Every time I catch a glimpse of the daffodils finally blooming in my yard, my thoughts drift fondly to a very special evening also graced by narcissus flowers. This time last year, I was enjoying an enchanting dinner in Belgium’s countryside. Surrounded by other florists, we babbled about the day we had spent foraging in the woods and playing with flowers.
This was just one cherished evening during Origine – a group floral design workshop in Belgium hosted by Fleuropean. I was lucky to attend with two of my close friends, who I have since hosted workshops of our own with. During Origine, we worked with garden-grown florals, gathered abundant inspiration, and deepened our design skills. It was a week that still impacts my work profoundly – keep reading to learn how.
A Floral Design Workshop in Belgium
My floral work lives in quiet contradictions. It is undemanding but captivating, playful but methodical, indulgent but also simple, and quite literally down-to-earth.
That is how I would describe this week spent in Belgium, too. It brought out both my inner child – skipping to the woods to gather branches – and my primordial self, learning a craft older than maybe any other which exists just for beauty’s sake. We learned the new – innovative techniques for building a floral installation, ones I had never tried before. And we learned the ancient – hand-dying silk ribbons with blue pea flower and the skins of avocados, pomegranates and onions.
On the first day, we started in the garden, picking the flowers we wanted to create with that day. We transitioned to a centerpiece class with Emily of Fleuropean. Each day ended with a charming dinner in the chateau before we fell into bed, with a whirlwind of inspiration behind our eyes. We woke to more classes. Like a bouquet making class before a styled shoot with Chymo, a fine-art photographer based in the Netherlands. The cherry on top of the week was our group installation led by Hart Floral, made with the wild cherry branches we had foraged just outside the chateau. You can find images of that installation below.
Sometimes I want nothing more than to be back here, gallivanting around grassy fields and picking tulips from the chateau gardens. But then I remember that every arrangement I make at home is the bottled-up version of the magic of these Belguim days. Click to see work I have created since attending this workshop.
Fleuropean Workshop Vendors
Workshop Host – Fleuropean
Other Instructor – Hart Floral
Photographer – Chymo & More
