Corky and Prince is a bespoke wedding and events flower studio founded by Fi Passey and based in the Cotswolds, UK. After a successful yet ultimately unfulfilling career in banking, Fi decided to pivot and began her entrepreneurial adventure in 2018. Over the last seven years, the business has grown in reputation and scale to become one of the leading floral studios in the region, an achievement recognised in 2024 when Fi won Cotswolds Florist of the Year. At the heart of the brand is a desire to make floral design accessible, fun and immersive, a philosophy brought to life by Fi’s infectious passion for flowers.
Fi spent her childhood surrounded by the flowers from her mother’s garden, developing her passion at a tender age. This calling simmered away until Fi was asked to create the wedding flowers for a local couple. The experience was transformative and as Fi says “It felt as if I had come home to myself. To live the life I was meant to live.” Since that first wedding, the floral life has taken Fi to Chelsea Flower Show, many of the finest venues in England and overseas.
How would you describe the Corky and Prince aesthetic in three words?
Poetic + Empathic + Playful
How do you strike the balance between maximalism and modernity in your floral work?
That’s a great question and one that takes us to the heart of my design practice. Following the collaborative refinement of the brief and the colour story, formulating flower recipes is a critical step in my client journey. As a self confessed flower geek, I bring an encyclopaedic knowledge of flowers and foliage to my work, so the editing phase is crucial to achieve a discerning curation of form and colour. I describe recipe development as ‘painting in my mind’ where every botanical needs to earn its place, bringing drama or delicacy, adding texture or tone. In many senses, it’s probably my ‘zone of genius’, where artistic flair marries with intuition and practicalities. Even with maximalist designs, I strive for subtle variations and nuances so that the finished work feels absolutely right for the time, space and season it will occupy. With experience, you know when to add or more often, as Coco Chanel famously advised, to take away, in order to achieve floral installations that are naturally harmonious and intentional.
What’s inspiring you creatively at the moment?
I have a deep and enduring love affair with art and paintings in particular and whilst my tastes have changed down the years, I return time and again to two particular eras and movements for inspiration. The 17th century Dutch still life flower paintings by Rachel Ruysch, one of the few female artists of her age, are imbued with hidden narratives within rich tapestries of blooms, leaves and natural ephemera. The floral abundance and surprising colour pairing subtly influencing my work in unexpected ways, such as the considered introduction of fresh fruits or vegetables into installations and table-scapes – a look that’s defining event floristry in 2025.
In contrast, at least aesthetically, I’m really loving the fashion trend this year for saturated pastels, that nod briefly to the retro glamour of 1950s Palm Springs. Ballet pinks, buttery yellows and summer sky blues can be blended to create designs that are both romantic and modern.
Do you think couples are becoming braver with florals?
Absolutely yes! My clients are increasingly seeking a highly personalised response for their wedding or event which is driven in part I believe by the democratising impact of social media. With a view into the worlds of celebrities and influencers, clients bring more design insights than ever before. This year clients have becoming bolder with their choice of colour, seeking designs that truly reflect their tastes and lived experiences. The motifs and memories from their travels, their relationship and diverse cultural backgrounds provide a rich source of creative possibilities which I see as my role to harmonise into floral design that strikes the perfect balance between impact and elegance. Be it a sunset ombré flower aisle or the embracing hug of a floral arch, 2025 clients are investing in statement pieces that will become part of the cherished memory of their wedding day.
How do you approach designing for a wedding versus a private dinner or brand event?
Wedding floral design usually takes place over a longer time horizon and requires consideration of multiple factors such as the dresses and suits, the ceremony setting and the season. Clients also want their flowers investment to work hard across the whole wedding – from the rehearsal dinner, through the wedding day and into the recovery brunch. With these factors in mind, we creatively re-purpose designs so they continue to surprise and delight.
When I’m working on brand and private client events, my key consideration is how to reflect the brand’s values or the emotional response that the client wants to evoke. This can bring greater creative freedom. Ultimately our work is underpinned by common factors, namely achieving visual cohesion with all the other elements such as the building interiors, stationery and table scape details, and working collaboratively with other suppliers.
What’s a floral moment you’ve created recently that you’ll never forget?
My work feels like one wonderful moment after another but there was a design from last season that I expect to still be recalling by the fireside in later life. For a mid summer wedding at Kin House in Wiltshire, I worked closely with my client and a textile artist to create a dramatic ceiling installation of suspended flowers for the wedding reception. 1600 stems of blue delphiniums and white roses hung from a central canopy, surrounded by soft ivory draping across the ceiling. This design took weeks of planning and prototyping, a custom metal work frame and a big team of florists to create it. But it was so worth it as the finished design created impact and atmosphere, and set the scene for the celebration to come. Plus the look on my client’s face as she had her ‘first look’ said it all. This really is my ‘Why”.
Lastly what does a ‘a celebration of flowers’ mean to you personally?
In our ever changing world, where artifice and fakery abound, there is something arrestingly real and profound about flowers. I believe that taking a moment to hold, to touch, to smell and to really see the beauty in a single flower brings us back to ourselves and encourages us to be truly present, grateful and humble in the face of nature’s grace. As one of life’s compulsive overthinkers, working with flowers helps me stay present and grounded in a way nothing else can.
Discover more: corkyandprince.com
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