Following on from June’s Magic of Peonies workshop, I was so excited to be attending another workshop by Janne Ford & Eden Bloom’s Hazel Shaw. This was very much an autumnal themed floral workshop and was set at the magical wedding venue: Bury Court Barn in Farnham.
The Real Flower Company provided us with an array of flowers to play with, all freshly picked from their English farm! They are a pioneering flower company, led by Rosebie Morton, who are at the head of a movement to provide seasonal and sustainably farmed flowers. The flowers are wonderful! So very pretty and exceptionally fragrant! I adore their flowers, they are a joy to work with and photograph!
So to begin the workshop, Hazel taught us how to arrange our flowers in a modern and contemporary style. I love to make things and most of the time it’s cake-related. So it’s always lovely to try something different. I could have played with the flowers all day but it was a jam-packed workshop! Following on from the flower arranging, Janne gave us tips on how to style our flowers for photography. Janne also created a stunning table scene brimming with flowers, stunning candlesticks (provided by Nerina Wright), white gourds, fairy lights and of course cake! The scene was sumptuous and luxurious and a feast for the eyes.
There happened to be quite a few Makelight members in attendance and we all love a good faff with the intention of styling for photography. The afternoon flew by in each other’s company, busily taking photos in different settings in the picturesque gardens.
I love the combination of fresh flowers with buttercream cakes, so I’d taken along a cake that I could dress with the gorgeous roses from The Real Flower Company. I wanted to showcase the flowers, so I’d kept the design of the cake simple with a few pink macarons and piped buttercream swirls. The perfect canvas for the pretty flowers. Here it is styled in front of Bury Court Barn, with the striking garden flowers and sweeping grasses in the background.
Everything was just so pretty, it was inevitable that I would take far too many photos. And admittedly this post has been created so I can share all my favourite images with you. Here’s a collage of a few more.
(Photo credits to: Yvonne Hardiman of One Purl Row, image bottom left, and Andrea Colville of Little Family London, image top right)
I’m not one to turn my back quickly on the summer, but this workshop was held on such a beautiful early autumn day. And with all the flowers and props, I felt really inspired and more than ready for the change of season!