Some 200 florists attended the floral art demonstration for weddings organised by Mercabarna-flor, the Wholesale Business Association (AEM) and the Rosa Valls-formación school on 20 February. The occasion warranted the turnout, because you don’t get to see a demonstration by such an exceptional artist as the current European floral art champion, Natalia Zhizhko, every day.

Over three hours, Ms Zhizhko, along with her colleague Pavel Chernyak, prepared a great variety of flower arrangements for weddings, including adornments for decorating large spaces, table centrepieces, and special little touches for bridegrooms and gifts for guests, etc.

Originality and technique were the key features of the arrangements that included natural elements such as sprigs, branches, bark and leaves along with the flowers, and colour ranges dominated by whites, greens and yellow tones.

The surprise of the day came at the end of the demonstration, when Ms Zhizhko decorated a ‘wedding tree’, a typical feature of Russian marriage ceremonies which is a sign of good luck for the newlyweds.

3rd Bridal Bouquet Competition
Following the success of the two previous competitions, Mercabarna-flor and the AEM again organised a Bridal Bouquet Competition, an event that is consolidating a position among florists as a good chance to showcase their skills and groundbreaking ideas when making such a traditional element as a bridal bouquet.

A total of 34 works competed in singularity, originality and quality. The jury, comprising a representative of the AEM, a member of the Florists’ Guild of Catalonia and an independent professional, gave the Prize for the Best Bouquet to the florist María Miras.

The prize for the Most Original Bouquet was won by Mia Parramon, while Cristian Montero picked up the Public’s Prize. All the winners received gift cheques to buy products at Mercabarna-flor companies.

FLOWER PHOTO 1. Caption:
FLOWER PHOTOS 2, 3 and 4 Caption: (left to right) the prizewinning entries for Best Bouquet, Most Original Bouquet and the Public’s Prize