Floral Musings

The Tallulah Rose Flower School

invites you to

Floral Musings

14th & 15th October, Brixton East, London, SW9 7JF

This Autumn we're going back to our roots, to the soulful heart of Brixton and invite you to come on a journey of Floral Musings with us. For two days this October, we are making the old furniture factory in Briston our home and are opening the doors to all those who share our passion for design, flora, texture and colour.

Against a backdrop of raw wooden beams, vaulted ceilings and smooth concrete floors, we're going to slow things down a little, enjoy local artisan produce together like fresh ground coffee and warm baked croissants and revel in the art of conversation as we muse openly about our floral aesthetic. With natural light pouring in through the large glazed windows, we may be lucky enough to catch to morning Autumn sun and enjoy the courtyard - where we will later introduce you to the principles of floral photography and capture our day's work on film.

Over the course of two days we will be running a series of practical floral demonstrations and lectures, giving you a real insight into our world of floral design. Whether you are an existing florist looking for fresh inspiration to move your business forward or a complete beginner, we will guide you through a range of techniques (and insider secrets) using the freshest flora the season has to offer.

Course Content:

Day One - Musings on balance, scale & form

Once we've taken time out to get to know you over a steaming cup of coffee we'll introduce ourselves and our floral passions to you. We'll kick start the day with a nod to the history of our building and create beautiful meadow boxes together - using the traditional wooded crates that the building is famous for.

In the afternoon there will be a thematic lecture and a floral demonstration as we show you how to create one of the flower school's signature pieces - the floral door garland. This will allow us to take you though the key areas of floral selection, colour, balance and form whilst working on a grand scale. Then it's over to you to create your own garland using all of the knowledge you have learnt from the day. We will then take you through the principles of floral photography, sharing our hints and tips on proportion, positioning and light before you find your perfect place in the building to photograph your work.

Day Two: Musings on proportions, details and finishes

Hopefully you will have spent the night dreaming of flora and this morning you will be totally inspired and raring to go, so after breakfasting together, it’s straight on with the aprons as we delve into the romance of floral bouquets. Through a series of practical demonstrations, we will show you various styles of hand tied bouquets and present our own signature style. Then it’s over to you as you are given the freedom to find your own conversation with flowers and create your own wonderfully romantic design. We will then wander through our gorgeous archive of silk ribbons and teach you how to finish your designs and prep them for more individual photography throughout the building.

After lunching together, there will be another thematic lecture followed by an introduction to wired work and the delightful art of floral crowns. Late in the afternoon, we will end the course as we began, slow things down, put a pot of coffee on and share our learnings, hopes and dreams in an open forum with the full flower school team.

Come and muse with us a while…

Date: Tuesday 14^th – Wednesday 15^th October

Time: 10.00 – 17.00 each day

Location: Brixton East, 100 Barrington Road, London, SW9 7JF

Cost: £1600 per person*

To reserve your place, simply email us at: hello@tallulahroseflowers.com and we'll arrange the rest.

*Included in the course fee are all fresh floral materials, floristry equipment, vessels used in your floral designs, breakfast, lunch and light refreshments for the full two days.

Our advanced skills course

Image via: http://zsazsabellagio.blogspot.co.uk/

Some exciting news about our newest course - just one place remaining for April - could it be yours?

New for Spring 2014 is our advanced skills course aimed at those already in the world of floristry seeking new inspiration and new challenges.

Designed with professional florists in mind and those that have completed our own four week career course, the advanced skills course will take students to the next level and give them both the technical know-how and confidence to design and direct large scale event floristry.

This four day course can accommodate up to six students who will work together as an ‘event team’ and take on various large scale challenges out on location around Bath and the surrounding areas. 

Leading the course is director Rachel and Tallulah Rose florist Saffy, who brings with her over twenty years of experience directing large events with companies such as London’s Rebel Rebel. We will also be working alongside a professional photographer to ensure students get beautiful photos of their work in order to strengthen their portfolios.

Course Details:

Price: £1850 per student

2014 Dates: April 14^th – 17^th / October 20^th – 24^th

^{See the website for further details or call us on 01225 425 998 to book.}

Mother's Day Bouquets

A blooming lovely bunch of sorbet roses

What did you get up to this Mother's Day? We were joined by a lovely bunch of ladies for our Mother's Day workshop on Friday and had a great time getting to grips with a range of different hand tied bouquets. First up on the menu was this soft and perfectly feminine rose bouquet featuring some of my favourites - the acapella, talea, avalanche and senorita varieties. Their sorbet shades looked good enough to eat together.

