Happy weekend! Just a wee post from me today to share some very Autumnal shots: the results of a recent flower arranging workshop I attended with innovative British startup Bloom & Wild and famed florist Nikki Tibbles Wild at Heart. I first came across Nikki’s work when living and working as a journalist in London, where the florist’s Liberty London outlet was already quite the Instagram sensation. Having admired them for so long from afar, I was lucky enough to receive a bouquet of their late Summer blooms for my fifth anniversary from partner Al – one of the most beautiful I have ever received. Nikki’s creative approach to floristry has seen her collect an A-list clientele, from Chanel to Claridge’s, Dior to Kensington Palace. Fast forward five years and Tibbles has teamed up with the UK’s most popular online florist, Bloom & Wild – known for their creative letterbox bouquets – to produce a collection of bespoke flower arrangements available online. Nikki’s bi-monthly collection for Bloom and Wild is inspired by her love of nature and changing seasons, and when I heard this I just knew the collaboration would be right up my street. As regular readers will know, seasonality is a key part of my ethos here on Everything Looks Rosie.
To celebrate the collaboration, Nikki hosted a series of Edinburgh masterclasses at the G&V Royal Mile Hotel in Edinburgh this week, where we were floristry students for the afternoon learning how to pick, design and create a bouquet using seasonal blooms. Nikki and Wild at Heart’s Notting Hill shop manager Robyn demonstrated how to create the Red Skies bouquet, making it look totally effortless. The arrangement was like no other I’ve seen, with a dark palette of rich burgundy hydrangea, blueberry roses, pink astrantia, red hypericum, red chrysanthemum and autumnal foliage to reflect the seasonal landscape. My creation was rather rustic in comparison to Robyn’s but I learned a few tips along the way at least, and thought I would share them with you too!
Preparation is key: make sure you always ‘condition’ the blooms properly – i.e. remove any foliage below the water line, as it will speed up the flowers’ decay. Secondly, using a spiralling technique is essential to create a neat ‘dome’ shape to your arrangement – this sounds complicated, but simply means criss-crossing the stems as you choose which order to put them in! Trimming your flowers and replacing their water as regularly as possible (every couple of days minimum), using sterilising tablets to keep the water fresh and bacteria-free, will keep them in tip-top condition and get the maximum longevity from your blooms. And don’t forget to dry them out when you’re finished: leave hardy stems like hydrangea with a wee bit of water in a dark room until they dry, or if you’re taking them from your garden simply dry them on the bush and cut for Wintery arrangements. Speaking of which, Bloom & Wild founder Sara was telling me all about the festive botanicals to come – there was talk of miniature Christmas trees… I know it’s a little soon, but I’ve been planning Christmas content in the October hols and I for one can’t wait!
If only every Tuesday was so glamorous and flower-filled! You can see more shots from the event on the Nikki Tibbles Wild at Heart blog. Thanks for having me Bloom & Wild, Nikki Tibbles and G&V Royal Mile Hotel.
I received a complimentary workshop ticket for the purposes of review, but all love of seasonal flowers and burgundy blooms entirely my own!