Highlights from "An Evening on the Flower Farm"

This past weekend we hosted our very first 'Evening on the Flower Farm' workshop and it was a smashing success! I have to admit that I was quite nervous about meeting everyone's expectations. I wasn't sure who the attendees were - were they designers or growers or simply flower lovers - and my self-critical side was wondering what I had to offer them. Thankfully I was able to turn that last minute performance anxiety into productivity, and so I made sure that everything was 100% ready to go and that my notes were typed up and reflected exactly what I hoped to share. Its safe to say that we meet our participant's expectations, and perhaps even exceeded them. 

All Photos by Sarah Collier with Taken By Sarah

The Artists + Vendors

I enlisted the help and creativity of incredible local artists to round out the experience. Sarah Collier from Taken By Sarah was documenting the entire evening, start to finish. Sarah is a lovely person and incredible fine art film photographer. I am so grateful to know her better and have a new flower-loving friend. 

Kelci Thompson with Whimsi Design is a local calligrapher (and my neighbor) and she designed all the signage and watercolor name cards. Kelci's work truly took the details to the next level - rather than me scribbling "parking" on a chalkboard, her calligraphy added a beautiful element of sophistication. The attendees all commented on how they loved the name cards, which were placed in a bud vase with stems of sweet peas - all for the attendees to take home. 

Sarah Snyder of Formations of Mental Objects custom baked and designed watercolor- inspired cookies for us. They were absolutely delicious and so beautiful. Sarah's dessert was the perfect after dinner compliment to Well Bred Bakery's catering. 

I wanted to include flowers we don't grow on our farm, and also make sure that we had more than enough to supply the participants, so I sourced flowers from some other local flower friends. Lady Luck Flower Farm, The Purple Iris, Poppins Posies and Fraylick Farm all provided us with gorgeous flowers to supplement blooms from our farm. Plus, Grace Rose Farm and Peterkort Roses kindly provided us with garden roses to serve as focal blooms in our arrangements. It was quite the flower spread! 

We began the workshop with introductions and then dove into the farm tour. I shared about our growing practices and planning process, then turned everyone loose into the fields to get a closer look. Then we gathered back together to enjoy the delicious food and I began a demonstration of how to design a compote centerpiece. The participants were a wide mix of floral designers to total beginners - I loved seeing the different color palettes that everyone chose as well as their design aesthetic. Watching everyone chat and laugh and help one another truly made my heart sing! Sarah captured portraits of everyone's work so they will have a piece to establish their portfolio, or to just admire and remember the magical evening. 

This was truly a night to remember and we can't wait to host more! If you're interested in joining us, our full workshop schedule and registration details can be found here. 

I believe the evening can best be summed up by one of our participants:

"I had a lovely time at the Evening on the Flower Farm workshop last Saturday! Although I have some experience with floral arranging with my job, I learned a lot of new information and enjoyed creating a beautiful centerpiece. It was interesting learning about the farm, and Niki did an excellent job with her presentation on designing a centerpiece. Very easy to follow and understand, and she and her team offered encouragement and advice as we arranged. Every detail was perfect, from the gorgeous and extensive selection of flowers to the delicious meal, infused beverages and calligraphy name cards. They even had a photographer there to capture the evening and take photos of our individual centerpieces that we were able to take home with us! I attended for professional development, but I highly recommend this workshop to anyone interested in floral arranging/farming or doing your own wedding flowers (they offer DIY buckets of flowers). I would've loved to have this option when I was planning my wedding years ago. What a wonderful experience!" ~Amber M.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and I can't wait to host more of you!

xo Niki