Reflections on 2022
I’ve finally escaped from underneath a pile of pine, spruce and ivy. The winter foliages have been dominating my life for the last couple of months, but as I’m sweeping up the last pine needles and tidying away the luxurious red ribbons I’ve been thinking about the successes of last year.
Last year was full on with freelancing for other wedding florists. I’d made the decision to just learn as much as I could from the talented people around me. As well as this, I also love deepening my skills by attending flower schools and classes.
One of the highlights from last year was when I had a really special one to one with India from Vervain. Vervain’s style is known for being wild and natural. A lot of my skills were learnt in a very traditional flower shop, and then were reinforced at college where I did a BTEC in floristry. I’m very grateful for my education and for learning alongside the florists that I used to work with, but I never found my true style. It was a little too structured and safe for my liking. So 2022 was the year of unlearning for me.
So I packed a bag and traveled down to Worcestershire just as autumn was arriving, the first few golden leaves were appearing on the trees.
It felt incredibly self indulgent to book a one to one. But I’m so glad I did. We worked with gorgeous ingredients grown in the Vervain cutting garden, gorgeous blousy roses and textural, interesting grasses were in abundance. Throughout the day I created wild and whimsical bridal bouquet, a rose and dahlia tablescape and a natural, late summer meadow.
This bridal bouquet was one of my favourite things I created last year.
My second highlight from the year was a two day course with Leafy Couture. I went to Vervain for wilderness, I went to Leafy Couture for opulence and abundance. Leafy live by the maxim that more is more, which I apply to everything in my life.
I booked the cutest little airbnb in Harrogate and took a few days out of reality to be utterly immersed in beautiful flowers. The first day we made opulent punch bowls, and created a suspended floral chandelier which we then styled outside. The second day was on site for a photoshoot. I’d never experienced a shoot day before and I just loved the fast paced nature of it. We arrived at Denton Hall in the pouring rain, but it didn’t put a damper on the glory of the house.
Photographed by Joe Dodsworth Photography
On this day we made large scale urns. This was exactly what I dream of. I love the extravagant, gothic look of urns paired with ultra pretty flowers. I went for dark, moody foliage, a deep magenta orchid, an almost black hydrangea, as well as pink fluffy roses and pale blue delphinium. The finishing touch included caramel coloured hanging stems of amaranthus. It was huge and on the cusp of ostentatious and I loved it. On this day we also created a beautiful floral meadow to surround a something, hand craft cake, as well as creating dazzling tablescapes with our punch bowls. I wish I could relive it every week.
My third highlight from the year was working at Inveraray Castle. I’m a big Scottish castle nerd, so any castle makes me happy but Inverary just has a special place in my heart. It’s one of my favourite drives to take from my home in Glasgow, and Loch Fyne is probably my favourite loch in Scotland - although don’t hold me to it. I tried my first oyster at Loch Fyne Oyster Bar and, despite my extravagant plans for a lavish 30th birthday party, I turned 30 during the pandemic and instead me, my partner and my best friend went to Inverary. Ate ice cold oysters in the sun, paddled in the loch and then sipped prosecco and devoured a birthday cake that didn’t survive the car journey unscathed.
Anyway, it will be no shock that when A Curious Arrangement asked me to freelance on a wedding at Inveraray Castle it was an immediate yes. It was during a wet and windy week, but as I set off from Glasgow at 6.30am, the skies were clear and the views were divine.
We had such a creative brief, four huge suspended works of floral art hung above tables that were laden with beautiful candles, bud vases and fluffy bowls of flowers. It was all hands on deck and the final look was just out of this world.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Every wedding I worked on, every workshop I ran was just a dream coming true. Going back to flowers will always be the best decision I made.
