Heartfelt words from our Floral Student: {Jenny LIE}

It’s no secret that I love flowers. It’s probably sufficiently clear in the cakes I create with edible flowers. I stumbled upon a floral retreat organised by Poppy Flower School in 2019, and signed up because I badly needed a personal retreat and I thought it would be fun to learn something new too.

Only upon arrival, did I realise I was amongst floral enthusiasts and advance learners. It was tempting to feel so small but these sweet ladies never once made me feel like a beginner. Everyone had such an open heart to sharing and learning.

We learnt to create table arrangements, art installations and hand bouquets with the most luxurious of flowers paired with an array of seemingly awkward but humble forest greens. The pairing, akin to wine and cheese, gave rise to a most tranquil medley of floral notes that seemed to dance in the wind. Foraging the Bali forest for foliage was also a new experience and opened my eyes to the natural beauty outside of the highly manicured environment we are accustomed to. Natural beauty isn’t always about perfection. It’s about embracing nature in all of its contrarian facets that brings about an ability to appreciate life more fully.

Sarah and I share common goals to the way we approach our craft – to always work with what we have, to embrace the beauty of nature and people, and to have the courage to be true to ourselves.

Thank you for allowing me to step in your floral dream with you and your amazing team. Mother Theresa once said, “We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.” I found what I most needed through the retreat – the beauty of silence, the scent of flowers, the artistry of floral inspirations, and the friendship of like-minded souls.