Behind The Scenes At Chelsea Flower Show 2019

Sophie's Stories

Behind the scenes Chelsea Flower Show 2019 with Sophie Allport

It's always so exciting arriving at the Royal Hospital Chelsea to set up for the annual flower show. Year on year, thousands of people swarm to Chelsea to marvel at the vibrant flower displays and incredible garden designs. This year they are expecting 157,000 people through the doors from all corners of the globe. Members of the royal family often visit the show and we were fortunate enough to spot the Duchess of Cambridge visiting her garden in the days leading up to the opening... and look who we spotted strolling past our stand on press day?

Duke & Duchess of Cambridge at CFS 2019 infront of Sophie Allport stand.

The whole of Chelsea is a hive of activity and we arrive very early the week before the show and spend our first morning unloading the vans. Armed with strong coffees and paint brushes in hand we set about building the walls and the mainframe for the stand.

 Sophie Allport at Chelsea Flower Show 2019

We set up the tongue and groove panelling and then move onto upholstering our Peony fabric around the top rim of the stand. A precarious job that involves ladders, an iron and a robust staple gun!

Chelsea stand 2019 - set up for Sophie Allport

The plants then all arrive and once we have the carpet fitted we begin to move the larger pieces of furniture into place including the display cabinetsand the till area.

Sophie Allport stand build at Chelsea Flower Show 2019

On day two the stand is coming together and we fit the lighting units, hang shelves and hooks and start to bring all the stock to display.

Sophie Allport stand at Chelsea Flower Show 2019

A great team effort and our stand was finished... it was definitely time for a well-deserved drink.

Finished stand at Chelsea Flower with the building team

The stand was ready for press day on the Monday with plants watered and displays straightened and all our Chelsea Flower Show 2019 mugs on display at the front of the stand.

Sophie on the Chelsea stand on press day 2019

It was such a pleasure to meet the gorgeous Carol Kirkwood.

Sophie with the gorgous Carol Kirkwood at Chelsea 2019

We also met funny men Lee Mack and Rob Brydon who popped onto the stand on their tour around the beautiful Chelsea gardens.

Sophie with comedian Lee Mack at Chelsea Flower Show 2019

After all the hard work, we were awarded a four-star by the RHS team for our stand display which is such an honour. Do come and see us on stand RHW/294 if you're lucky enough to be coming along to the show.

sophie-allport-chelsea-award-2019

3 comments

  • Thank you for your message, Julie. You can definitely pop our fine bone china mugs in the dishwasher and they are also microwave safe. So pleased you enjoyed the Chelsea Flower Show – it’s one of the highlights of our year!

    Sophie Allport on

  • I am overjoyed that I got to attend the 2019 Chelsea Flower Show! I wanted to buy everything in your booth, but my souvenir take-home was your flower show, bone china mug. I love it!!! Do you recommend hand washing or is it dishwasher safe? I want to enjoy it for many more years!

    Julie on

  • CONGRATULATIONS on best stand award. I absolutely love how you posted the steps that took to get your stand finalized. It was absolutely gorgeous. I also appreciate the pictures of the various people (including the Cambridge Royals) you posted. It’s very hot here in sunny but rainy south Florida and a garden show such as this a delight to hear about. We love garden shows. Job well done to all of the Sophie Allport team. I truly enjoy your products all the way across the big blue pond. Happy Summer 2019

    Suzette on


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