RHS Bridgewater Gardens in Manchester hosted the Interflora Florist of the Year 2022 semi-finals on the 24th April. The ten professional florists who made it through the photographic round, which took place earlier in the year, had to complete three designs altogether and score in the top 5 to go through to the finals.
Schedule One: Wired bridal design
The competitors all had the chance to design and make this piece at their leisure and the ready made designs really allow the florist to shine. They all had to bring this finished piece to the venue on 23rd April and stage their design ready for marking within a three hour time window. At this point the competition really began and the judges started their marking whilst the competitors left for the evening to try and get a good nights sleep!
Schedule Two: Hand tied design
On the morning on the 24th April the competitors gathered for their briefing and then went to their individual booths to begin their second challenge. This schedule was given to the competitors previously and they were allowed to make a framework of their choice in their own time, they also had to choose the container to display it in and the flowers they were going to use. Once the clock started the 10 florists set about preparing their stems carefully and constructing their hand tied designs in and around their pre made structures. This is a different environment than the first task given that they can not only see other competitors working but they can be seen by the visitors to the RHS Bridgewater gardens who were very interested in seeing these creative floral designs. To handle this is a skill in itself, never mind the floristry! After their time was up the competitors went for a well deserved lunch break and the judges started their marking.
Schedule Three: The surprise item
In the Afternoon the competitors returned for their final challenge. The surprise item was to create a design in a medium to be placed in a community wellbeing garden. All the flowers and sundries were supplied and the competitor only sees the schedule and materials 15 minutes before the start of the task. On these tasks the designers have to think on their feet. They have to marry imaginative design and colour selections with exquisite composition and technical skills. As you can imagine they did not disappoint, all coming up with different designs and displays
The Five designers going though to finals at RHS Bridgewater in July are
We wish them the best of luck and we cant wait for the exciting designs to come! The winner of the finals in July will represent the UK in the Interflora World Cup in 2023, which will see international designers from many countries come to the UK to compete for the title.
Make a note to visit both the Interflora Florist of the Year finals (July 3rd 2022) and the Interflora World Cup (September 2023) as these designers will inspire and wow you with creativity.
Thanks to all of the below organisations for a fantastic competition for the floristry industry
Competition: Interflora UK Florist of the Year 2022: Semi Finals
Host: RHS Bridgewater Gardens, Manchester
Sponsor: FleuraMetz UK
Judges: UK Floristry Judges Guild
