BYU floral design professor Brianna Wells teaches floral arrangement lessons inside and outside the classroom. She offers hands-on opportunities during in-class labs and on her flower farm, where students can learn practical skills in a real-world setting.
BYU student Emma Robison said she had a positive experience in the floral design class. Robison found the class to be fun and informative, with the opportunity to make different arrangements every week. Robison also said she appreciated how Wells could incorporate her business knowledge for her floral business into the class.
Wells raises her flowers and plants in Farmington, Utah, for use in arrangements both in class and in her business. Through her business, Artisanal Blooms, she offers public and private arranging classes where attendees can pick flowers straight from the farm. She also offers subscription bouquets and other requested arrangements.
Wells noted that growing her supply locally allows her to control the quality of her materials and offer unique, seasonal arrangements that are not available elsewhere. Due to the seasonal weather patterns of Utah, Wells’s flowers blossom at the beginning of fall, which is when her classes and arrangements are available through her farm.
Floral Design is offered during both fall and winter semesters at BYU. Wells supplies the majority of the flowers from her farm for the fall semesters. In winter semesters, flowers come from Ecuador, Columbia and California Wells said.
BYU student Ashton Smith shared that his favorite lab was making an oriental designed arrangement that he described as “almost like making a little forest scene with open areas and taller flowers.”
Wells said she leaves room for creativity and personality in the labs by providing an assortment of unique and traditional flowers in many colors, while also sharing a variety of techniques and tools to achieve any desired outcome. The same approach is used in the classes taught at Artisanal Blooms.
Although Robison did not have the chance to visit the farm, she enjoyed seeing photos of the materials grown there and appreciated the use of locally-sourced materials in the class. She also said the class was more challenging than she anticipated, with memorization and exams, but that it ultimately helped her to develop new skills and knowledge in floral design.
“You’re gonna learn design skills, but then you’re gonna learn the whole history of floral design and the best mechanics to create things,” Wells said. “I think the students end up identifying, I don’t know, maybe 100, maybe less than 100 flowers, by the time they’re done with the class.”
Despite her busy schedule, Wells said she also prioritizes her family, making sure she has enough time to spend with her loved ones. She said it can be challenging to balance all of these responsibilities, but with hard work and dedication, it is possible to succeed in multiple areas of life.
