The Floral Retreat
Five Day FLORISTRY Career CHange COURSE
May 5th-9th 2025
This is the floristry course that we wish existed when we started. It’s intensive and hands on, it will inspire you to change your career path and equip you with all the skills you need.
Details
Floristry is such an gratifying and creative job. It’s varied, fulfilling and challenging and there’s so much to learn in the early stages of setting up a floral business.
By the end of the five day floristry course, you’ll be ready to launch your own flower business. You’ll have a portfolio of beautifully styled and photographed images of your work, and have the skills and confidence to take on your first job.
What makes us different from other flower schools, is that we focus on creative as well as technical processes, but also business strategy and logistics.
You’ll develop your own style and learn important techniques, as well as meeting and working alongside a full creative team.
Course breakdown
The full schedule is kept under wraps until the first morning of the course. We want you to put your trust in us, and we like there to be an element of surprise.
It’s five days of practical and creative floristry interwoven with business sessions. It’s a unique and supportive experience that will leave you feeling highly motivated and ready to launch your own floristry business.
The course is held at Roberta’s farm in Devon. It’s an immersive and transformative week spent in beautiful rural surroundings.
Each course is designed with careful consideration to seasonality and trends, but on each course, we will aim to cover the following:
Techniques:
Flower conditioning
A full day of bridal party flowers, including a freeform bridal bouquet, hand-tied gift bouquets & buttonholes
Flower crowns & basic wiring techniques
Foam free table centres
Wreath & garland making
Table styling
Large foam free installation work
Business theory:
Seasonality & sustainability
Marketing & branding
Sourcing & suppliers
Pricing & quote writing
Event logistics
Business terms & boundaries
Some sessions we’ll work together on large scale designs, and other sessions will be spent doing individual work, or in small education sessions.
It’s an intense five day floristry course designed for those who are serious about a new career, be that a side line or a full jump in.
Meet the team
We will be joined by very special guest photographer John Hersey who will document your work. John’s timeless approach to shooting flowers in natural light will give you a portfolio of work that will help launch your career.
His clients include Liberty, The Duchy of Cornwall & The Observer Magazine.
We will also be working in collaboration with lifestyle and product stylist Annie Redfern, who will style your work to an editorial standard, and work to hone your personal story across your imagery.
Working with John and Annie, you will have a full set of images of both group and individual work that will help you quickly establish yourself online.
Good photography is crucial in this industry and I want you to learn from the best.
Investment
Investment per pupil: £1,999
All materials & tuition
Porfolio of professional imagery
Delicious artisanal lunch and all refreshments
Full access to the farm for foraging, walks, content creation and creative reflection.
You are welcome to take all your floral arrangements home with you.
Flexible payment plans are available.
FAQs
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This is a deep dive for those who are committed to a career change. It’s not a hobby course. We cover a huge range of practical skills throughout the week and give you everything you need to launch and succeed in your business.
Of course, you will continue to learn on the job, but we’ve seen students leave us after five days and have a full year of bookings within six months. This return on your investment is our aim.
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This course is great for beginners, especially if you’re ready to jump in. People are often nervous about their lack of plant and flower knowledge and wonder ‘can I/should I train if I’ve never done any flower arranging before’. The good news is that it’s not rocket science, and while there are challenges to working with flowers, product knowledge can be slowly gained. A love of flowers and a willinngness to ask questions is essential.
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The week is intense - the schedule is pretty bursting and you’ll go home each night with your head spinning. The days will run 10am - 4.30pm with a stop for lunch and plenty of tea and cake to keep you going. Here is an example day:
10am - 12 Visit to flower farm with discussion about seasonality and sourcing British flowers
12-12.45pm Lunch
12.45 - 3pm Mock bridal consultations followed by making flower crowns and wired hair flowers
3pm Tea break
3.15-4.30pm Quote writing,ordering and step by step event logistics
4.30 Finish
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The course is based at Roberta’s farm in Mid Devon (EX17 4QE) which is a beautiful peaceful location between Dartmoor and Exmoor. It’s a tranquil place, ideal for stepping away from usual commitments and allowing a shift and personal growth. The course will be held in her purpose built studio and locations around the farm.
If you are travelling from out of the area, I have a list of places nearby that you can book to stay in. Let me know if you would like this information.
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If you’re already working with flowers, get in touch about whether this course is for you. It may be that you’ve already started, but feel unsure about pricing or marketing and want to develop your portfolio and confidence. Or that you want to transition to foam free designs. We would hope this course will expand your knowledge and help you build on what you’re already doing, but do get in touch if you are hesitant. We also offer a Scaling Up course for florists already working who want to expand their businesses and work on bigger designs.
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We know this is a big investment, and want to give you as much value as we can. The intensity of the course, the quality of materials and the team we choose to work with means we’re confident this is the best creative floristry course out there. The portfolio of photographs alone if you were to try to recreate it, would cost £1000s. We want to equip you fully and deliver on the highest level and so choose to keep the group very small. We run the course only once or twice a year, and we’re not a factory flower school.
To book
To enquire with us or to book a discovery call, please complete the form below. To secure your place, we require a deposit of £500. Payment plans are available.
“I just wanted to send you a small note to say a really big thank you to you and the rest of the team for last week.
I’m still actually trying to process how incredible it was. I found the whole week so nurturing, inspiring and challenging in the very best way. It’s given me so much clarity that this is right path for me and confidence that I might actually be able to do this!
We talked a bit in the week about turning points in your career and I honestly believe last week was the first key turning point for me and for that I am so grateful.
Thank you for creating such a wonderful space to learn and for being so honest and candid about your experiences too.”