Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of attending a gathering at the McQueens Flower School to celebrate their 20th Anniversary. And what a wonderful evening it was!
Set up in 1998, the school has attracted students from all over the world. It was founded to provide an opportunity to teach the McQueens’ philosophy…the principles of seasonality, style, simplicity and skill.
Innovation and creativity remain at the heart of everything at the school, not only at their London base, but also internationally as in the last five years its tutors have taught and lectured in Australia, Dubai, China, Japan, America and Italy.
To follow are Duncan McCabe from McQueens’ lovely photos from the evening, which started off with a welcome by Founder and Chief Executive, Kally Ellis…
..followed by a talk by one of their favourite suppliers, Graeme Diplock from Zest Flowers at New Covent Garden Flower Market.
Sophie, one of the McQueens Flower School tutors, demonstrated how to make a hand-tied bouquet. Then it was our turn to choose from the fabulous selection of flowers from Zest. And we were all gifted a beautiful vase from Dutz to display our finished design.
Deep in concentration…
Here’s the lovely Sophie, on the right, assisting one of the attendees…
And here’s me with my finished design, which I loved. Thank you so much to McQueens for such an enjoyable evening!
Below are some more photos of my bouquet, which I took the following day. It featured British grown Margaret Merril roses, Scabious, Ammi majus, Salvia, mint and pistachio. Its scent was incredible!
If you’d like to find out about the courses at the McQueens Flower School in London, simply pop over to the McQueens website.
P.S. For a video of the event, head to McQueens’ amazing YouTube channel. Plus they’ve written a blog post too.
(Images : Duncan McCabe at McQueens | Rona Wheeldon)
Belated Happy Birthday wishes ! ? Your work is outstanding.?? Living in West London, I rarely get the chance to visit your location. It is funny: I only buy flowers in covent garden market from Zest stall. Their quality and range are superb..I should try one of your courses sometimes. Many happy returns, Laurent ?