A blossoming tale of tropical beauties
Having grown up around natural flower arrangements at home, it isn’t surprising that Hafsah Cader finds flowers endlessly fascinating, a realization that led her to open up her own flower business where unusual tropical blooms make a stunning appearance.
“My mother constantly needed fresh flower arrangements in the house every week and she would get them for every party, function or event as well which made me love doing my own ones as I had a little knowledge about them as well,” Hafsah says as she talks us through how she started ‘Oopsy Daisy’ back in August 2019.
The phrase oopsy daisy usually used to convey a stumble or a slip and of course its floral connotation, is a nod to her own personality, she smiles. An interior designer by profession, Hafsah’s expertise in the field of design translates to her unconventional floral arrangements at Oopsy Daisy where she opts for flowers like Gingers, Heliconias, Torch Gingers and Orchids rather than the more conventional roses and chrysanthemums.
“I just kind of realized that the market didn’t have a lot of tropical flowers. Sri Lanka has such a diverse range of beautiful tropical flowers that come from different parts of the country. I wanted to tap into that potential market so I began to go down that pathway,” Hafsah says, adding that when people think of Sri Lankan flowers the first thing that usually pops into their head is the lotus flower but it is not just limited to that.
It is always a gamble straying from the norm but one that has paid off for Hafsah as people love her unusual arrangements. She gets her flowers mainly from the Central Province – Nuwara Eliya, Badulla and Welimada with the tropical flowers coming from places in Galle and Matara. A few blooms are imported.
Initially with only her husband and family supporting her, Hafsah began Oopsy Daisy as a part-time passion project alongside her regular 9-to-5 job as an interior designer. “I had to do a little bit of a swap once things started picking up and now I have a team of three women including myself behind Oopsy Daisy which is currently operating out of a home studio,” she shares.
Her simple bouquets gradually grew to weddings bouquets (for bride and retinue) and then small scale weddings, and now Oopsy Daisy also occasionally provides regular flower arrangements for restaurants and hotels in Colombo. “ I still absolutely love doing gifting bouquets but we are slowly expanding our selections,” Hafsah says, adding that their customisable bouquet boxes with macarons and flowers in buckets are quite a hit.
-
- Bridal bouquets for that special occasion
-
- Hafsah: Currently operating out of a home studio
-
- A tropical feast for the eyes: Hafsah’s creations
COVID-19 brought fresh challenges – due to the travel restrictions, it became difficult to source the flowers; however the Oopsy Daisy team have creatively taken to incorporating fruits that are available in abundance even during the recent lockdowns into their arrangements.
Check out Oopsy Daisy’s page on Instagram and Facebook on @oopsydaisylk – they currently only take in preorders.