Oxford residents gathered Saturday outside of the University of Mississippi Museum to craft their own bouquets in a workshop with Farmstead Florals.
The workshop was led by Katherine Webb, owner of Farmstead Florals. Webb’s Oxford company grows its own flowers and specializes in arrangements for weddings, special events and individual orders.
“I love the fact that everybody starts off with the same materials, but everyone makes a completely different arrangement,” Webb said
Webb demonstrated her knowledge to the attendees by guiding them through the process of creating a floral arrangement. Webb said that before becoming a florist herself, she took similar classes to the ones she hosts.
“I thought it was really neat to see flowers through somebody else’s eyes and figure out how they like to curate it,” Webb said.
After Webb gave an example, the attendees were left to make custom arrangements from a selection of flowers and greenery.
“Everybody gets to show a little bit of their personality through (floral arrangements),” Webb said.
Sarah Hollis, an Oxford resident, said her favorite part of the workshop was being able to make the arrangements herself.
“I’ve always enjoyed getting flowers from the farmers’ market, but I wanted to be able to do it myself,” Hollis said.
All of the attendees were able to take home their own bouquets.
Lauren Gay, a third-year law student, came to the event with a classmate, Merrill Ann Culverhouse, a first-year law student. Gay said the event was a great bonding opportunity as well as a much-needed de-stressor from the workload of school.
“So, here we are just doing this to bond and to remind us to appreciate the little things and not get so stressed out,” Gay said. “This is just a symbol of self-care.”
The event was hosted by the UM Museum. Campbell Sandlin, the marketing and communications coordinator of the museum, said that this workshop was an opportunity to show that there are many important forms of art, including floral design.
“Anything can be a form of art,” Sandlin said. “We’re trying to reach more ways that people can get involved in the arts, not just your traditional painting and visual arts.”
Floral design workshops give attendees the opportunity to engage in the arts, bond with their peers and create their own arrangements unique to themselves.
“Personality, it really shines through your arranging, your style and what your eye is,” Webb said. “We’ll have 20 people today, and at the end of it, we’ll have 20 different-looking arrangements.”
