They say it always good to start early, and my first visit to a flower shop was as a baby, on the way home from hospital over 40 years ago as my Mum and Dad showed me off around their flower shop. At the age of 12, I started helping after school and holidays at the family business and at the age of 17 started my formal floristry education at the Welsh College of Horticulture, where I spent 3 years
achieving my BTEC National Diploma and ICSF, learning everything that I would need to be able to be a Florist and hopefully one day open my own flower shop. Whilst at college I gained a number of accolades and distinctions for my work of which some has been published in the Advanced Guide to Floristry by Rosemary Batho, entering competitions and being awarded a scholarship at the Hubert King floristry workshop. At the end of my placement at the Welsh College I was given the opportunity to work in London, Ireland and also had the chance to spend a small amount of time at the Dutch flower auctions in Aalsmeer. After college, I returned to the family business and truly began to learn about floristry. My mother a very accomplished florist was pivotal to this learning, having achieved at the time some of the highest standards in floristry, not just in the UK holding her NDSF, but also travelling to the United States to gain her certification from the American Institute of Floral Design (AFID). As the years progressed I continued to work in the family business and progressed though the team, leading them and becoming responsible for front of house and our prestigious wedding clients. In 2005 I took the next step in my career and set up my own floristry business in a small premises at the end of a shopping parade, and after a very successful start we soon outgrew the shop and moved in 2007 to a large shop front, just a few doors down. Since then it has gone from strength to strength, winning national competitions and RHS Chelsea Flower Show silver medals for our wedding work. In 2013, I also took on the role of floristry lecturer at a local college where I developed course materials, delivered adult learning to all levels of ability, and provided assisted learning for those with learning difficulties. I forged relationships with the district council and the college, where we blended the course activities with real world floristry situations, collimating with the students creating floral displays for the District Mayor’s Gala. The benefit of lecturing and running my own floristry business is that it isn’t just theory! I am speaking and teaching from experience and using practical real-world examples. With the knowledge of what works well and what doesn’t. In between all of this I also got married and had a family, and in 2017 we took the difficult decision to close my business of 12 years and relocate to Northamptonshire, closer to work for my Husband and to give me the opportunity to spend time more time with my children. As I said at the beginning, flowers and floristry are in my DNA. I miss the enjoyment and peace that practicing, and sharing floristry gave me (although not the early starts!), and this leads onto the latest chapter in my floristry career – The Florist Tutor. The Florist Tutor aims to provide people of all backgrounds and abilities access to quality Floristry tuition in a relaxed, friendly and fun environment. One to one or small groups whatever the need we can tailor make sessions for you. Courses can just be for leisure or more structured learning, like what you would expect from a National Certification of Further Education (NCFE), Intermediate or Diploma level. Please look at some of the courses we are offering, and get in touch for further details. Tania
