If you were to time travel, you would see that the art of flower arranging begins in Ancient Egypt. The Romans & Greeks took it to another level using flowers for greater luxury.
Flowers rained from the ceiling at lavish banquets in Ancient Rome & Greece. A thick layer of roses would cover the floor, & scent the room in heavy rose fragrance.
Roses were often used at mealtimes, & due to the fragrance, this was called the ‘Hour of the Rose‘. Imagine that..
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History lesson over, & back to our times: flower arranging classes are especially in demand. Who doesn’t love flowers?!
We definitely do..who is going to the Chelsea flower show?
Apparently we spend more than £2 billion a year on cut flowers in the UK.
Wow..
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THE LONDON FLOWER SCHOOL
via London Flower School
I was recently invited to a flower arranging masterclass at the newly opened London Flower School, an innovative floristry school.
If you love faffing with flowers or want to try out a creative course in London, you definitely want to check this out.
Founded & led by Wagner Kreusch with Helen Dyson, the London Flower School teaches the art & business of floristry. With classic & contemporary floristry techniques, they encourage others to find their own style & self expression.
via London Flower School
Wagner is a genius of a florist, who was previously head tutor at McQueens Flower School, & has a background in graphic design.
Looking at his creative work made me really excited to go to this event.
Our class took place at the beautiful South London Place Hotel after a blogger brunch, but the London Flower School is in King’s cross, London.
We walked into a beautiful room full of colourful fresh flowers, folded aprons & scissors waiting on the table for us.
A fun morning was ahead of us.
Wagner led the flower arranging class, explaining & demonstrating the principles of artful floral design inspired by nature.
He made a beautiful natural style flower arrangement in an urn, making it look so easy. He’s a master at floral design, & clearly loves what he does.
We learnt a few guiding ideas & then were encouraged to recreate our own masterpiece. Not to copy, but to test & find our own styles. Everyones floral display attempts turned out different, but beautiful!
A great environment to learn, get inspired & create floral art.
We went home with big smiles, and our huge floral creations. Some of us got stopped a few times by others asking where we had got the arrangements from!
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Some floristry tips we were given for natural style displays:
-Clean the foliage from the stems to prevent the vase filling with foliage.
-Trim the stems diagonally.
-Avoid using oasis floral foam, which is bad for the environment. Use chicken wire instead.
-Start with foliage, & then add some more as you build your design to add texture to the arrangement.
-Be brave, & go low with the flower so it touches the table. I.e with ivy so it looks like it’s growing from the table.
There were more tips, but I’m afraid I didn’t make a note of them all..
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Final thoughts
This flower arranging workshop at the London Flower School with Wagner & his team was so informative & enjoyable. It was creative, inspiring, experimental, & really relaxing.
I am still along way away from being a pro, but I learnt so much & felt really inspired about the creative possibilities.
Whether you are a newbie or a florist wanting to learn more, I would totally recommend the London Flower School flower arranging classes. Or maybe you’re looking for something creative to do in London.
I know I’ll be back.
If you try it out, do let me know what you think 🙂
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