Shilpa Reddy Flower Design

I made a bouquet you can wear! 🌸

We’ve been getting more requests for these statement ring bouquets for weddings, and lots of you have asked how I make them.

I attached a wire cutlery holder — which already gives me the cage — to a metal ring (macrame rings are good for this), then packed it with moss for structure.
Then I added my flowers (most of which are in water tubes).

No cage? No stress.
You can make one with garden chicken wire too.

🌷 I’ve used rudbeckia because I love them and they’re flowering in my garden, but for this style I’d recommend waxier, longer-lasting flowers for any cut heads.
Cymbidium or Vanda orchids are great options.
A tiny dab of floral glue over the cut end of the stem can also help reduce moisture loss.

In other news! If you’re joining me on Instagram LIVE next Wednesday (19th Aug) at 7pm UK time, it’ll be a 20–25 minute creative session where we make a simple yet beautiful table centrepiece together 🌸

Shopping list for next week’s LIVE make:

• Small amount Chicken wire (25mm holes, not the larger mesh)
• Sticky tape eg Gorilla tape
• Scissors
• Small bowl-shaped vase or simple bowl
• 15–20 stems of mixed flowers

If learning little techniques like these makes you want to create more with flowers yourself, comment “FLOWERS” below and we’ll help you get started.
We’d love to see you at our Flower School one day! 🌸

I built a beach on my dining table… 🌊

Everyone’s been talking about The Odyssey, so I couldn’t resist creating my own floral interpretation.
From a sandy shoreline and ancient statues to a mirror that creates the illusion of a hidden lake, this might be one of my favourite Impossible Tablescapes yet.

✨ and, drumroll…. ✨Big announcement✨… we’re going live on Instagram next week!

So many of you have told me you’d love to come to our Flower School but live too far away, so we’re bringing a little bit of Flower School to you.

Join me live on Instagram with whatever flowers you have, and we’ll spend an hour creating a beautiful bouquet together.
It doesn’t matter whether they’re flowers from your garden, the supermarket or your local florist—we’ll work with whatever you’ve got.

🌸 Flower School Live

📅 Wednesday 12th August
🇬🇧 7:00pm UK
🇺🇸 2:00pm East Coast
🇺🇸 11:00am West Coast

Shopping list:
🌿 15–20 stems of flowers, foliage or branches (they don’t need to match!)
🧵 String or twine to tie your bouquet
📦 Brown paper or wrapping paper if you’d like to wrap it at the end

The most important thing is simply coming along and enjoying an hour of creativity together.
I can’t wait to create with our flower family from all over the world! 🌸❤️🌍

FloralTutorial

The secret ingredient? Fresh grapevine with baby grapes. 🍇

I’ve been working with grapevine and a fruity palette with our Career Course students this week…

I add the grapevine just before the ceremony so it looks beautifully fresh, while the rest of the bouquet can be prepared the night before and stored in a hydration chamber.

You’ll notice I prepare some orchids with false stems at the start of the tutorial.
These are used in the top section of the bouquet, while the wired orchids on a garland create the flowing cascade below.

🌿 Pro tips

• Attach the bouquet handle to a plinth or the back of a chair while you work so you can see the cascade from the front and perfect the shape as you build it.

• Add floral glue to the back of each orchid where it meets the garland for extra security.

• You can also wire orchids directly onto the grapevine for an even more natural-looking cascade.

If you’d love to learn techniques like these and create floral designs like this yourself, comment “FLOWERS” below and we’ll help you get started. We’d love to welcome you to our little corner of the flower world. 🌸

The calla lily hack I still use… 🤍

When I first got into floristry, I loved discovering all the little tricks that made flowers behave in ways I never thought they could.
Peeling a calla lily stem to create these beautiful, bendy curves was one of my favourites, and I still use it today — especially for modern bridal bouquets like this one.

I’ve also used campanula here.
Wiring the heads onto bear grass so the tiny flowers almost look as though they’re floating and sealing the cut ends with wax — a traditional floristry technique that helps reduce moisture loss when tiny blooms are used out of water.

🌿 Pro tips

• Peel your calla lily to create flexible curves.
• Wire delicate flowers onto fine wire or grass for a floating effect.
• Vary the length of each stem to create a natural cascade. If you need, extend the stem length with floristry wire and cover with floral tape.

If you’d love to bring a little more floral magic into your life, comment “FLOWERS” below and we’ll help you get started.
We hope to see you at our Flower School one day! 🌸

I put a fountain on my dining table! 💦

I’ve always loved putting things where they don’t belong. A pond on a dining table. A garden growing through the middle of it…

This time, I wanted to see if I could turn an ordinary dining table into a real lawn, complete with a working garden fountain.

