Flowers
November 4, 2011 10:08 AM Subscribe
How do I go about becoming a florist?
I am interested in becoming a florist. How have mefites here done this?? Do you go to school for it? Have a background in botany? I have a background in agriculture so I know a thing or two about plants but haven't arranged or anything. Should I take some lifelong learning classes to try my hand at it or just get a job at a shop and go from there?? Am I over romanticizing it?? I love blogs like this but know she has taken a while to build up her reputation and craft and I am a long way off from that. It just seems so beautiful and romantic but I know I am not seeing the hard work behind it. Can the florists in the house speak up? I need a reality check.
I am interested in becoming a florist. How have mefites here done this?? Do you go to school for it? Have a background in botany? I have a background in agriculture so I know a thing or two about plants but haven't arranged or anything. Should I take some lifelong learning classes to try my hand at it or just get a job at a shop and go from there?? Am I over romanticizing it?? I love blogs like this but know she has taken a while to build up her reputation and craft and I am a long way off from that. It just seems so beautiful and romantic but I know I am not seeing the hard work behind it. Can the florists in the house speak up? I need a reality check.
My gf is a floral designer, and my roommate has run several flower shops. You become a florist the same way you do just about anything else: Work in a shop, learn everything you can, take all the classes that are available.
One thing: You don't really say what you want to do. "Florist" generally refers to a flower shop proprietor. Such a person may or may not do much of anything dealing with flowers other than accounting and managing. Some are more "events managers" than florists, depending on where they've chosen to specialize.
Do you want to run a flower shop? Be a designer? At what level do you want to be involved in events? Just provide the flowers & vases, or additional stuff (like lattice-work at weddings)? What types of events do you want to cater to and specialize in?
There are a thousand questions to answer before you become a "florist." This is why you should start by working in a flower (or large event) shop and learn all you can at the outset.
posted by coolguymichael at 10:44 AM on November 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
One thing: You don't really say what you want to do. "Florist" generally refers to a flower shop proprietor. Such a person may or may not do much of anything dealing with flowers other than accounting and managing. Some are more "events managers" than florists, depending on where they've chosen to specialize.
Do you want to run a flower shop? Be a designer? At what level do you want to be involved in events? Just provide the flowers & vases, or additional stuff (like lattice-work at weddings)? What types of events do you want to cater to and specialize in?
There are a thousand questions to answer before you become a "florist." This is why you should start by working in a flower (or large event) shop and learn all you can at the outset.
posted by coolguymichael at 10:44 AM on November 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
If you're looking to become a Designer, then first apply at all your local Florists for a Floral Assistant position. Yes, at first you're doing the dirty work, cutting flowers, sweeping, making bows, taking orders, but the longer you work as a Floral Assistant the more leeway you get and before you know it you're standing alongside your boss at 5am on Feb. 14th cranking out a dozen red roses just like everyone else.
That being said, being a Florist isn't all it's cracked up to be, in my opinion. Yes, there is a lot of creativity that goes on behind the topiaries and wedding bouquets, but the majority of the time you're being directed by a customer to some godawful Teleflora design that goes inside of a mug with a smiley face on it.
So yeah, anyway, get a minimum wage job as a Floral Assistant, learn the ropes and go from there. I wouldn't even bother with classes, as you'll gain most of your experience working in the shop.
Good luck!
posted by _superconductor at 12:36 PM on November 4, 2011
That being said, being a Florist isn't all it's cracked up to be, in my opinion. Yes, there is a lot of creativity that goes on behind the topiaries and wedding bouquets, but the majority of the time you're being directed by a customer to some godawful Teleflora design that goes inside of a mug with a smiley face on it.
So yeah, anyway, get a minimum wage job as a Floral Assistant, learn the ropes and go from there. I wouldn't even bother with classes, as you'll gain most of your experience working in the shop.
Good luck!
posted by _superconductor at 12:36 PM on November 4, 2011
My mom took up being a florist after she retired.
She took a 2-year florist certificate course at a local community college. One of the great benefits of this was that it had coop workterms arranged by the school. She got a fair bit of exposure to shops that specialized in various things (big event caterers, high volume retail, etc...). She got hired by her last employer and now, after a couple of years, could easily be assistant manager, if that was what she wanted to do. He classmates also mostly had similar trajectories.
But, what everyone else said: education, minimum or just above for a few years, work your way up.
posted by bonehead at 12:55 PM on November 4, 2011
She took a 2-year florist certificate course at a local community college. One of the great benefits of this was that it had coop workterms arranged by the school. She got a fair bit of exposure to shops that specialized in various things (big event caterers, high volume retail, etc...). She got hired by her last employer and now, after a couple of years, could easily be assistant manager, if that was what she wanted to do. He classmates also mostly had similar trajectories.
But, what everyone else said: education, minimum or just above for a few years, work your way up.
posted by bonehead at 12:55 PM on November 4, 2011
It just seems so beautiful and romantic but I know I am not seeing the hard work behind it.
From mom's experience, you spend a lot of time standing when arranging. There's a fair bit of manual labour involved, slinging plants around, carrying trays, and so on. During her big days (Mothers' day, Valentines' day, HS prom nights), they spend days cranking out the simple $25 dollar arrangements that sell in the hundreds but have almost no creativity. Mom works part-time because, at 70 she isn't able to keep up with the rush and can't stand for longer periods anymore---bad knee.
