The Beginner’s Guide to Hosting a Floral Design Workshop

As the 2020 flower season slows and we shift from fresh flowers to dried arrangements, wreaths, and mistletoe, now's the perfect time to start planning a 2021 spring floral design workshop!

You might be asking What?! if you're feeling tired from the last few months being crazy-busy or if you're ending your year feeling down about how everything was not how it was supposed to be. You might even be unsure about what next spring holds for your business and group events.

Wherever you land on that spectrum, I'll say it again: It's the perfect time to start planning a 2021 spring workshop!

Hosting a Floral Design Workshop for the First Time

I planned and hosted my very first workshop in September 2020 (with Clare Ambraska of Willow & Wilde Florals), just as my business turned one year old! It came when I was feeling tired and overwhelmed from all the work going into my new business, but all while I was also feeling down because 2020 was supposed to look so different. I was consistently in doubt throughout my entire planning process, mostly over if people would actually attend an in-person workshop during a global pandemic.

So I was feeling all the feelings you're probably feeling right now reading this blog post. On top of that, I had no clue if I was qualified to teach a floral workshop. But if Clare believed in my talents enough to bring me on site, I had to believe in myself enough to make it happen.

And we made it happen together!

Not only did we sell-out the event and have to add two seats at the last minute, but everyone also had a fantastic time! It was an incredible experience to see the art that each person created from the same blooms.

And like anything you do for the first time, I learned a lot for next time!

To help inspire you to plant the seeds now for your spring workshop, I want to share how you can plan a workshop as a beginner floral designer!

Find a Partner in Planning

I recommend finding a flower friend to plan such an event. Then you can divide and conquer the work that needs to be done (because there's a lot).

I also recommend that floral designers partner with flower farmers! A farmer has space and flowers to host a workshop, and the designer has the tools to teach. Clare and I brought so many different and complementary skills to the table when planning our workshop, and that’s a win.

Determine the Details

When planning a workshop, there are many decisions that need to be made between partners, and because there is just so much to think through, I've provided you with a short list of the basic questions to work through for a successful workshop:

What are you going to teach? There are so many different floral elements to choose from. Try choosing to teach something you are very confident in so that the teaching part will be the easiest aspect!
When is the workshop going to be? Choose a date and time. That was simple!
Where will the workshop be located? Select your venue based on how many guests you want to host and if it allows you to follow local COVID-19 guidelines, if that’s something that needs to be taken into consideration at the time of your workshop. If you're a farmer and designer pair, I recommend hosting on the farm. Clare's micro flower farm was perfect for the size of the workshop we wanted to host, and it was outdoors; there's no better place than to work among the home of the stems!
Who is this workshop geared toward? I naturally assumed that beginners would know they are welcome to our workshop. Still, you would be surprised at how many inquiries I initially received that asked if prior experience was needed. So I quickly updated all of our communications to stress that the workshop was for all skill levels!
Why is your workshop the workshop people will sign up for? Figure out what you and your partner bring to the table for guests as well as some special touches that will make your workshop standout. By partnering with Clare, guests would learn how to design a tabletop arrangement and learn what it takes to run a flower farm. We also decided it was important to have everyone's creations professionally photographed and for refreshments to be provided. These are just a few ways we chose to enhance our workshop.

Fee and Payment

You need to decide (and align with your partner/co-host) on how much you will charge your guests to cover your costs and your time, and then determine how you will divide the funds between you and your partner. There are many different ways to agree on this, so go with whatever both you and your partner are comfortable with.

Nail Down the Nitty-Gritty

After your basics are covered, it's time to dive into the details. I first recommend that you close your eyes and complete a mental walk-through of the workshop from the participant's perspective.

Imagine everything from when a guest first arrives to park to finding their station to working with the flowers, and finally departing with their creation. As you imagine this experience, your to-do list will grow substantially, but don't be afraid of that!

The growing of your to-do list means you're on the right track! That way, when the day arrives, you know you’ve made sure that every guest will have a wonderful time. To help with starting to shape your to-do list, here are the details Clare and I faced ahead of the workshop:

We had to decide on the day-of agenda and who would be responsible for what parts of the day.
We researched and collaborated on who we would partner with for photography and refreshments.
We aligned on how and when we would set up the work stations, work tools, flowers, and photo set.
We determined what we needed to buy and who was going to buy it.
We decided on setting up one central online shop for ticket sales.
We aligned on how we would promote the workshop on social media with coordinating imagery and copy.
We figured out our COVID-19 protocols and refund policy and how we would communicate that to guests.
We agreed to a live budget document that we both kept up-to-date for tracking and transparency.

Get Everyone Excited!

In addition to the obvious (social promotion!), it's essential to implement an email campaign for the guests that signed up.

It's important to thank them for their purchase (this email can usually be set up as automatic on your shop). Then, welcome the guests a few days ahead of time with all of the workshop details (and weather, if your event is outdoors).

Finally, a post-event thank-you email with professional photos (if you so choose) is a nice follow-up. These communications should help customers feel confident that their investment was well spent (which means potential future sales and referrals!).

Workshop Day Worries

The day of the workshop can be quite stressful. Not only are you teaching your craft to an audience, but you are also hosting an event that requires you to provide attention to a lot of new people! It's not an easy thing to do. But much of this stress can be reduced if you plan out what you are going to say and how you will say it.

Don't take yourself too seriously, and be okay with whatever happens. When all else fails, know that every worry will disappear as you begin to watch your guests work with flowers. I was taken aback at how fulfilling it was to see each individual embrace their creative side and work with nature. I felt like I was spreading joy, which took away every worry I had about the day!

Celebrate!

If you're like me, then you're hyper-critical of yourself, and rather than taking a moment to enjoy your accomplishments, you immediately begin to rattle off all the ways you could have improved the overall workshop. STOP.

Forget those thoughts and celebrate what you just did: you hosted a workshop! Taking the time celebrate your hard work is just as important (or even more important) as assessing improvements for next time.

And that's it!

While a workshop might feel daunting to embark on after reading this list, and while you might be feeling all of those feels I mentioned earlier, I promise that once you've completed your first workshop, you'll feel the confidence to do it again. You'll have tried something new for yourself and your business, and you'll have shared the joy of flowers and your take on how to create with them. You'll be proud.

So if you feel excited after reading these tips on how to plan your first workshop, get started! A workshop is worth it!