Spring was definitely in the air on Friday

In the afternoon we went 'wild and free' and made beautifully lose, garden style bouquets with the freshest spring blooms. On the menu were headily scented narcissus, apricot parrot tulips, white anemones (with green centres!), colour popping craspedia and vibrant gelder roses. The wilder style of bouquet is always a challenge but our ladies rose to it and left literally with an arm-full of gorgeous blooms  - enough the give to their mums and keep for themselves!

Getting to grips with being more wild & free...

The Mother's Day series...

Image via: http://thebloggersdaughter.blogspot.be/

Last week we shared our thoughts on motherhood with you...well, nurturing in general really. We praised those of our graduates who are balancing their new floral careers with busy family lives and promised to share some of their profiles with you in the run up to Mother's Day this week. So pop over to our Facebook Page and meet our first pair of partner's in crime - Holly and her son Noah.

We'll also be celebrating Mother's Day in style in the school rooms this Friday with our special one day workshop. Places are limited but we do have just spaces left so if you are looking for a special gift for your mum this year, why not come and learn how to make the perfect seasonal hand tied bouquet with us using a beautiful selection of blooms. There's nothing more special than presenting your mum with a beautiful bouquet that you have made yourself, or come and learn together and share the experience of flowers.

You can visit our website for more details or simply email us at hello@tallulahroseflowers.com or call 01225 425 998 x

Gracie's Guest Post

Flower school frolics with Gracie & Lemmy

Well, I'm coming to the end of Week Two of my internship at flower school and this week has been bridal week. There have been some amazing flowers around school this week and everybody's individual styles have really started to shine through.

The big thing I have learnt this week is that sometimes, just by incorporating a totally different colour or texture into a display which may not necessarily feel natural at first, can totally lift an arrangement. For example, the students designed flower crowns yesterday and by injecting a hint of blue delphinium amongst the pink and peach roses and finishing with canary yellow ribbon, Jules' crown got the wow factor!

Colour contrast flower crown

The highlight of the week for me has been watching the window and door garlands being constructed, especially the eco-friendly alternative to oasis version, using chicken wire and moss - I'm fast learning that it's amazing how much you need your initiative when you're a florist!

An eco-friendly take on the more traditional oasis trailing garland

Over the course of bridal week, it's been great to see the entire flower journey from producing a single groom's button-hole right through to large scale table-centres and garlands. The variety of flowers has been incredible too from pastel sorbet shades right through to neon brights.

Next week I'll be off to Covent Garden Flower Market so be sure to follow my twitter feed @florenceflorals and the hashtag #floristintern to see what I get up to!

Gracie x

Celebrating all things Mother's Day

Image via: http://inesdelreves.tumblr.com

I'm not a mother (well, sort of if you count a little red dachshund called Alfred), not because I don't want to be, but because put quite simply - life just hasn't really played out that way. But I do recognise that the bond between a mother and her child is something magical and other-worldly and something that should be celebrated in style.

Here at flower school, we love to nurture too. We like to think we nurture our students and hold their hands as they embark on their own unique flower journey. We also nurture our graduates and encourage them on with their new ventures as they embark on their new floral careers and of course, we nurture the amazing blooms we work with everyday and are constantly rewarded by the colour and life they bring to the school rooms.

Next week, in the run up to Mother's Day we will be celebrating some of our lovely graduates who are busy juggling their new floral careers with children and family life - keep an eye on our Facebook page and come meet some more nurturers.

Gracie's First Week

Amongst the Ranunculas

Hello Gracie here,

Over the last few days I have been filled with inspiration and have picked up some fantastic advice on running and starting up a business within the floristry industry which is gold dust for a newbie like me!


The school is beautiful every nook is photogenic (especially with the addition of an odd dachshund or two) and being around so much creativity coming from the students and the teachers creates a wonderful space to work in.

One of the highlights from my first week was watching the wreath tutorial. I simply can't get enough of the different shades of pink and the ranunculas the students used were so pretty.

Magically simple but stunning Terrariums

Another favourite was the terrariums from Monday, after fawning over them on Pintrest it was fantastic to see how to create them in several different styles all equally gorgeous!

