Release your inner garden florist at this glorious three-day retreat at Common Farm Flowers between Bruton and Wincanton in Somerset.
Imagine having three acres of flowers from which to cut. Imagine learning all about harvesting flowers, conditioning, and then creating with them. Imagine giving yourself three days in which to do all this: time for yourself, time to nurture your creativity, time to learn how your passion for flowers needn’t cost the earth.
Book all three days here. Or you might prefer to book individual days (linked below) - it’s entirely up to you and depends on if you have specific things you’d like to learn or if you’d like to do it all!
Members of our YouTube Club receive a 10% booking on all website bookings. Find out more about the club here.
Day one: hand tied bouquets and bridal party flowers
On day one we cut and create hand tied bouquets and many variations on this theme: some of you may want to practise bridal flowers, some large hand-ties, some buttonholes, some may want to perfect the jam jar posy – so today in the afternoon we create hand-ties of many varieties with the flowers we cut in the morning. It’s as though we are creating the flowers for a bridal party.
Day two: table centre flowers
On day two we consider how we can fill a table with flowers for a wedding or event and we make larger, more formal arrangements. Using sustainable mechanics we will create pedestal vase arrangements in the afternoon, with flowers and foliage we cut in the morning.
Whether you’re an enthusiastic amateur florist, or a pro who wants to refine their sustainable floristry skills, this is a great day for you to take a fresh look at dressing a table with flowers so that you can wow your friends and clients alike with your creative ideas, practical solutions, and the beautiful results of your work.
And look! It’s as though we’ve created the flowers for the wedding reception to go with the wedding party of day one.
Day three: floral installations
Day three sees us tackling larger installations. Let’s cut the flowers in the morning – a different kind of harvest to the previous days, and then after lunch we’ll create a large broken arch as though for a wedding, large statement urns of flowers and foliage, perhaps a hanging arch if that’s what you’d like, or meadow boxes.
We are very much driven by what the students want to make, and while there will certainly be arches and urns filled with flowers on this day, there may be other pieces people would like to try: garlanding, meadow boxes, hanging arches, and more, for which we will find time having harvested cut flowers especially in the morning.
And oh look again! It’s as though we’ve created the frame within which the ceremony of the wedding we’ve been working on for the past two days can take place.
If you would rather book one or two days, you can do that via these links:
Eco Floristry Retreat Day One
Eco Floristry Retreat Day Two
Eco Floristry Retreat Day Three
Suitable for:
You might be an enthusiastic amateur florist or a pro who wants to refine their sustainable floristry skills
Here's what some recent students had to say about this workshop:
"Having just returned home from the 3 day Eco Floristry Workshop held by Georgie Newberry at Common Farm Flowers, I’m wondering how on earth I can go back to living my normal life without becoming depressed! The whole three days were truly fabulous, from learning or honing the skills of cutting & conditioning in the mornings, to developing the confidence to create stunning floral displays in the afternoons, this course truly had it all.”
"I attended the 3 day floristry course which was everything I’d hoped it would be and more. My floristry work has definitely come on leaps and bounds! I learned so much about cutting, conditioning and how to manage timing and scaling what I do. I’m now able to get much better results without that much extra effort. I would thoroughly recommend this course, both as an investment in your floristry and also as a chance to take some time for yourself. I spent 3 days in great company just thinking about what a lovely time I was having!"
Why do a workshop or demo with Common Farm Flowers?
Georgie Newbery has been building her small business growing flowers for sale and creating floristry with material she’s grown on the farm since 2010. She is a Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Floristry Judge, RHS dahlia trials committee member, and Garden Media Guild New Talent Award Judge.
Georgie does not see other flower farmers and florists as competition, but rather as potential colleagues and collaborators. Georgie knows that it is in her interest to teach her students everything she knows. And she spends a great deal of time talking to other flower farmers and small business owners and learning as much as she can around the subject of running small businesses and farming gardens and small acreage.
There are no secrets held back from you at a Common Farm Flowers workshop.
Information about all our workshops at the farm:
You are welcome to join our workshops whether you grow for pleasure or profit, although some workshops will be more suited to flower farmers or small business owners. This should always be clear in the workshop description.
Full day workshops at the farm generally take place between 10am and 3pm.
Workshop numbers are generally restricted to a maximum of 10 students.
The cost of a full day workshop includes lunch at a local farm shop. It is important that you please advise us of any food allergies / intolerances / other preferences at the time of booking. Please bring any mid morning / afternoon snacks you might like.
Workshops at Common Farm Flowers take place in our studio barn, as well as out on the farm where there is no cover. Please wear clothes suitable for the weather (eg layers, waterproof clothes) and bring shoes / boots that are designed to walk on rough, grassy paths. Even on a sunny day flip flops and sandals aren’t advised and we suggest long trousers where possible due to the risk of ticks, bites and stings. A sun hat and sun protection are also advised, as we can’t always stand in the shade.
We will be in touch a few days before the workshop with your joining instructions. This email will come from nicola@commonfarmflowers.com. If you’ve not heard from Nicola 48 hours before the session takes place please email nicola@commonfarmflowers.com but do please first check your junk / spam items and make sure you are checking the inbox of the email address you used to book your place.
Please familiarise yourself with our terms and conditions in case you need to cancel your workshop place.
Nearby Bruton and Wincanton are full of lovely places to stay to suit every budget. See our links page for good ideas or get in touch and we will do our best to help. A three day workshop at Common Farm Flowers can be made into a learning holiday, which will send you off at the end of your stay inspired and enabled as well as having had a wonderful time in this beautiful corner of Somerset.
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