Les filles d'à côté: the florist where you can learn to create your own bouquet of flowers in DIY workshops

Tired of waiting for someone to give you flowers? Rather than buying your own bouquet, why not learn how to compose one for yourself and your loved ones? In the 11th arrondissement of Paris, Maud and Camille have left the world of communications to get closer to nature, by opening their florist boutique, Les filles d'à côté.

It's a very colorful space, with shimmering flowers and a rainbow decoration covering the ceiling, giving the place a very feel-good feel, not forgetting the little sofa and the little infusions.

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The storefront was already an eye-catcher, with its vintage bicycle, basket of dried flowers by the door and racks of various plants. As you enter, French seasonal flowers greet you on their pedestals, ready to be chosen for your future bouquets. But you can also buy dried flowers, a whole range of colorful vases, pots, plants and gardening accessories, cloches and ready-made dried flower bouquets.

But we're not here to admire the store, we're here for a workshop! The girls offer six of them, with the possibility of creating a terrarium, a bouquet, a cloche or a crown of dried flowers, learning how to repot or even living in the shoes of a florist for a day.

For our part, we opted for the bouquet of fresh flowers, at 62 euros. To begin, Camille explained to our little group of three, with the flowers in front of her, how the session would unfold, step by step, as well as the provenance of the flowers, as local as possible.

Then off to the front of the store, to choose our flowers and colors. We need no more than two main colors, plus the green of the stems. I opt for blue and purple, with hints of pink, having first fallen for a very specific flower, the Kennedy, then for dahlia, a garden rose, aster, ferns and astilbe.

My companions of the day chose sunflowers and orange tones, with chamomile, wax and santini. While there are a few rules to follow in floral art, Camille tells us that feeling is very important and that we should let our desires speak for themselves!

First of all, with our flowers carefully laid out in front of us on the work surface, we need to clean the stems and remove the leaves to prevent them from falling into the water later. Next, we cut off several stems to distribute the flowers more effectively in the bouquet, before starting the composition by taking the flower with the oddest shape and squeezing it precisely in one hand.

We carefully reproduce the gestures of our teacher for the day, who, thanks to a small group, can come and help us if we have any questions, while we chat warmly. Don't worry, all you need is a little inspiration, and even if you don't have a green thumb, you'll manage to create your bouquet just fine.

We choose a direction in which to position our next flower, from which we must never deviate during creation so that the tendril is always in the same direction. Depending on whether or not you want a rustic effect, you can change the height of your flowers, which also prevents the bouquet from being too symmetrical. In general, your bouquet will have a prettier side, the one you'll show off in your living room, but it's possible that its beauty will be uniform!

The next step is to tie the bouquet with raffia and tighten it to prevent it from falling over! Now it's down to the stems, which we cut to match our vase, with just one third of the stem. We choose one on the spot, hesitating for a long time between the pretzel-shaped vase and a designer one, which we prefer for its practicality.

We bevel our little stems so that the flower can better drink the water and we even out the whole, beforelearning how to pack our bouquet to transport it in the Paris metro. It needs to be well protected! We choose our paper color, before practicing the mountain technique, humorously demonstrated by Camille, and going home with the pleasure of having learned something new and of observing this know-how at home for a few days (and the flowers hold up over time, we can assure you!).

A workshop that makes you want to become a florist overnight! On the downside, the price is a little high, although it's justified by the useful learning of a part of the trade that you'd never imagine when you come to buy your bouquet, and by the quality of the flowers.

This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please let us know.