And What Type of Flowers?

Hi, my full name is Deborah – but my dad always called me Deb. My dad died nearly five years ago and was the driving force behind me setting up Flowersbydeb.

To cut a long story short, I had a good steady job for 30 years. I tried changing roles and chasing promotions, but it was always just a job – never a passion or a chosen path.

When my dad died, my world fell apart. I felt like a walking waste of organs that someone else could make better use of. I had no purpose in my life and no desire to carry on.

Through work-related counselling and Remploy mental health support, I learned that I did have a purpose, and that purpose was helping others whose lives had fallen apart the same way mine did.

This came through funeral and grave flowers. My brother died 15 years earlier, and I had made arrangements for his grave ever since. It started because florists often got the flowers wrong — wrong type, wrong shade — and those details mattered deeply.

I understood grief. I understood the need for everything to feel right. Because of that, I believed I could help people going through the same heartbreak.

Fresh flowers on my dad’s and brother’s graves were always eaten by rabbits, and artificial flowers back then were so bright they could probably be seen from space. There was nothing realistic or dignified.

So I started making my own grave arrangements, and people began asking me to create tributes for their loved ones too.

So, in answer to the question: I’m Deb – a 50-year-old woman with 20 years of funeral flower experience. I make fresh funeral tributes and realistic artificial grave flowers.