Shilpa Reddy Flower Design

A perfect bouquet. Every time. 🌸

This week on our Flower School Live and I wanted to try this little tool properly because it’s such a useful option if you’re in a rush, just starting out, working with fewer stems, or arranging into one of those awkward wide-necked vases where everything wants to fall outwards (you know the ones!)

🌸 I used the large size bouquet twister here.
🌸 Don’t use flowers with thick or soft stems (I’ve used thinner stemmed dahlias and lisianthus here. Roses work well too).
🌸 If there are little side shoots or knobbly bits on the stem, trim those off first so the stem can slide through easily.
🌸 You don’t need to fill every hole — The bouquet twister works really well with even just a few flowers.

I’ve demonstrated mine in a clear vase so you can see exactly what’s happening, but I would suggest using an opaque vase as you wouldn’t see the holder at all.

Here’s the product link:
https://amzn.eu/d/0hrYRqbl

And if seeing ideas like this makes you want to start creating with flowers yourself, comment “FLOWERS” below and we’ll help you get started!

In other news, our Flower School Live community is live here on Instagram every Wednesday at 7pm with lots of useful tips and tricks for beginners, hobbyists and those thinking floristry as a career change/ side hustle.
Hope to see you there! 🌸❤️

This dripping candlewax is actually FLOWERS!🕯️🌿

I’ve been seeing this idea everywhere on Pinterest lately — using bleached amaranthus to create these incredible trailing “wax” drips — and I finally decided to try it myself 🕯️

I brought back one of my favourite old branches from a previous tablescape and used its shape to create the whole design, with candles seemingly suspended along it and the amaranthus tumbling down like melted wax.

For the candles attached to the branch, I used lightweight artificial ones secured in little Christmas-tree candle clips (do not use real candles on dry branches!), with a tiny bit of sticky putty inside each holder to make sure they stayed in place.

Then I added more candlelight around the table and my mini fog machine in the background to give it that magical, almost medieval-fantasy feel. ✨
(Still waiting on my invitation to Hogwarts 😁).

It feels perfect for this time of year when I’m starting to crave tables that feel more atmospheric.

These are exactly the sorts of ideas we love experimenting with at our Flower School too — taking an unusual material or technique and seeing where it leads.

If seeing ideas like this makes you want to start creating with flowers yourself, comment “FLOWERS” below and we’ll help you get started!

And if you’d love to learn more hands-on one day, we’d love to welcome you to our Flower School in London too. 🌸

Want your roses to look bigger, softer and much more beautiful in an arrangement? 🌹

Opening some of your roses gives you a lovely variation in size and shape, which makes an arrangement feel much more natural, and can also help your flowers fill more space — something we use all the time in our event work too.

Here are 3 ways we open our roses:

🌹 The Spin — turn the rose upside down, hold your hands around the flower in a prayer position, then gently spin the stem between them to encourage the petals to open.

🌹 The Skirt — gently ease the outer petals down and outwards to create a wider, softer flower (florist call this reflexing).

🌹 The Ruffle — carefully fold the petals inwards to create that full, ruffled, almost garden-rose shape.

These techniques work best when the roses are at room temperature and have had a little time to soften — very cold, very fresh roses are much tighter and harder to open.

If seeing ideas like this makes you want to start creating with flowers yourself, comment “FLOWERS” below and we’ll help you get started!

And if you’d love to learn more hands-on one day, we’d love to welcome you to our Flower School in London too. 🌸🤍

Today is the WORLD PREMIERE of DIANA… 🌸

I’m so thrilled — and genuinely honoured — to have been chosen as one of the floral artists for DIANA at , and tasked with recreating one of Princess Diana’s most iconic outfits entirely in real flowers.

We started with a single photograph of Diana wearing this dress in 1988, and from there worked out the pattern, created the dress in felt and slowly brought it back to life in flowers — from thousands of individually placed hydrangea petals to hand-pressed flowers, stipa grass hair and preserved beech leaves for her shoes and clutch.

Seeing our finished floral Diana standing at Somerset House amongst all the other incredible creations feels very special. 🤍

Love and thanks to my team — and our lovely flower school students who helped bring her to life. 🤍

Fleurs de Villes DIANA, in support of , is on now at Somerset House for 21 days only! — so if you’re in London, go and see her in person. 🌸

Yes, these are REAL calla lilies… 🤍🕯️

We’ve been using these Calla candles at a few of our weddings and events recently, and I thought I’d share how we make them because they’re such a beautiful, sculptural way to add a little magic to a table.

I first saw .studio do a version of this which I loved.
I’ve adapted the technique slightly with one little trick — a metal straw.

Pro tips:
🌸I’m using candleholders with a thin central stem and detachable top.
🌸Don’t push the holder straight through the flower, instead core out the centre of the calla first with a metal straw, then gently slide the flower onto the holder.
🌸 Make sure you cut out the central pollen spike (spadix) too so that you can reattach the head of the candleholder afterwards.

These are exactly the kinds of techniques we love experimenting with at our Flower School in London too.

If you’re unable to visit the school in person but would love to embark your own journey with flowers, comment “FLOWERS” below and we’ll help you get started! 🌸

WeddingFlowers

I turned a fallen branch into a tablescape… 🌿🌸

For the final week of our Career Course, we take things outside and go big!
While we were working, we spotted this old fallen branch with the most wonderful shape and brought it back to the studio.
I immediately thought it would be perfect for something a little more autumnal.

