Getting inspired at Fleuramour

Each year Belgium hosts a great international flower event, Fleuramour.  Taking place at Alden Biesen, an impressive, 16th century, fairytale-esque castle outside of Brussels, a staggering 120,000 flowers fill 35 rooms, gardens, courtyards and even a church. Some of the world’s most talented and cutting-edge florists get involved, making this the ultimate in florist inspiration.

Hopping over with Mark and my good friend Kate, we were excited to immerse ourselves in a day of incredible floral art, exciting inspiration and forward-looking design.

I always love to see experimentations with colour and was pleased to see incredible pops of bright fuchsia, rich masala and lively cherry.  Greenery, this year’s Colour of the Year, was also prevalent and I love seeing how the varying shades can come together to create something quite mesmerising, such as Tom De Houwer’s design below.

Texture is hugely important in our designs, so I was engrossed in work by Soren Van Laer, Daniel Santamaria, Vadim Kazanskiy and Roman Steinhuer. Dogwood, twigs and midelino sticks were used to dramatic effect and I think could be replicated for impressive window displays or corporate events, looking to pack a punch.  I was particularly smitten with the impressive heart design and am already hatching plans for Valentines… 

Height was another key statement, with exhibitors playing with varying heights in their displays, creating a pleasing balance to the eye.  Walking into the church area with all Natallia Skalova’s suspended designs was breath-taking, accentuated by the birdsong playing in the background which really made it feel at one with nature. We were also blown away by Natalia Zizko’s Carousel design – hands up if you’d like the tree in your back garden decorated in way that harks back to childhood – me please!!

Highlight piece for me has to be Tom De Houwer’s arrangement using moss and peas.  His use of mangetout was just amazing; I would never have thought of using such a humble vegetable in that way, but boy does this work.  Mark and Kate had to pull me away from that one, I was hooked!

These events are all about the exciting inspiration.  Apart from being jaw-dropping, it’s often not about the whole design, but the techniques, experiments and trends that can be taken away and interpreted into your own style.  I will certainly share some of my creations as they begin to take shape.

The whole trip was wonderful.  We arrived early so had an afternoon exploring The Royal Museum of Fine Arts and then headed to see some of the sights. The architecture is gorgeous and magnificent in Brussels. We had an early night (just a couple of cocktails ??) so that we could see as much as possible at Fleuramour the next day, even getting up early to visit Maison A.Niguet, a florist shop in the city centre which has been on my bucket list for years! A magical shop owned and renovated by world-renowned Daniel Ost, it did not disappoint. The art nouveau exterior was breath-taking! We were like kids meeting their idol and even took selfies outside it…geeks!!

In the meantime, if you’re looking for something a bit different or with an incredible wow-factor for your next party, wedding or event, give me a shout – am itching to impress with my new ideas!

Getting inspired at Fleuramour