I'll hopefully keep you updated on my 'interning activities' every week but if you would like to see daily updates follow my twitter @florenceflorals or follow the hashtag #flowerintern


Gracie x

Meet Gracie

Our intern Gracie enjoying the lavender

We have a new addition for our March Career Course - our lovely intern! Gracie has a passion for all things floral and is spending some time in our school rooms being inspired and breathing it all in. For those of you who love the old social media as much as we do, you can follow Gracie's journey via our Twitter @tallulahrosey and by following the hashtag #floristintern

Have a great day people x

Come and walk the talk with us

Image via: http://lookdepernille.com/

Do the flower shoes fit? Then wear them we say! If flowers are at the heart of what you do but you're looking to inject some sass into your business, we may just have the course for you.

We have opened up our five day Business Skills Course to those who have the appropriate technical floral skills but may be looking for some industry savy advice to kick start a new business, as well as those of you who may have been in the industry for some time and are looking to re-brand and slip on a new pair of floral shoes!

During the course of the week, we will introduce you to some of the best industry experts in their field. From leading brand agencies, bloggers, social media experts and event florists, to accountants and business bank managers. We will also take you to the world renowned Covent Garden Flower Market to meet nationwide flower suppliers - ensuring you have access to the best contacts to enable your business (be it old or new!) to flourish.

There is a full course break down over on our website but as ever, if you'd like to talk to us in person please get in touch either by email at hello@tallulahroseflowers.com or call us directly on 01225 425 998. We're a friendly bunch and we'd love to hear from you.

Team Tallulah x

Will you find our lonely bouquets?

One of our Lonely bouquets before it left for a secret location this morning

So Happy Valentine's to all you lovers out there! Here at Tallulah Rose, we like to share the love a bit and so last night we stayed late and created a few #lonelybouquets. This morning they left for some secret locations in Bath and if you find one...you get to KEEP IT, it's that simple!

Can you spy Rachel putting together a #lonelybouquet last night?

Whether you choose to pass it to a loved one or keep it all to yourself, all we ask is that you follow the instructions on the card and let us know where it's destined for!

For those that live in Bath, happy hunting! We'll be giving you clues via Twitter as the morning goes on so join in the conversation and follow us @tallulahrosey x

Bridal workshops

A beautiful bridal bouquet from a Tallulah Rose student

Yesterday saw our February Career Course students get to grips with bridal bouquets. For a dark, heady, romantic feel (well it is Valentine's this week after all!), we teamed the softly hued Amnesia rose with similarly toned seasonal Hyacinths, Veronica, Succulents and Clematis with contrasting Majolika roses and trailing Jasmin. Tied with a delicate cotton lace ribbon, we love this feel of this bouquet.

Our take on beautifully 'dark florals'

If you would like to learn how to make your own bridal bouquet, along with other key bridal pieces we offer a one day Bridal Day Course every month with our bridal specialist Amy. Our next course is Friday the 21st February and we have just one place remaining. If you would like to join us simply email us at hello@tallulahroseflowers.com or call us on 01225 425 998 to reserve your place.

Flowers from our students

February at its best - Narcissus, Hellbores and Mimosa

Last week our February Career Course students produced some stunning work. We kicked things off moderately on Monday with planted seasonal bulbs and succulent terrariums before getting braver on Tuesday with hand tied bouquets. 

It's fair to say that week one is a huge stretch and the amount the students learn in such a short space of time is amazing. From hand tied bouquets, to oasis work and vase arrangements, there's a different technique to learn everyday and we end the week with the largest scale arrangements - the sympathy spray.

Here at Tallulah Rose, we have a bit of a unique approach to sympathy flowers. We put the same passion into our floral selection as our bridal flowers and create truly beautiful arrangements that reflect the season. 

If you would like to see more of our students work, including our sympathy work, head to our Pinterest Board - flowers from our students and take a peek!

Spring bulbs workshop

Image via Pinterest

With our February Career Course well under way, the school rooms are full of flowers again and we're in our element working with the best that the season can give us. We're also super excited about welcoming our Day Course students this Friday for our Spring Bulbs workshop.

We'll be exploring various ways of presenting seasonal bulbs in the home, from something very rustic and garden style to more contemporary arrangements using clear glass.

If you'd like to fill your home with bulbs then come and join us in beautiful Bath and let us show you how. We have a limited number of places still available so simply call us on 01225 425 998 or email us at hello@tallulahroseflowers.com - as ever we'd love to hear from you!

Spring Term

We're ready to take our seats!

With only 5 days to go until we welcome our next Career Course students we are getting super excited in the school rooms. We can't wait to meet our newest recruits and see them flourish as they embark on their very own flower journeys. 

We always get that 'back to school' feeling right before a new course, the school rooms get a good spruce up ready for our new guests and we we may even treat ourselves to a new pencil case (because you are NEVER too old for that...right?).

