As I mentioned in my post on Friday, I recently attended a flower arranging workshop in London with Bloomon, the flower subscription service, at the offices of the mega homes site, Houzz and today, I’m going to be sharing a few things I learned to not only make your flowers look beautiful but also to make them last longer!

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Houzz, they are a fantastic platform for bringing together homeowners looking for new ideas for their homes with an incredibly array of inspirational images and designs as well as allowing you to connect with professionals in the industry.

There, you’ll find every kind of designer, from kitchen designers to interior designers, garden designers, architects and homeware specialists to make whatever dreams you may have for your property a reality.

We gathered in their offices where they put on a beautiful spread for us for brunch, more than welcome after the long journey south and I admit to totally breaking my Paleo diet for it! #whoops #worthit

We had a short presentation while we munched on gorgeous food by Houzz who chatted about their site. If you are a fellow blogger, it’s worth noting that you can now have a profile listing yourself as a blogger on the site, which makes it easier to be found by businesses who are looking to collaborate. I always thought the site was more for designers so this was an interesting proposition!

After brunch, we were gathered at long bench tables and shown how to make a gorgeous loose autumn-inspired bouquet by the very charismatic and experienced floral designer, Stuart Fenwick.

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Yep, that’s me being a good little blogger with my camera!

Bloomon UK is a floral subscription service that allows you to gift yourself (or anyone else!) a bouquet of blooms on a regular basis – whether that’s weekly, fortnightly or monthly. I love that their bouquets are very unlike what you may typically see. They are looser and softer, allowing each flower to ‘breathe’ and they have a much more contemporary feel than the stuffy bouquets you get at many florists. They are also fresher with their team choosing flowers at the source and shipping when the flowers are still ‘sleeping’, allowing you to enjoy your blooms for longer.

Here are a few tips to make the most of any flowers you may be arranging:

Water

While it’s tempting to fill the entire vase with water, you can drown them this way. Only put a few inches of water in the bottom of your vase with the flower food you are supplied. You’ll want to change the water every couple of days, adding a drop or two of bleach to the water to kill any bacteria.

Preparing the Flowers

When preparing the flowers to go into your vase, you want to cut the stems at a diagonal to allow for as much absorption of water as possible. For thick woody stems, cut the stem vertically as the thicker stem won’t absorb water at the same rate as those with softer stems.

[houzz=http://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/69206292/bloomon-blogging-event-london]

Remove any leaves that will be below the rim of your vase to keep the look clean and uncluttered and especially those under water to prevent rot and bacteria.

Arranging Your Blooms

Start filling your vase with the more woody stems (the thick ones that are sturdy and harder to cut), creating a tepee shape and then crisscross the softer flowers in between so that the shape of the sturdy stems supports the softer ones, turning the vase as you go to ensure it looks beautiful from any angle.

On Display

Once you are happy with your arrangement, be sure to keep the flowers out of direct sunlight and drafts. You also want to make sure that it’s not nearby any fruit bowls which give off chemicals that will shorten the life of your blooms.

So here’s my finished bouquet – not bad for a novice, right?

I had a great time at Houzz with Bloomon and I even managed to get my flowers home in one piece! Even after being out of water for around 5 hours (!), they still managed to survive and a week later, still look pretty great. Impressive!

Fancy treating yourself? I’ve got a special deal for you!

Swoon Worthy Readers Special Offer from Bloomon!

Enter the word “Bohovase” at Step 4 of the order process and you’ll receive a stunning vase absolutely FREE with your order!

What do you think of a flower subscription service? Is it something you would try? Any tips for making flowers last longer? Hit me up in the comments!