Chichester Cathedral Festival of Flowers 2018
- 31st May 2018
To be asked to take part in this incredibly prestigious flower festival really was a dream come true.
I was allocated a design entitled Fascinating Orchids paying homage to brothers William and Thomas Lobb who were plant hunters extraordinaire. They were tasked by Veitch Nurseries of Exeter to bring back as many exotic species they could lay their hands on; orchids amongst them.
My design was to be situated in the South Aisle, pillar 2, and I was allowed to have a team mate. Having worked with lovely Sue Clancy before, I asked if she would be happy to form 50% of my team. So happy when she agreed!
After months of planning, we had to submit our drawing to the design team, lead by chief designer Jose Morum-Pound, and were over the moon just before Christmas when we learnt that it was accepted.
The trickiest part came when we were told that the orchid prices could not be given to us as they fluctuate so much; filling in an order form on that basis is rather peculiar. This of course meant we could not even attempt a mock up as we simply had no idea what we would get on the day. Luckily, neither of us were phased by this fact!
Come late May Bank Holiday Monday, we rocked up at the cathedral to find buckets of exotic foliage as well as a medley of glorious orchids including Vanda, Phalaenopsis, bamboo orchids and Cattleya.
We soon got stuck in; having ancient walls and pillars to contend with, which you cannot secure things to, Sue's husband, Philip, had prepared a shelving unit with a grid so that we could dress our design that way. After eight hours of solid work on the Monday we were happy with our progress and after another six hours on Tuesday 29 May (which incidentally was my 36th wedding anniversary too), ably assisted by my husband, John, we were able to stand back and take in our completed design.
We were seriously exhausted but very happy with the finished result!
Having festival patron Emma Bridgewater pop along and take a look at things just before the doors flung open for the visitors, was an added bonus!