it's all worth it! I get so much joy from being creative!

What past project of yours are you most proud of, and why?

Oh my goodness, I think my absolute favourite project so far was working with 'Fleurs de Villes' during WORLD pride in 2023. Fifteen Sydney florists were invited to design a model's outfit, made up entirely of flowers and plant materials. The models were based on 15 people who have made a significant impact for the LGBTQIA+ community. I was given Peter de Waal, an activist and author, one of the original communities member to march in the first Sydney Mardi Gras.

The experience was amazing, from the very starting point designing my idea, figuring out how on earth I was going to create Peter's outfit from flowers and plants and ensure it was convincingly clothes, an epic whole day setting up within the Calyx at the Botanic Gardens, meeting Peter during the opening night, and tending to the flowers to keep it all alive for 2 weeks! It was also pretty amazing to know that so many people attended the show over those 2 weeks and saw my design, including Princess Anne herself. 

Do you have a "signature" flower or item that you use to make most of your bouquets, and why?

That's a hard one. I don't think I have a signature per say. 

I do tend to prefer mixing my materials with lots of the more unusual flower and foliage varieties. I love finding interesting blooms, creating arrangements that not only look beautiful as a whole, but invite you to look closer at each of the individual stems and hopefully discover something you've not seem before. There are so many species and varieties of flowers. 

I also like to use some of the less "popular" or "trendy" varieties, in a hope to highlight just how beautiful they really are in their own right. Things like carnations and gerberas.  I love a bunch of fluffy carnations en-masse, absolutely stunning, and there are some incredibly fun gerbera varieties out there in mother nature too. 

The end of Summer is approaching, what are the seasonal flowers we should focus on buying to brighten our homes in the next few months?

I love a change of season. I love how everything shifts a little. Because Sydney doesn't experience huge changes form one season to the next, it can feel a little more subtle and you have to be keenly looking to spy those shifts. 

When I think about flowers and the change of season, I get quite excited for the arrival of Tulips and other bulb blooms.  I have become an absolute die-hard fan of tulips. If you're not convinced that you love them yet, I implore you to jump onto instagram and seek out #tulips. There are so many varieties, colours, textures, some even resemble peonies when they are fully open! And they have a really good vase life too. Tulips are what we call phototactic, meaning their cellular matter reacts directly to the direction of light, the stems flower heads will twist and turn toward the source of light. It's quite magical to notice.

As we move toward the cooler and darker months, I really love the change of colour palette too. it's quite comforting to shift from the bright bold colours and soft pastels of summer and focus on filling our vases with deeper, more dramatic tones of burgundy, reds, deep earthy colours, deep greens, etc and then pair them with either a beautiful crisp with, buttery cream or blush pink. 

What goal do you hope to achieve in 2024?

Business growth for sure. I am ready to really scale up my wedding and event offerings. 

And on a personal side, I am getting married in March (very soon, argh) so that is incredibly exciting! And yes, I am doing my own flowers - with some help of course.

When you’re not working, what are you up to / how do you like to spend your free time?

Hanging out with my main Man, reading both fiction and non fiction, spending time with friends, Pilates ,  planning exotic holidays to far away lands. 

Where do we find you?

I am a studio based florist, so I don't have a shop front. The best place to find me is online

www.krismckeefloraldesign.com. Instagram and facebook handles are @kris.floraldesign.

I offer everyday bouquets, Wedding and event florals and styling and workshops. And don't forget SCOUT members get 10% bouquet orders. 

Reach out and say hello, I love connecting with the local community.