Dear Preston,
My question has two parts. First, how did you become a florist? Second, I’m taking a floral design certification course and am very frustrated. The floral arrangement course is boring; we spend half the time preparing and only a short time arranging. I feel as if I’d do much better on my own. Should I quit?
Bored
Dear Bored,
I became a florist, because I needed a job. I knew nothing about floral design, but it only took a short time for me to fall madly in love with the joy of flower arranging.
Now, it’s one thing to do flowers for yourself and your home, because you love flowers, but it’s another thing entirely to do them as a career. I learned by trial and error, but that certainly wasn’t the most efficient way to hone my craft. If I could do it all over again, I would take a class to master the fundamentals of flower arranging. It may seem like you’re not doing much in your class, but any florist will tell you that working with flowers is 70% preparation and only 30% actual arranging.
I don’t know what course you’re taking, but it’s impossible for me to imagine being bored while working with flowers. Are you sure you’re in the right business? If you feel strongly that you are, hang in there. Don’t quit! If you want to be a professional florist, I promise this class will help you get there.
Dear Readers, for those of you who are florists, what floral courses did you take? Were they useful? Are you certified? Have you found that being certified helps you get jobs? Please share your experience in the comments. Thanks!
Check Out My Facebook Fan Page
PREVIOUS
George Bernard Shaw once said: “You see things and say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’” That quote embodies how Preston Bailey approaches every event.
Paul Lomax
February 21, 2012
Before I went college, I worked as a Saturday boy in my local florist when I was 16, when I left school they took me on full time and, I quickly moved on to arranging flowers and creating displays I went to college one day a week, I also felt that college was holding me back but I am glad I finished the course and I am now fully qualified and run my own buisness at 23 hopefully looking to open another very soon, so if you really love flowers stay on your course and in the meantime ask round florists for a pastime job, you will learn much more and a lot faster to!
flowerlover
February 21, 2012
I am a floral designer and the best advice I can give is to learn the foundation of design, everything is built around that foundation. I say stay with the course if this is truly your passion. It may be as simple as finding another class or floral design school. The right instruction can make all the difference.
sharon jackson
February 21, 2012
I got my experience of making a floral arrangements from my neighbor. She did some breautiful and unique work for many family and friends! I asked her if she would teach me, and the rest of history! Wow! Her passion for flowers were amazing, and now I have that same feeling as well.
Sylvia Wiltshire Agaba
February 21, 2012
I have this great fear that she’s in the wrong game? Naturally flowers are meant to cheer us up. As they do their part we too must do our best by knowing how best to handle them. The best avenue is by taking a course. Practicals can only come after you have knowledge of the dos and fonts, the hows and the when. Like somebody said check yourself, be true to your self.god bless
Jeanne
February 21, 2012
I can only tell you my perspective as a baker. The foundation (the cake) has to be built before the design can shine; if you don’t know the foundation, you can’t build something wonderful. The people who have not been able to manage in my shop are the ones who can only do one thing (decorate). If you can’t bake successfully and you can’t assemble a cake properly, the decorating won’t work (it would be lopsided, or fall apart, or something else).
So learn everything you can about foundation because it will give you what you need to be able to make something wonderful. It will teach you what works and what doesn’t and save you from mistakes later.
Aileen Halbershtat
February 21, 2012
Unfortunately not all course leaders have the passion that their students do… A few options I would suggest:
even at 3am on the day of a wedding when you begin onsite!!! LOL
1. Ask yourself why you are bored – is the course simply moving at too slow a pace? You may be better off getting a one on one tutor or working as an apprentice for an event florist – but be prepared, you will spend a LOT of time preparing in this business…
2. Is the tutor the issue? In which case check out other courses where you live…
3. This business is not for you…. it really is WAY more prep than the ‘fun’ bits and is a physical occupation – some people prefer to keep it as a hobby and not as a profession… you HAVE to love it and have a real passion to work as a florist…
Rachel
February 21, 2012
No matter how boring the classes are, they are necessary. Floristry is a fickle field (say that 5 times fast!), seriously though.. Most florists will NOT hire a designer who does not have credentials. And all of that “prep” work? Totally necessary. Boring, yes… but without the fundamentals good luck ever making it through a holiday, good luck prepping flowers properly, good luck designing an arrangement that will last etc. etc. etc. Like the old saying goes “The Devil’s in the details..”
Floristry is a skill and just like any other trade, preparation and basic fundamentals are paramount before one gets to have all the fun of arranging. Hang in there “Bored”, the fun will come in due time.
And as always Preston, excellent post!
Tamara
February 22, 2012
Stick with it. I started in a shop when I was 14 and have been in and out of he industry for the past 16 years. Never having been certified. I have a quickly growing business of my own now. The aesthetics of a design is not something that I needed to learn, I really do believe some people are naturals, but but there are a lot of lessons I learn the hard way and even now I am considering going through some kind if a course because I often wonder what the mechanics are behind very large scale designs. I’ll never forget the wedding where I didn’t bring in the Lilies with enough time to bloom or the time I hugely over estimated the number of Casablancas that I needed and ended with a compost heap of them even after I gave them to everyone I know. These are stressful, costly, and time consuming ways to learn. Plus, you need to learn the rules so that you know when you can get away with breaking them.