For this event design, some of the flowers are sitting completely out of water — so preparation really matters.
I gave them a really good drink for at least 24 hours beforehand, then sealed every cut stem that would be out of water with either slightly cooled candle wax or a dab of floral glue.

From there, I used two different techniques:

🌿 Growing from the branch: I drilled small holes into the wood and placed the sealed stems directly inside, so the flowers look as though they’re growing out of it.

🌸 Growing from the table: Before I started, I covered my table with a piece of softwood board from the DIY store, then put the tablecloth over the top — don’t hammer nails directly into your table!
I then hammered small-headed nails into the board and used each one as a support for a sealed flower stem, (almost like creating a giant flower pin frog across the table).

👩‍🏫 Pro tip: use nails with a really small head rather than standard DIY nails.

If ideas like this make you want to start creating with flowers yourself, comment “FLOWERS” below and we’ll help you get started! We’d love to welcome you to our Flower School one day. 🌸

Is anyone else starting to feel autumn creeping in? 🍂🌸

I couldn’t resist leaning into those richer end-of-summer colours with burgundy and plum, the red-and-white chequered dahlias, and even a few figs and cherries tucked through the design.

For the mechanics, I’ve used chicken wire in the bowl, then added a few flowers higher up in water tubes to create that lighter, more sculptural shape without everything sitting at the same level.

👩‍🏫 Pro tip: water tubes are brilliant when you want a flower to sit somewhere the natural stem simply won’t take it — you can place it exactly where you need it while still keeping it hydrated.

These are the kinds of little techniques we love playing with at our Flower School — taking fairly simple mechanics and using them to create something that feels much more special. ✨

If seeing ideas like this makes you want to start creating with flowers yourself, comment “FLOWERS” below and we’ll help you get started!

And if you’d love to learn more hands-on one day, we’d love to welcome you to our Flower School too. 🌸🤍

I created a fountain on my dining table… ⛲️🌸

This week our lovely Career Course students have been working on creative tablescapes, and we’ve been thinking about those special details that make guests stop, look twice and wonder ‘how did they do that?’✨

⛲️For the fountain I simply placed a smaller fruit bowl inside a larger one.
If you need more height, pop an upside-down cup underneath and use a little floral putty to keep everything secure.

I also LOVE these floating birdbath fountains — no plugging in, they simply float on water.

👩‍🏫Pro tip:
If you’re covering the whole table in moss, place a sheet of clear glass or acrylic at each setting to keep plates and glasses clean and steady.

If these ideas make you want to start creating with flowers yourself, comment “FLOWERS” below and we’ll help you get started!

And if you’d love to learn more hands-on one day, we’d love to welcome you to our Flower School too. 🌸🤍

I made a bouquet you can wear! 🌸

We’ve been getting more requests for these statement ring bouquets for weddings, and lots of you have asked how I make them.

I attached a wire cutlery holder — which already gives me the cage — to a metal ring (macrame rings are good for this), then packed it with moss for structure.
Then I added my flowers (most of which are in water tubes).

No cage? No stress.
You can make one with garden chicken wire too.

🌷 I’ve used rudbeckia because I love them and they’re flowering in my garden, but for this style I’d recommend waxier, longer-lasting flowers for any cut heads.
Cymbidium or Vanda orchids are great options.
A tiny dab of floral glue over the cut end of the stem can also help reduce moisture loss.

In other news! If you’re joining me on Instagram LIVE next Wednesday (19th Aug) at 7pm UK time, it’ll be a 20–25 minute creative session where we make a simple yet beautiful table centrepiece together 🌸

Shopping list for next week’s LIVE make:

• Small amount Chicken wire (25mm holes, not the larger mesh)
• Sticky tape eg Gorilla tape
• Scissors
• Small bowl-shaped vase or simple bowl
• 15–20 stems of mixed flowers

If learning little techniques like these makes you want to create more with flowers yourself, comment “FLOWERS” below and we’ll help you get started.
We’d love to see you at our Flower School one day! 🌸

I built a beach on my dining table… 🌊

Everyone’s been talking about The Odyssey, so I couldn’t resist creating my own floral interpretation.
From a sandy shoreline and ancient statues to a mirror that creates the illusion of a hidden lake, this might be one of my favourite Impossible Tablescapes yet.

✨ and, drumroll…. ✨Big announcement✨… we’re going live on Instagram next week!

So many of you have told me you’d love to come to our Flower School but live too far away, so we’re bringing a little bit of Flower School to you.

Join me live on Instagram with whatever flowers you have, and we’ll spend an hour creating a beautiful bouquet together.
It doesn’t matter whether they’re flowers from your garden, the supermarket or your local florist—we’ll work with whatever you’ve got.

🌸 Flower School Live

📅 Wednesday 12th August
🇬🇧 7:00pm UK
🇺🇸 2:00pm East Coast
🇺🇸 11:00am West Coast

Shopping list:
🌿 15–20 stems of flowers, foliage or branches (they don’t need to match!)
🧵 String or twine to tie your bouquet
📦 Brown paper or wrapping paper if you’d like to wrap it at the end

The most important thing is simply coming along and enjoying an hour of creativity together.
I can’t wait to create with our flower family from all over the world! 🌸❤️🌍

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