A Leigh florist has won a national wedding-industry award only months after opening his floral art studio.
Steven Darby, owner of Moss Floral Art, was named Wedding Florist of the Year 2026 in the Kay's Flower School Florist of the Year Awards.
Darby opened the Leigh-based studio in March after leaving the NHS. He said the business was established to bring a creative and colourful approach to floral design while encouraging more people to engage with flowers and floral art.
National award for a new Leigh studio
The Kay's Flower School winners list names Moss Floral Art and Steven as the 2026 winner in its Wedding Florist of the Year category.
The awards are open to florists internationally, with winners chosen through a customer and client voting process. Categories in the 2026 programme also included retail, studio, freelance and newcomer florists.
The result gives the newly opened Leigh business national recognition during its first year of operation.
"Most importantly, I want to show that small businesses in Leigh can create something with meaningful impact," Darby said.
He added that Moss Floral Art was intended to encourage creativity and help people rediscover an interest in flowers.
Preparing for FleurEx 2026
Darby said he has also been invited to appear as a debut designer at FleurEx 2026, the British Florist Association's national trade event.
The British Florist Association confirms that this year's event will take place at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October.
The two-day programme is expected to include live demonstrations, workshops, competitions, an exhibition and the final of the UK Florist of the Year competition.
Darby said he has been working with a Leigh artist on a nine-foot nature-inspired floral installation for the event. The installation is then planned to move to Kenyon Hall Farm near Warrington during October, allowing visitors to see it closer to home.
From Leigh to a London floral exhibition
The forthcoming appearance follows work by Moss Floral Art on Fleurs de Villes Diana, a floral exhibition held at Somerset House in London.
Darby said the studio collaborated with The Diana Award to create a floral interpretation of the patterned kimono worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, during a 1986 visit to Japan.
The project formed part of a wider exhibition in which floral designers interpreted outfits and moments associated with Diana's public life.
Darby said the sequence of projects showed what a small independent business from Leigh could achieve within its first year.
The photographs and information about Moss Floral Art's projects were supplied by Steven Darby. Local Gazette independently verified the 2026 award result and the published FleurEx dates and venue.