Erika and Sam
Which course did you study at Tallulah Rose Flower School?
We both completed the two week intensive career change course in November 2019, the first course from the Tallulah Rose Flower School after it had moved to the gorgeous Levens Hall!
What did you enjoy most about the course?
Is it such a cliché to say everything? From the moment we both arrived we knew we were in for a treat. The mix of flowers for us to work with & having no limits to how to work with them. Creativity & ideas were challenged & even though we were tired at the end of our days, we would always drive home and reflect on our days together with such excitement for the future.
What was the most important thing that you learnt?
That creating a new creative life for yourself is possible & more importantly that it’s okay to want to do it too. We went into this course nervous with our bold ideas that we were going to be florists together & left with the tools, skills & confidence that gave us a huge kick start into starting to build this career for ourselves.
What was your first big break or most memorable moment so far?
One of the most memorable moments for us so far was when we decided it was time to look for a studio workshop for ourselves & then when we finally received the keys for it. It felt very surreal and a huge growth point in our career that we needed a bigger & more suitable space to work from. The day we found ours was the first time we had decided to look and it was also the first day it had been listed online, so it all felt like it had just fallen into place for us. We took a look around, fell in love and haven’t looked back since.
What are you doing now?
We both now operate as full-time wedding & event florists. We decided to remain studio only based, but our space allows us to have clients over for consultations and also to see the space where the magic happens. Alongside our weddings & events that we design for across the UK, we do also love to freelance for other florists allowing us to learn, adapt and also network with others. We do host a variety of seasonal creative workshops throughout the year as well, working with other small businesses much like our own to promote a little bit of floral self-care in what can be such a busy world for most.
Describe a typical floristry day…
Each day can be so different! Some days rely heavily on admin such as email replies, social media planning, ordering with our British growers & wholesalers, writing up quotations, holding consultations both over Zoom and in person, catching up on accounts and payments and planning for our next event coming up. Our hands on days start with an early rise to collect our flower orders and the rest of the day will be dedicated to conditioning, cleaning and scrubbing buckets, and most importantly creating our flowery orders and packaging them up before they leave us for their event.
What’s been your highlight to date?
It’s so hard to pick just one! We would say major highlights for us have been being able to take our skills across the country and abroad. We have been very fortunate to be asked to be a part of some incredible freelancing teams, allowing us to meet like-minded florists building new connections as well as having the chance to explore new places.
What’s the most valuable part of being able to say you trained at Tallulah Rose?
When we encounter new florists either in reality or through social media and we discover that they have also trained at Tallulah Rose, it’s almost like an immediate bond and trust is formed. We know that we share similar views and floristry styles that align due to the training courses being quite unique to others that are available and we find that incredibly valuable when it comes to sourcing advice or freelancers of our own.
How have the contacts you made during your TRFS training helped with your business?
We are still extremely close with another florist who we shared our training with back in 2019. Having this close friendship enabled us to have the initial confidence to take on our first larger events with ease because we knew we had her as a part of our team to navigate this step in growing our business. In turn we have also had the opportunity to help her with her own incredible events and then each of us have introduced the other to several other freelancing opportunities since. A wonderful chain reaction!
What makes your floristry business unique?
For us, we have to say our uniqueness lies in that we are a creative floristry duo. It’s not something you come across all too often and the extra special part of it is that we have done it together from the very beginning. Before floristry we had already long established our friendship and bond, so to have been able to train together and then create, grow and pursue this business together is something we hold on to very dearly.
Is there an opportunity that springs to mind that Tallulah Rose gave you the confidence to pursue?
The whole Tweedle business! We had never done anything like this before prior to our training, the course gave us confidence to make our dream jobs a reality. To ask questions, make mistakes and learn from them and to seize any opportunities that pass you by.
What is your favourite British flower & why?
Erika: Yikes, this is always one of the hardest questions to answer. I do find myself swaying towards a good David Austin Rose, every time we receive British buckets and they are in there I immediately have to take a photo of them. They don’t look real because they are so perfect and let’s not forget about the incredible scent of them as well.
Sam: I also can’t disagree on a beautiful David Austin rose! But I do love my Sweetpeas. Of course their sweet scent is unmatched & the soft, dainty ruffles coming in a multitude of shades, always brings that final touch to a design with soft floatiness & bounce. They do also bring a little bit of nostalgia for me and remind me of my Grandad who loved to grow them up the side of his greenhouse.
What advice would you give to a new student starting out?
On the course? Take lots of photos, take notes and savour each day. Once you have finished the course? Seize opportunities if they pass you by, work hard but most importantly have fun along the way!
Click here for more information about Tweedle Floral Design
Profile photo credit: Jules Barron
