Atelier Tulipina

Atelier Tulipina is a florist's studio in Interlaken run by Ina Presta (she also signs as Ina Presta Gort), who grew up in the Netherlands and named the business after the tulips of her home country. Its offer page says the studio specializes in wedding and bridal bouquets, hair flowers, buttonholes, table decoration, candles, church decoration, scattered petals and rental plants, "sowie für alle Belange rund um dekorative Floristik am schönsten Tag Ihres Lebens", and everything else to do with decorative floristry on the big day. For a couple marrying in or around Interlaken, it is a studio run by one named florist, with a clear wedding list and a trained florist behind it.

Ina Presta and her training

The homepage introduces her directly: "Mein Name ist Ina Presta und ich komme ursprünglich aus Holland, dem Land der Tulpen". In English: she comes from Holland, the land of tulips, and she adds that this is where the brand name Tulipina comes from. The offer page adds that flowers, colors and shapes were part of her everyday life from childhood, since her mother was a passionate dressmaker.

She writes that she learned the craft from the ground up with the master florist Tanja Lüthi, and has kept training since, including with well-known florists in Switzerland and abroad such as Diny Blom, Gregor Lersch and Sarah Dupasquier. The page lists her training and further education:

• Boerma Instituut, floral design school, Holland
• Gregor Lersch, floral design, Germany
• Blom Atelier, international floral design, Holland
• Sara Dupasquier, florist, Switzerland
• Tanja Lüthi, master florist, Switzerland
• Tom De Houwer, floral artist, Holland

She describes her way of working in one sentence: "Ich arbeite mit der Natur und Ihren Farben, rieche, taste, experimentiere, gestalte Schönes und Neues und mache dabei meine Kundinnen und Kunden zufrieden." That is, she works with nature and its colors, smells, touches and experiments, creates things that are beautiful and new, and keeps her customers satisfied.

The wedding offer

The wedding list on the offer page is specific:

• wedding and bridal bouquets
• hair flowers (Haarschmuck)
• buttonholes (Anstecker)
• table decoration
• candles
• church decoration
• scattered flowers (Streublumen)
• rental plants (Mietpflanzen)

The rental plants are worth noticing for a reception room or a ceremony space that needs greenery without buying it. The same page offers wreaths and arrangements from flowers and natural materials, for a wedding, a funeral or simply because, and a decoration and flower service with advice on site ("Beratung vor Ort") and delivery of flowers to where they are needed.

The homepage has a longer passage on wedding flowers. It says the bridal bouquet is an arrangement given to the bride on her wedding day, traditionally white, and that the choice of flowers depends on the season and on what the couple like, naming roses, lilies, daisies, tulips, orchids, peonies and sunflowers as popular choices. It calls room or church decoration a further important part of a ceremony and reception, including table and church flowers but also candles or other figures that have to match in style and color. It closes with "Ich berate Sie gerne im Atelier Tulipina zum Thema Hochzeits- und Brautschmuck", she is glad to advise on wedding and bridal flowers at the studio.

Hotels and businesses she works with

The homepage lists businesses that already work with her: Central Hotel Wolter, Neuhaus zum See, Hotel Interlaken, Hotel Spinne, Hotel Crystal and Aeschimann Elektro. These are clients of her hotel and business floristry, not wedding venues she partners with, but they show she delivers regularly around Interlaken. For hotels and companies she offers arrangements for reception areas, lobbies, rooms, restaurants and bars, and table decoration for events, delivered where possible on the same day.

Getting there

The contact page gives unusually precise directions. The studio is in the Käsedörfli in Interlaken. From the Interlaken post office, go to the Apotheke Portmann on Höheweg, walk through the narrow passage beside it into the courtyard behind, and the studio is there. From Centralstrasse, find the Quicknet shop opposite the Pizzeria Pizpaz and walk past it on the right into the back courtyard. The postal address is Centralstrasse 1, CH-3800 Interlaken.

Opening hours are short: Thursday 9.00 to 11.30, Friday 9.00 to 11.30 and Saturday 10.00 to 13.00, or by arrangement ("oder nach Absprache"). A couple planning a visit should arrange an appointment.

Contact, shop and workshops

Contact is by phone on +41 (0)76 283 82 87, by email at inapresta@gmail.com or through the form on the contact page, where she promises to reply as quickly as possible. The site also has an online shop; a news post from 2022 says orders can be placed around the clock, paid by credit card or other modern methods, and are delivered by her personally or by Swiss Post.

Her workshops take place in the studio, which she describes as "einem gemütlichen, geeigneten Raum, in dem man kreativ arbeiten kann", a cozy, suitable space for creative work. No prior knowledge is needed. The workshop page lists an Advent wreath at CHF 110, paper and wax at CHF 150, a winter wreath at CHF 79 and a light object at CHF 140. A newsletter announces new workshops, and she has taken part in the Winter-Hygge Christmas market at Hotel Interlaken.

What the site does not settle

The site publishes no wedding prices or packages; the only prices are for workshops. It gives no booking lead time, deposit or cancellation rule on the wedding pages, though the site links to its general terms. It does not say how far she travels for a wedding outside Interlaken, or whether she sets up church and table flowers on the day as well as delivering them.

The site is in German. Nothing on it states which languages she works in, so a couple who do not speak German should ask. The gallery shows pictures without captions naming weddings or venues.

Who it suits

Atelier Tulipina suits a couple marrying in the Interlaken area who want a trained florist to handle everything from the bouquet and hair flowers to the church, the tables, candles and rental plants, with advice on site. Her training list is long and specific.

It suits less well a couple who want a price list, a large team, or English confirmed in advance, and the short opening hours mean contact should be planned rather than left to a walk-in.