Event Floristry - Double Assessment Day

Phew, what a day! Two assessments to carry out, starting with the low level table arrangement. We had to include ancillary items to tailor it to a particular event. I chose New Year's Eve.

I added sparkly baubles, crystals and lights to my arrangement. I was pleased to get a merit.

In the afternoon it was time for assessment number two - the pew end.

 This one had to be made in 20 minutes. Another merit :-)

Event Floristry - Top Table Arrangement and Pew Ends

A busy day today with three designs. We had white flowers today including Gerberas, Santini Chrysanthemums and white Aster.

First up was the top table arrangement, which flows over the edge of the table. I started off by placing all the foliage into the wet foam.

Next the flower material went in to complete the arrangement.

I will be remaking this next week as an assessment piece.

The flowers had to be removed as usual for the arrangements in the afternoon - two kinds of arrangements to hang on the end of the pews in a church.

Tied pew end

Pew end in wet foam

They make a nice collection :-) 

New Covent Garden - The Early Bird Catches the Glittery Twig

My day started at 2:30 am when I was rudely awakened by my alarm clock in order to head to college to meet up with my floristry group for the 4:15 coach to London. Our destination was New Covent Garden Flower Market (NCGFM) in Vauxhall.

NCGFM has 18 flower wholesalers stocking British and foreign flowers, 2 foliage wholesalers stocking seasonal foliage from Britain and mainland Europe and foliage from South America, Australasia and Africa. There are also plants and sundries available.

Today was a special college day which included an insight into buying from the wholesalers, an overview of the market, floristry demonstrations and of course, shopping!

I  couldn't resist the glittery twigs!

It was great to see so many flowers and foliages and get an idea of what is available. The materials and the demonstrations gave me lots of ideas for future arrangements. I also learnt how to go about buying wholesale and that the flowers are sold in wraps (bunches of 10, 20, 25 or 50 stems) and boxes. Interestingly, Dutch flowers are sold in buckets of water and British flowers are sold dry in boxes.

Anthuriums

Below are some photo highlights of my morning at NCGFM.

Ornamental cabbages

Marquee roses

Festive wax and glitter-covered apples

Gourds

Grape hyacinths

Shiny shells

Ranunculas

A selection of red flowers

Wholesaler's stall

Tropical foliage

After all that floral excitement, it's early to bed for me ;)

Back to school - fire crackers and cake toppers

After a week off for half term, I was back into the floral swing of things today with a new module - event floristry.

Today we started with a bonfire party arrangement with colourful Gerberas.

Ooooh! Aaaaah!

In the afternoon we moved on to cake toppers. We did two variations - the second was all wired.

Wired flowers waiting to be wrapped with tape.

All wired and assembled and ready to go on a cake. Maybe I should bake one?