Christina Ignacio-Deines
February 22, 2012
Dear Bored,
When I worked as a professional floral designer for two different upscale boutiques, I can honestly say that only 25-30% of my time was actually spent doing the fun, creative work of arranging flowers. The rest of my time included shipping and receiving, flower prep and clean-up, taking orders and talking with customers and other mostly non-creative tasks related to running the business and building a client base. Even now, as an event and interior designer with my own company, comparable amounts of my time are dedicated to admin, phone calls and emails, client meetings and so on. Unfortunately, this is a reality of any business, creative or not, as you are just starting to find out. What keeps me going is that I’m truly passionate about my work and my clients, so even if the minority of my time is spent doing actual design work, it more than makes up for everything else. As Preston says, are you sure you’re in the right business?
If you still think your answer is yes, have you considered that it might not be the course content that is bothering you (i.e. the 70% preparing and 30% arranging), but the quality or style of instruction? I’ve taken a lot of initiative to learn and study on my own, but I also studied in university and continue to take courses and workshops related to my career and business, and I’ve found that the quality and even style of teaching has a huge impact on how I absorb what’s being taught and how engaged I am in class. It may be that floral design is the right career for you, but you’re just not connecting to the class. If you can, stick with the class, as every course has something to teach you. But before you write off a career as a florist, try taking other courses by other teachers at other schools, and see how you feel. Next time you travel or take a vacation, see if there are available workshops in floral design nearby. (Imagine studying floral design in Paris!) You may be pleasantly surprised.
Good Luck,
Christina
ashley
February 22, 2012
I didn’t take any serious certificate course but mainly create my own art pieces with trial and error, like Preston said. But I definitely believe learning from fundamental will do you good than harm !
Experience & practicing are utmost important in this field without doubt.
And to me, I have fun with flower arranging because it’s like doing a scientific experiment, from imagination, design, sourcing, and actual work on hand…..
P.S. my background was a medical researcher and now a florist ^^
Christina from Baldassarre Events
February 22, 2012
Something must have led her to the decision to take the course, probably the love of arranging the flowers. I suggest working with fake flowers and creating very specific arrangements. This could be a focus on bouquets like brooch bouquets, waterfall bouquets or low / high table arrangements. This way, you can order fake flowers in a pre-cut length and the time of preparation is reduced significantly. As long as the quality of the flower is high and the love for arranging passionate, you can’t be that off! Whether it is something you would want to live off is something you find only out by trying it.
Eileen Looby
February 24, 2012
Being a florist is hard work… long weekends and you work every holiday. I grew up in a flower shop starting in delivery and working my way up in high school. I have a horticulture degree from Purdue and then got a MBA so I could run a business. It’s one thing to arrange flowers, but in order to be a florist as a career – you must be able to sell your work. If the passion is there, it will lead you.
Pam Archer
February 24, 2012
What a great question and discussion!
The passion has to be there, or you will suffer burn out quickly. Like everyone else has stated, the grunt work isn’t fun, but the payoff in seeing your design come to life is priceless.
I took a design course many years ago, and worked for two florists. This is how I learned the basics. Still, I have made many mistakes and only by the grace of God have managed to avoid a few disasters. Reading other design blogs and websites are very helpful as well. There are a lot of “how to” videos on the web. I’ve designed for more than 37 years, but I would still love to attend one of Preston’s design schools, or take a course in another city or country.
Ann MacMullan
February 29, 2012
I’m also taking a Floral Certificate course. The textbook that the instructor recommends is probably the most boring thing I’ve ever (attempted) to read – it seems like it was written in 1952 – but it’s all in there. The class itself, for me, is NOT boring however; what makes it interesting is that we’re all given essentially the same materials and assignment, but somehow the designs end up all being so incredibly different. There is a creative expression happening that’s joyous to watch, and great to be immersed in. I call it a “floral trance!”
‘Bored,’ I’ve also been blogging about each class as a way of taking notes and giving myself a way to vent over the challenges. And I asked my instructor to let her connections know I’m available for hands-on work. On top of that, I’m apprenticing at a flower shop whose work I admire. I’m hoping that more exposure to the different venues of floral design will keep things interesting and give me the experience I need. Good luck with it! Don’t give up!
Yvonne
March 1, 2012
It is actually possible to be bored with a floral course, I love flowers, I really do. But the first course that I ever took, it was awful, the flowers (imagine using the same 3-4 flowers for 10+ classes), the instructor (she showed us what we were supposed to do then went to the next room to teach another class), the style (I think they haven’t updated their curriculum since 1990). I think it is important to take a few classes to get the basics right, but after that, go buy flowers and practise and experiment yourself, I believe I learned the most that way. Another reason being choosing and buying flowers itself is something you can’t learn in a class. Having said that, I did take some awesome classes in London (Jane Packer and Jamie Aston), they were awfully inspiring and also taught students a lot of useful techniques. If I am to hire someone, I want to see portfolio, not a piece of paper which says you paid for and showed up for classes. As for preparation, yes, as everyone else has noted, it’s just something that’s absolutely tedious yet necessary and unavoidable.