This past Tuesday, Alyssa had the pleasure of returning to the Love ‘N Fresh Flower Farm in Philadelphia for the third floral cohort session. Every five to six weeks Alyssa and nine other floral designers gather at the Love ‘N Fresh Flower Farm to work with Jennie Love. In these sessions, we learn from the luxe wedding floral designer, Jennie Love, to practice our skills on a range of floral pieces.

You can read about the first and second cohort sessions in their blog posts below.

Week 3 of Our Floral Cohort

This week we had the pleasure of crafting compote centerpieces. Jennie treated us as if we were freelancers hired to help her studio the week of a wedding. This means we needed to craft a centerpiece to match her centerpiece as closely as possible. And, complete the task as quickly as possible. When hired for freelance design work, it is important to be as efficient and accurate as possible. Especially, for large weddings that require twenty + centerpieces, in addition to, bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, and a mix of other statement pieces and arrangements.

Once we completed the compote style centerpiece, we were also trained to use a floral foam replacement- ‘Agra Wool.’ This unique product is bio-degradable and retains water for installation work, tall centerpieces, and a wide range of other design pieces. We were told to have fun with this design piece, just so that we could get a feel for the way that it holds the floral stems, how to insert the stems, and placement to ensure that the wool brick is completely hidden.

With this design, I decided to create a high-centerpiece designed on an Accent Decor ‘Harlow’ stand. These stands are created in varying heights to create statement pieces throughout the ceremony or reception. Some designers choose to intermingle these pieces with low compote style centerpieces so that all tables in the reception aren’t identical.

We ultimately had a very informative and fun session at the Love ‘N Fresh Flower Farm this week. It is great to connect with other floral designers, practice, and learn from the best to perfect our design techniques.

Let’s Talk!

Florists and designers – if you are looking for freelance help for your upcoming events please reach out to me at hello@gardeninthepines.

And, couples, we are booking for the end of 2021, 2022, and 2023! Complete our questionnaire to jumpstart your inquiry/booking process.

We hope to flower for your special day!