Three Distinctions in One Day

Thursdays are now dedicated to funeral floristry. I wasn't sure what I would think of this unit, as I can't say I'm a big fan of traditional British funeral tributes, but so far I have been pleasantly surprised about how nice the designs are.

Today involved two timed assessments. In the morning I made a double-ended spray, which would go on top of a coffin. It is around 60cms long. I only had 35 minutes to make this, which was pretty crazy as I had only practised it once previously with a tutor demo.

I was pleased with my final piece as I didn't have much time to think about what I was doing or really check it. I was even more pleased to be awarded a Distinction.

Sadly, I couldn't keep this one as it had to be dismantled for assessment number 2 - the loose posy pad.

I had 45 minutes to make this one and was very pleased with how it turned out. I got a Distinction for this design too :-)

The third Distinction of the day was for my Art and Design portfolio, which looked at colour and shapes for floristry and also included several sketches of floral designs with analyses of the principles and elements of design used.

A pretty successful day all round!

Five Star Valentine's Day

In the week leading up to Valentine's Day I was doing work experience at The Dorchester on London's Park Lane. I had an amazing 5 days seeing how top quality floristry is done for a discerning and VIP clientele. I learnt how important presentation is and how to work quickly and tidily in a small space with a team of florists. I conditioned a lot of roses and my fingers and hands have just about healed up!

Designer Florist, Phil Hammond, was great at getting me involved in a range of floristry tasks - I made hand-tied rose room arrangements, restaurant table decorations and prepared potted orchids and succulents. I also wrapped a lot of single red roses ready for February 14th. The team made me feel very welcome and took me with them to make deliveries around the hotel, which meant I got to see some of the beautiful suites.

It was a great insight into floristry in the hospitality environment and observing how large-scale arrangements are made. I loved having the opportunity to work with such beautiful, high-quality flowers every day. I'm looking forward to another week at The Dorchester later in March.

I was getting into the Valentine's spirit this February with a couple of creations of my own:

Wired birch hanging heart with tulips made at college 

Pussy willow heart with tulle and ribbon decoration
and cerise Gerbera designed and made by me

Straight after my week of floristry work experience I was whisked away for a romantic Valentine's short break and received my own bouquet of 12 red roses :-) so glad I didn't have to condition these and could just enjoy them instead!