On the other hand, mom's favourite things are weddings and funeral arrangements. Those are the florist's bread-and-butter during most of the year. Weddings have a lot of planning and can be very creative, while funerals are usually done in a huge rush, with only a day or two notice. There's a lot of creativity and discretion in both though.
posted by bonehead at 1:03 PM on November 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
From mom's experience, you spend a lot of time standing when arranging. There's a fair bit of manual labour involved, slinging plants around, carrying trays, and so on. During her big days (Mothers' day, Valentines' day, HS prom nights), they spend days cranking out the simple $25 dollar arrangements that sell in the hundreds but have almost no creativity. Mom works part-time because, at 70 she isn't able to keep up with the rush and can't stand for longer periods anymore---bad knee.
On the other hand, mom's favourite things are weddings and funeral arrangements. Those are the florist's bread-and-butter during most of the year. Weddings have a lot of planning and can be very creative, while funerals are usually done in a huge rush, with only a day or two notice. There's a lot of creativity and discretion in both though.
posted by bonehead at 1:03 PM on November 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I paid my way through college designing floral arrangements. I was hired with absolutely no experience and worked my way up to being a part-time designer. In my interview, I played up my artistic leanings and retail experience. Most florists are just looking for assistants with good people skills, as everything else just requires teaching and practice. I tried to take a floral design class at my local community college, but quickly found that their style (FTD-style arrangements) was not compatible with the flower shop at which I was employed, so I dropped the class.
It is a very physical job. I started off as a floral assistant, which meant stripping roses of thorns, unpacking boxes of glass vases, hammering branches, and getting doused with water and dirt on a regular basis. In the early days, I would come home with sore feet, raw and bloody hands, and leaves in my pockets and down my shirt (don't ever consider wearing something nice to work). My hands would also be sore when I graduated to making corsages and boutonnieres.
Additionally, holidays will not exist to you anymore. You typically can't have special plans for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas eve. Most holidays I was on my feet for about 12 hours (but we were a very small group). We worked extremely hard, but my boss was nice enough to always cover lunch and a case of beer. There are a few other random days where things get busy, such as Administrative Assistant's Day and prom season.
Customer service skills are key, and are almost more important than inherent artistic ability. Floral arrangements are subjective, and if someone orders something over the phone they are often unimpressed once they arrive and see the finished product. Sometimes this can end poorly (twice I've had women tell me my creation "looked like shit"), but most of the time you can work with the person and create something that they enjoy. I worked in a shop that catered to the extremely wealthy, so that had its own challenges. On the upside, I got to play with peonies and create $200 arrangements on the regular.
The last big challenge I can think of is that people purchase flowers for emotional reasons, and will often react illogically because of things that have nothing to do with the florist. Often times the job was akin to that of a therapist. I have held a grieving mother as she tried to order a casket piece for her daughter that had died of cancer. I have also created bouquets for gentlemen who were about to propose to the loves of their life. I guess what I am trying to say is: never take it personally if someone reacts to something you made with scorn or tears.
I could write so much more about being a florist, but do memail me if you have any questions. I'm not an active participant here, but I will try to check back.
posted by puellaeterna at 6:12 PM on November 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
It is a very physical job. I started off as a floral assistant, which meant stripping roses of thorns, unpacking boxes of glass vases, hammering branches, and getting doused with water and dirt on a regular basis. In the early days, I would come home with sore feet, raw and bloody hands, and leaves in my pockets and down my shirt (don't ever consider wearing something nice to work). My hands would also be sore when I graduated to making corsages and boutonnieres.
Additionally, holidays will not exist to you anymore. You typically can't have special plans for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas eve. Most holidays I was on my feet for about 12 hours (but we were a very small group). We worked extremely hard, but my boss was nice enough to always cover lunch and a case of beer. There are a few other random days where things get busy, such as Administrative Assistant's Day and prom season.
Customer service skills are key, and are almost more important than inherent artistic ability. Floral arrangements are subjective, and if someone orders something over the phone they are often unimpressed once they arrive and see the finished product. Sometimes this can end poorly (twice I've had women tell me my creation "looked like shit"), but most of the time you can work with the person and create something that they enjoy. I worked in a shop that catered to the extremely wealthy, so that had its own challenges. On the upside, I got to play with peonies and create $200 arrangements on the regular.
The last big challenge I can think of is that people purchase flowers for emotional reasons, and will often react illogically because of things that have nothing to do with the florist. Often times the job was akin to that of a therapist. I have held a grieving mother as she tried to order a casket piece for her daughter that had died of cancer. I have also created bouquets for gentlemen who were about to propose to the loves of their life. I guess what I am trying to say is: never take it personally if someone reacts to something you made with scorn or tears.
I could write so much more about being a florist, but do memail me if you have any questions. I'm not an active participant here, but I will try to check back.
posted by puellaeterna at 6:12 PM on November 4, 2011 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I've also spent some time around florists, since a friend of mine is related to one. There does seem to be a lot of hard work involved, but the most difficult aspects seem to be (again, secondhand knowledge here) those related directly to running a business: organising flower deliveries, accounting, paying employees, making sure those fragile flowers you ordered don't die in the box and you only find out the day you're supposed to be using them in a huge wedding (that actually happened, alas). I imagine this is true of all small businesses, but there's a very big difference between being someone else's employee and running your own business; you'd want to start with the former and then move on to the latter.
That's the limits of my knowledge on the subject, anyway. Hopefully someone with more experience can give you a more thorough answer!
posted by anaximander at 10:31 AM on November 4, 2011 [1 favorite]