Hello Guys! Goodness can you BELIEVE it’s been nearly a whole year since my last blog post?! Today I wanted to share with you a joyful day from back in April this year when I spent the day with the lovely Rebecca (Lilac and Lace) and Kate (The Floral Magpie) as they mastered bridal bouquets and refined their techniques during our 1:2 bridal bouquet workshop. We have SO much to catch up on, the last time I was typing on here Harry was still in my belly with a few weeks to go until he entered the world and now he’s 10 and a half months old! More on that soon I promise. For now though, back to April… the day started nattering over a warm brew (surely the only way to start a day?!) whilst showing the ladies the flowers we had in the studio.

There were lots of beautiful Spring flowers for Rebecca and Kate to work with which included; Cloni and Butterfly Ranunculus, Fritillaria and Lamprocapnos (or bleeding heart as more commonly known). Paired with the first of the seasons Sweet Peas. I decided to try the new ‘brownie’ variety and find out what all the fuss was about. Although not usually a fan of dyed flowers I have to say I was won over by their gorgeous colour. We also had Scabious, Astrantia, Carnations (yes I like carnations if in the right shade) and of course Garden Roses! (This is me after all folks 😉 ) Cafe Latte, one of my all time favourites, pink Peony Rose (a fantastic substitute for anyone wanting Peonies for their wedding that aren’t in season) English Mustard and Majolica Spray Rose.

I started by demonstrating my front facing technique, the method I use to create my bridal bouquets. Which I have perfected over the last couple of years. I personally prefer using this method, as it creates a more natural shape as opposed to a round bouquet. Pictured above is my demo. I really like this colour pallet with the softer dusky/blush shades paired with burgundy, pops of yellow and coral to lift the pallet slightly. It was then over to the ladies to create their own bouquet! I must say for their first attempt at this new technique, I was so impressed! This was Rebecca’s design below, how beautiful is her bouquet?! I love how she chose to stick to a colour pallet of blush, dusky and burgundy shades. The trailing Lamprocapnos in the bottom right corner too, just perfect!

Kate’s design as pictured below, I adore the shape with the protruding scabious  and trailing Fritillaria and Butterfly Ranunculus. A beautiful mix of colours too! Both bouquets created at our bridal bouquet workshop were finished with pretty silk ribbon from Silk and Purl. I then talked through how to style their bouquets to capture the best images for their websites and to share on social media sharing some of my tips I have learnt along the way.

By this point we had worked up a healthy appetite! So decided to stop for lunch, followed by homemade carrot cake. Made by my mother in law and I can personally vouch that it was delicious (obviously I had to sample some as part of quality control ;-)). Throughout the day Kate and Rebecca picked my brains with questions relating to different aspects of running their floristry business and I didn’t mind at all. In fact I really like to offer as much advise and guidance as I can! If it makes a difference and helps others then I’m happy.

The second half of the day the ladies wanted to master creating more rustic and wild style designs and above is my demonstration bouquet. Still using the front facing technique which was great as the ladies got to practice it again. However this design was more about focusing on the movement of the flowers and the foliage. Working with rustic twiggy textures and allowing them to lead the bouquets look and shape.

Rebecca’s creation above, isn’t it beautiful! This time she opted to go for a different colour pallet and I think it suits the style of this bouquet perfectly. I love the subtle hint of the yellow she incorporated and the way she used the twigs too. The ribbon finishes the bouquet perfectly too. Kate’s rustic inspired bouquet pictured below, also gorgeous! I adore the hint of grass and subtle use of the blossom branch.

Both ladies were thrilled with their creations and quite rightly so! Kate felt she had nailed the style she had been striving to create which I was so pleased to hear! All of our one to one masterclasses (or one to two if you wanted to attend with a friend). These classes are completely bespoke to you and what it is you would like to learn either from a practical or business perspective and cover all aspects of floral design. Get in touch if you would like to book a class, I would love to hear from you. I’m so excited to be hosting our one to one classes in the new studio too! If you follow us over on Instagram, I’m sure you have heard all about the studio 😉

I hope you have a lovely weekend and please feel free to leave a comment, it’s always lovely to read your thoughts.