Flower Design School is a private floristry training provider in Perth in case you want to consider floristry as a career. Classes are student-focussed, and each student receives one-on-one attention throughout the process. Courses and workshops are available for everyone from beginners to experienced florists looking to hone their craft.
European Master Florist and Principal at Flower Design School Iris Pich was instilled with an early love for the beauty of nature growing up around flowers in her father’s nursery. ‘I grew up making little flower bouquets and helping stripping and bunching all sorts of wonderful flowers, ready for the wholesale markets.’
After finishing school, her dad encouraged her to take up floristry and Iris has never looked back.
She loves the hands-on nature of the work and the freedom from being stuck behind a desk all day, relishing the chance to show off her creativity with the new plants and flowers that come with each passing season.
Surrounded by the subtle aroma of fresh florals, the appeal of changing careers to become a florist may be clear for some. Iris advises hopeful florists not to underestimate the amount of knowledge and skill that is required to truly be an expert florist.
As she says, ‘It is a trade profession after all and it does need to be explored and learnt properly.’ Iris recommends getting as much training as possible from someone who is experienced in the industry to ensure that you have all the tools you need to get started.
Take your time to understand the flowers and other materials you will be working with so that you can appreciate how they all work together.
If you’re passionate about floristry and you want to learn the core skills to be ready to tackle floristry as a career, in a workplace or in your own business we recommend you check out our Industry Ready courses or contact during normal office hours.
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I can tell you that becoming and taking Floristry as a Career can be an exciting and challenging career. Like any other industry, it welcomes all ages and backgrounds and consists of people primarily passionate about being around flowers and willing to explore all aspects of the profession.
Besides being able to make a beautiful arrangement, you must be a reasonably quick worker, be sociable and have a pleasant and helpful manner because you’re constantly dealing with the public.
As we know, flowers touch people’s emotions. For example, customers who order funeral tributes are the relatives or friends of the deceased and since they’re emotionally vulnerable, as a florist, you will need to be sympathetic and understanding.
But we also have the privilege of sharing people’s most intimate moments of joy, such as when a bride-to-be selects her bouquet for the most important day of her life or when a proud father comes in to order an arrangement for his wife to celebrate their newest addition.
However, taking floristry as a career is not all glamorous. There is a lot of hard work and long hours involved and our duties of maintaining a flower shop includes:
And the list continues…
Because of how busy it gets, you will need to be able to work efficiently. A typical day could include creating ten wreaths, several arrangements and posies. Sometimes these will need to be created, along with other customer’s demands while they wait.
Basic run-down of a good employee:
You must:
Commonly, the florist will ask you to make up an arrangement, posy or sheaf. For that, you must:
Don’t worry if you’re feeling nervous.
By nature, florists are understanding individuals. It’s better to be nervous than have an undesirable “know it all” attitude.
A few years ago, a position was open in a florist shop in Perth for a junior and a young woman out of 40 applicants got the job because she was the most capable of creating attractive floral designs in the quickest amount of time. The young woman also was kind and during the interview said, “I am very impressed with your shop and I would love to have the opportunity to work for you”.
An employer would much rather a person who shows that they want the position in preference to someone who is indifferent.
This is something we discuss in our Industry Ready courses.
The idea of creating your own shop and business can be tempting, however you should be fully aware of all the facts before making it a reality.
How to decide if you are the right type of person to create a floristry business and taking Floristry as a Career
Because running a shop is a lot of hard work and involves long hours, do you have the time and energy to run it? | Yes | No |
Do you have enough funds to start it? | Yes | No |
Are you self-motivated and disciplined to organise and prioritise? | Yes | No |
Are you a reasonably quick worker? | Yes | No |
When problems arise, do you quickly come up with solutions? | Yes | No |
If you have family, do you have someone you can rely on to look after the kids? | Yes | No |
To stand a good chance in the floristry business, you should honestly be able to answer “yes” to most of the questions.
Have you got what it takes to consider Floristry as a Career?
When you decide to give it a fair shot, do remember this: How successful you are in Floristry, like anything in life, will depend on how much time and effort you’re prepared to put in.
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