Fleurie's experience at Florabundance Inspirational Design Days

In late January, I made the trek to Santa Barbara to attend Florabundance Inspirational Design Days, floral and event design workshop. Guest speakers and presenters were:

• Holly Heider Chapple of Holly Heider Chapple Flowers
• Ian Prosser of Botanica | International Design & Decor Studio
• Alicia Schwede of Bella Fiori and Flirty Fleurs Blog
• Chuck Graham of Bloom by Anuschka and Flirty Fleurs Blog
• Tricia Fountaine of Tricia Fountaine Design and Rancho Dos Pueblos
• Kelly Oshiro of Kelly Oshiro Design and SB Chic Blog
• and photographer, Genevieve Leiper Genevieve Leiper Photography, who took great shots of our work and the events of the days.

It was a jam- packed two days in flower-bliss for me. First, we took a tour of the coolers at Florabundance. 

Our first glimpse inside Florabundance's cooler- gorgeous Helleborus, Bachelor's Buttons, Ranunculus

Twigs galore

Gorgeous foliages in silvers, greens and red

The flower selection that awaited us at the Florabundance Inspirational Design Days

Floral and event designer, Tricia Fountaine shared a little history of  Dos Pueblos Ranch, where the event was held. She is the events manger for this fantastic ranch set on the coast in Goleta. The ranch is rich in history, starting from over 400 years ago. Tricia guided the reconstuction of the property's turn of the century barn to its current beautiful state, ready for events, in a wonderful rustic setting.

Holly Heider Chapple, floral and event designer, wife, mom to 7 kids!, business owner, speaker, mentor...I could go on and on. She shared her personal story and road to success with us. She has so much to share!

photo by Genevieve Leiper

I met Chuck Graham, of Flirty Fleurs and Bloom by Anuschka, he made this gorgeous rose bouquet look simple, it was simply gorgeous!

I finally got to meet my cyber flower-friend Alicia Schwede of Bella  Fiori and Flirty Fleurs Blog. I feel like we are old friends! Hope to meet up with her again, now that she has relocated to Northern California from Colorado

My bouquet, made under the direction of the fabulous Holly Heider Chapple. She was a wealth of information and helpful tips for all of us. I have followed her work for several years, I never thought I'd get to study under her, let alone meet her.

My bouquet, made after the seminar given by Holly Heider Chapple. Displayed on furniture and props from Vintage Vignettes, a prop rental company owned by floral and event designer Tricia Fountaine.

I worked on this aisle arrangement with Kate Colleran Minellian from Kaleco Design, she was a great person to work with, we share a landscape/ horticulture background. Made under the direction of floral and event designer Ian Prosser, of  Botanica | International Design

Ian, showing off his hand-tied bouquet. His talk was so informative. The information he shared was relevant to the small floral design company as well as the largest companies. Stay true to yourself, don't compromise.

This was the end result of Ian's seminar and teaching- we were to complete a wedding floral design, working in three teams. Here is the arbor team. It was gorgeous! And so were the ladies involved! Our aisle arrangement is the one on the right pew end.

 

It was great to participate in this wonderful event with my local flower-friend Tricia, it was fun to catch up on the drive there, we've both had a busy year and don't get much time to sit down and chat. 
I got to meet designers from all around the states. 

• Leslie, of Pixies Petals, in Long Beach, who I have been blog and pinterest-stalking- I love her work, and now that I know her, I love her too! 
• Sheri of Blumen-Meisters flower market in New Braunfels, TX is a new flower-friend I hope to see again, I think we  could make some pretty flower-magic together! 
• Robyn, of Bare Root Flora, who I knew was a floral designer when I saw her at the hotel- rockin' a great yellow coat! 
• Kate, of Kaleco Design in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, we share a background in horticulture, so of course, she's wonderful! 
• Rebecca of Sunny Brooks Floral from Vashon Island WA, I might just stop in and visit next time I am in Washington! 

It was great to meet all the different designers at the conference. We are all striving for the same things through our work- to be the best we can be! I hope to see everyone again at next year's event!

I want to thank Joost from Florabundance for the wonderful hospitality and all of the wonderful presenters for a great experience! 

To see more pictures from the event:
Alicia's story of the Florabundance Design days