My clients come to me because they want something their guests have never seen before, and that’s my favourite part of designing—taking something ordinary and giving it an unexpected twist.

🌿 Pro tips

• 🌱 Leave enough space for your plates and glassware. Our studio tables are quite narrow! but a standard dining table gives you much more room and you don’t need to take your flowers right to the edge like I have.

• 💧 Use a watertight vessel large enough to catch the fountain water. I used a fruit bowl painted to match my flowers.

• 🔨 Don’t nail directly into your table! I covered mine with wood fibre insulation board, but any softwood board will work.

If you liked this video, comment “FLOWERS” below and I’ll send you more of my favourite floral tutorials, tips and tricks. Hopefully we’ll even see you at our Flower School one day. 🌸

I brought a secret garden indoors… 🌿

Our Flower School students have been creating large-scale tablescapes this week, so naturally I couldn’t resist making one of my own.

This time, I wanted the table to become a secret garden. A central tree, layers of moss, wildflowers, alliums, sunflower heads and candlelight transformed an ordinary dining table into a place I’d happily sit all evening.

Inspiration for the sunflower candle from the wonderful . 🌻

If this inspires you to create your own version, I’d absolutely love to see it—send us a photo! 💚

🌿 Pro tips

• 🕯️ Use glass candle covers near flowers & foliage

• 💧 Hidden water source tied to a table leg for larger branches

• 🍃 Cling film or card over the table gap before adding moss

Comment “FLOWERS” below and I’ll send you more of my favourite floral tutorials, tips and tricks.
Hopefully we’ll even see you at our Flower School one day. 🌸

Every wedding or event takes a team. 💚

These are the people behind the early mornings, the heavy lifting, the problem-solving, the last-minute fixes, the laughter and, of course, the flowers.

I couldn’t ask for a kinder, harder-working group to spend wedding mornings with, and I’m so grateful to have them by my side.

So, meet the team. 🌸

I love making fluffy bouquets without greenery… but keeping everything in place can be tricky. 🌿

One of my favourite tricks is to use an anchor bloom.

Hydrangeas work brilliantly, but while it’s in season, I often use smoke bush instead.
It supports the rest of the flowers beautifully and creates a lovely light, airy bouquet.

Pro tips:
🌷 Use one anchor bloom to support the rest of your flowers.

🌷 Thread each stem through your anchor bloom on a diagonal.

🌷 Keep every stem crossing where you’re holding the bouquet.

🌷 If you need to adjust a flower, twist it into place rather than pulling it.

As promised, here’s the recipe for this bouquet:

• 3 stems of smoke bush (or use hydrangea instead)
• 10 purple coneflowers (Echinacea)
• 2 foxtail lilies (Eremurus)
• 2 Queen Anne’s lace
• 2 green anthuriums

If you use this technique, I’d love your creation—send us a photo! 💚

Comment “FLOWERS” below and I’ll send you more of my favourite bouquet tutorials, tips and tricks. Hopefully we’ll even see you at our lovely London flower school one day. 🌸

Sometimes a vase of flowers just isn’t enough… ✨

So this week I decided to turn the middle of my dining table into an indoor pond. Why not?!

I have to admit… the new season of House of the Dragon definitely gave me the nudge. I’m a glutton for mist and candlelight! 🐉

The best part is that you don’t need a custom-built table to create the illusion. I made it using a few simple materials, then let the flowers do the rest.

If you’re planning a dinner party, birthday or just fancy making an ordinary evening feel a little more special, I hope this gives you an idea to play with. 🪄

Pro tips:
🕯️Be careful with candles! If they’re near flowers use battery operated or glass candle covers.
🌾Bundle grasses together with elastic so they’ll stay put on your flower pin frog.

Comment FLOWERS below if you’d like more ideas to make everyday flowers feel a little more magical. We’d love to have you in our little corner of the flower world. 🌸

Flowers keep flopping over? 🌸

This week, our lovely students have been exploring different ways to support flowers while keeping everything in water.

For this design, we bundled gerbera stems together to create support inside the vase.

Pro tips!
✨Make sure any flowers you’ve added using cocktail sticks still have the base of their stems sitting below the water line
(and it’s 2 cocktail sticks per gerbera- they have wide stems!).

✨If you’re arranging flowers in a large vase, try turning a smaller vase upside down inside it first.
It fills some of the space, so you don’t need really long stems to reach the top of the vase.

Flower notes:
✨I’ve used Spider Gerbera (my fave!) for this arrangement.

If you’d like more little floristry tips and tricks like these, comment FLOWERS below. We’d love to share more of our world with you. 🌸

FloralInstallation