Discover the creativity and community behind floral art with national demonstrator and Wanstead House manager Kathryn Stangaard, who will be presenting to the Woodford and District Floral Arrangement Group this festive season
For over 20 years, I have been incredibly lucky to be a part of the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies (NAFAS). This has taken me to many places here and abroad as a national demonstrator, speaker, judge and teacher.
The world of floral art, which incorporates flower arranging and floristry, covers a huge range of art and craft techniques, environmental designs, period history and contemporary techniques from around the world. It is as diverse as the people involved.
In my time, I have arranged flowers at Westminster Abbey for both Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III, for services such as Armistice Day, Epiphany, RAF celebrations and Commonwealth Day. I have been involved with huge installations in Selfridges for Chelsea week and exhibited in some of the most prestigious venues in the country. Flower arranging really does get you into places you wouldn’t normally get to see!
Flower arranging is also know to be extremely therapeutic, relieving stress and anxiety, and is also very sociable. We run a class at Wanstead House Community Centre every Friday morning and this is a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours playing with flowers and socialising. Our class was recently involved with the flower festival at Christ Church for the Wanstead Festival and produced some fantastic exhibits around the theme of children’s books.
There are many different periods throughout the year when it’s a busy time with flowers for certain celebrations and holidays, but Christmas is usually one of the busiest. From swags, garlands and table centres to trees and door wreaths, it is the time when most people like to ‘have a go’ themselves, and you can always find classes and workshops locally.
Woodford and District Floral Arrangement Group meet on the third Monday of every month (except December and January), where we have different demonstrators each time who transform flowers and foliage before your eyes into wonderful designs that are then raffled off, so you could be lucky enough to go home with a beautiful arrangement.
This year, for our Christmas meeting, I will be demonstrating some of the latest ideas and techniques, but also showing you some traditional designs for your Christmas décor. So please do join us; all are welcome for fun and flowers, mince pies and a glass of something festive!
The Woodford and District Floral Arrangement Group Christmas event will take place at Wanstead Library on 17 November from 7.30pm (visitors: £9). For more information call 020 8508 9765
For more information on classes at Wanstead House, call 020 8989 3693
