Privacy Policy
1. Who we are
Slow Field Flowers is a flower-growing and floral design business based in County Westmeath, Ireland.
For the purposes of data protection law, Slow Field Flowers is the data controller responsible for the personal information collected through this website and in connection with our business activities.
Business owner: Sarah Stockton
Business contact email: sarah@slowfield.com
Business address: Windmill, Milltownpass, Co Westmeath, Ireland, N91 KD96
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how your personal information is handled, please contact us using the details above.
2. What personal information we collect
The information we collect depends on how you interact with Slow Field Flowers. This may include:
Wedding and general enquiries: Your name, email address, telephone number, wedding date, venue, event details, budget, preferences and any other information you choose to provide.
Orders and workshop bookings: Your name, contact details, billing and delivery addresses, order details, workshop booking information and transaction records.
Newsletter subscriptions: Your name, email address, subscription preferences and information about whether our emails have been opened or links clicked, where this tracking is enabled.
Website usage: Information such as your IP address, browser and device information, pages visited, referral sources and interactions with our website, where collected through analytics tools or cookies.
Communications: Information contained in emails, contact forms and other correspondence with us.
Please avoid including sensitive personal information in your enquiries unless it is genuinely necessary.
3. How and why we use your information
We use personal information only where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the circumstances, these bases may include performing a contract, taking steps at your request before entering a contract, complying with legal obligations, pursuing legitimate business interests, or obtaining your consent.
We may use your information to:
Respond to wedding enquiries and discuss floral designs, quotations and proposals.
Prepare wedding and event proposals and provide the floral products and services you request.
Process orders, accept payments, arrange deliveries and manage workshop bookings.
Contact you about an order, booking, quotation or other business enquiry.
Maintain business, accounting and tax records and meet our legal obligations.
Send our newsletter and marketing emails where we are legally permitted to do so.
Understand how visitors use our website and improve its content and performance.
Maintain website security, prevent fraud and resolve technical issues.
Where we rely on legitimate interests, those interests may include managing our business, responding to relevant enquiries, maintaining customer relationships and improving our services. We consider the impact on your privacy when relying on this legal basis.
Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
4. Wedding enquiries and contact forms
When you contact us about wedding flowers, workshops, products or other services, we use the information you provide to respond to your enquiry and, where relevant, prepare quotations and proposals.
If you go ahead with a booking, we will use the necessary information to manage and fulfil that booking and meet our legal obligations.
If you decide not to proceed, we may retain relevant correspondence for a reasonable period to manage follow-up communications, maintain business records or deal with potential disputes, in accordance with our retention practices.
We do not use enquiry information for unrelated marketing purposes unless we have an appropriate lawful basis to do so.
5. Orders, payments and bookings
Our online shop and booking checkout are provided through Squarespace.
When you place an order or make a booking, your information is processed to manage your purchase, confirm your order, arrange fulfilment, provide customer support and maintain appropriate business records.
Payments are processed through the payment services made available through Squarespace checkout. We do not intentionally collect or store your full payment card details in our own records. Payment information is handled according to the relevant payment provider's processes and privacy terms.
We may retain transaction and order information for as long as necessary to meet accounting, tax and other legal requirements.
6. Newsletter and marketing emails
Slow Field Flowers offers newsletter sign-ups through Squarespace and Flodesk.
If you subscribe, we use your email address and any other information you provide to send newsletters, updates, seasonal flower information, workshop announcements and relevant offers.
We will send electronic direct marketing only where we have the necessary permission or where another lawful basis permitted by applicable Irish electronic marketing rules applies.
You can unsubscribe at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us directly.
We may use email reporting tools to understand whether newsletters are opened or links are clicked, where these features are enabled. You can contact us if you have questions about this processing.
Unsubscribing from marketing emails does not affect essential communications about an order or booking.
7. Cookies, analytics and website tracking
Our website is hosted on Squarespace and uses analytics or other website measurement tools.
These tools may collect information about how visitors use the website, such as pages viewed, approximate location derived from technical information, device details and referral sources. The specific information collected depends on the tools and settings enabled.
Our website may also use cookies and similar technologies to support essential website functions, remember preferences, measure website performance or provide other features.
Where Irish or EU law requires consent for non-essential cookies or tracking technologies, we will seek your consent before using them. You can manage your choices through the cookie consent controls provided on our website, where available.
You may also be able to manage cookies through your browser settings. Blocking certain cookies may affect website functionality.
For more information about cookies and tracking technologies, please refer to the cookie information or settings provided on our website.
8. Who we share your information with
We share personal information only where necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including with relevant service providers.
These may include:
Squarespace, which hosts our website and provides website forms, online shop and checkout functionality.
Flodesk, which provides our newsletter and email marketing services.
Payment service providers involved in processing online payments through Squarespace checkout.
Website analytics providers whose tools we use to understand website performance.
Delivery and fulfilment providers, where needed to deliver orders.
Professional advisers and public authorities, where necessary to meet legal obligations, obtain professional advice or establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
These providers may process information on our behalf or as separate controllers, depending on their role and the services they provide.
We do not sell your personal information.
9. International transfers
Some of our service providers may process or store personal information outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
Where personal information is transferred outside the EEA, we will ensure that the transfer is permitted under applicable data protection law and that appropriate safeguards are in place where required.
The locations, transfer mechanisms and safeguards applicable to our website, email marketing, payment and analytics providers should be confirmed against the services and account settings we use.
10. How long we keep your information
We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including meeting legal, accounting and reporting obligations and dealing with potential disputes.
Our retention practices include the following principles:
Enquiries: Retained for a reasonable period to respond, manage potential bookings and maintain relevant business records.
Customer and booking records: Retained as needed to fulfil bookings, provide customer support and meet applicable legal obligations.
Financial and tax records: Retained for the periods required by applicable Irish law.
Newsletter information: Retained until you unsubscribe or withdraw your consent, subject to any limited information we need to retain to respect your preferences and demonstrate compliance.
Website analytics: Retained according to the settings and retention periods of the analytics tools we use.
The precise retention periods depend on the type of record and the reason it is held. We periodically review the information we retain and securely delete or anonymise it when it is no longer needed.
11. How we protect your information
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.
We use third-party service providers to operate our website, manage communications and process orders. We take reasonable care in selecting and using these services, but no online system or method of transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
12. Your data protection rights
Under applicable data protection law, you may have the right to:
Access the personal information we hold about you.
Rectify inaccurate or incomplete information.
Erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
Restrict how we process your information in certain circumstances.
Object to processing based on legitimate interests and to direct marketing.
Receive or transfer certain information in a portable format, where the right applies.
Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
These rights are subject to applicable legal conditions and exceptions.
To exercise a right or ask a question about your personal information, contact us using the details in Section 1. We may need to verify your identity before responding.
13. Complaints
If you have concerns about how we handle your personal information, please contact us so we can try to resolve them.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission:
Website: https://www.dataprotection.ie/
The Commission provides information about data protection rights and how to make a complaint.
14. Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites or third-party services. If you follow those links, the privacy practices of the relevant website or service will apply. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of external websites.
15. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy when our business practices, website tools or legal requirements change.
The latest version will be published on this page, with the updated date shown at the top.
If a change materially affects how we use personal information, we will provide any additional information or notice required by law.