We are also thrilled to be joined by our new intern Gracie for this course and can't wait to have a new flower entusiast on board. We've made some exciting changes to the 2014 course and can't wait to share pictures of some beautiful new designs. We're also thrilled to be working with some super talented British flower growers this term and will be taking our students on a tour of Covent Garden Flower Market so it's sure to be a busy month...watch this space!

Spring workshops

Image via Pinterest

You may have noticed on your morning commute (or maybe not, depending on if you've had your coffee?) that something amazing is beginning to happen. From the endless wet and muddy January ground, spring bulbs are emerging. They are tiny and they're just about getting brave enough to pop their heads out of their cosy parapets but to us florists, it's a BIG deal!

To celebrate all things spring we have some new workshops for 2014 so if you feel like getting creative with a flourish of spring flowers through your own home, we'll teach you how. All of our day courses take place at our inspiring school rooms in the heart of beautiful Bath, which is a treat in itself in springtime. 

For full details and how to book, visit our website

Bloom Monday

Image via Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/tallulahrosey/

Somebody told us it was Blue Monday today? Now I don't know about you guys, but we don't feel so blue. We know it's a bit cold outside, not to mention wet and grey, and we know that we spent all our pennies on (a lot of) festive cheer, but when you work with the most amazing little flowers everyday you can't help but feel the love.

So, we've re-branded today #bloommonday and we've been asking our students, past, present and future to share their flowery pictures with us and banish those winter blues.

Follow the story now on the Tallulah Rose Facebook and Twitter pages and post your pictures too, we'd love to see them!

The start of a brand new year

Have you got an inner flower girl just waiting to get out?

Hello and a very happy new year to you!

If like us, you are just emerging from a long Christmas hibernation these last two weeks and today marks the start of your new year, then welcome.

With coffee in hand (a green juice in Rachel's case) we're ready to take on the new year ahead today and are busily planning some great updates to our 2014 Career Course. It's a case of 'in with the new' here at flower school as we draw up a curriculum with new guest speakers across lots of different industries, new British flower suppliers, and of course, beautiful new floral designs. 

So if you're back at your desk feeling like 2014 might be the year you start your own flower journey why not take a look at our course timetables via the website. We'd love to meet you and let you know what's in store for 2014 so book yourself on one of our FREE taster days and explore the world of the Tallulah Rose flower school. Our next Taster Day is Saturday 11th January - see here for details.

2014 Career Course Dates
Spring One Day Course Dates

Whatever you do this year, Team Tallulah hope you have a great one! x

Come and feel festive with us

Because we're a kind bunch and love a good bit of old fashion sharing at flower school we've pencilled in two evening courses this December so that you can join us in the school room for some festive cheer!

Now don't get me wrong, I love a good lunch as much as the next person, but nothing says Christmas quite like a glass of fizz and candle-light, so we're opening up the school room on two evenings and inviting you to come and feel festive with us.

The Christmas wreath evenings are taking place on Thursday the 5th and 12th of December and are £40.00 per person. All your gorgeous materials are included, as is a glass of fizz and we'll show you step by step how to make a beautiful door wreath - we're good like that!

Call us on 01225 425 998 to reserve your place or email us at: hello@tallulahroseflowers.com

Bridal bouquets and kicks!

Flowers and kicks, it's how we roll...

The start of the week saw the November career course students immersed in bridal work and on Monday they created some crazy beautiful bridal bouquets.

We teach various types of bouquet here at the flower school so that our budding florists are well equipped to cater for all sorts of bride and dress shape. Monday saw the traditional hand tie, a wildly intricate wired bouquet and an elaborate cascade. The kicks came courtesy of Sam and we LOVE!

If you would like to learn how to tie a bridal bouquet, don't forget that our Spring 2014 Day Course timetable is now live so take a look on the website and see if there's a date that suits you...we'd love to show you how!*

*Kicks optional but preferred!

Winter wreaths

A beautiful winter wreath of faded hydrangea, dusk pink roses, and antique red ranunculus

With winter well and truly here, the days getting shorter and the nights drawing in, we cheered ourselves up in the school room yesterday with colourful wreaths.

We took our inspiration form the grand Georgian doorways that line the streets of Bath and created a beautiful muted wreath that would look lovely against a dark blue / grey door.

If you would like to learn how to make your own gorgeous wreath we are offering a Festive Masterclass with director Rachel at the Royal Crescent Hotel on Tuesday the 3rd of December. Places are limited and you can take a look online for details of how to book here.