Who better to teach us the tricks of the trade than Nikki Tibbles, founder of Wild at Heart? We paid a visit to the celebrated florist’s boutique and newly opened lifestyle emporium in Mayfair, London to watch her transform four vases into living, breathing artworks.

Flower arranging for Venini's Fazzoletto vase

For a dazzling display

Vase: Venini’s Fazzoletto hand-blown Murano glass vase

“When you have a beautiful vase, show it off and make it the hero as if the flowers have chosen it. For a beautiful blue and yellow vase like this, I like flowers that are unexpected – like poppies or gorgeous lilacs. When you’re arranging a vase like this, you can do a hand-tied arrangement that sits in the vase or use a flower frog, so that when you put your flowers in the vase everything stays where it is meant to stay.”

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For tip-top tablescaping

Bud vases: Micheluzzi Glass Rullo Miele hand-blown Murano glass vase, Andrew Iannazzi Tendril hand-blown glass bud vase, Venini Monofiore Balloton Murano glass bud vase, Lobmeyr Gold Lustre Patrician vase

“It’s nice to have a series of different bud vases, with different shapes and styles in the same tone. If you have all the same style of bud vase, you can keep the flowers different, but when the vases are different, keep to one type of flower – otherwise it can start to look messy. The first thing is to think about how they are arranged on the table. If they’re going to be in the centre of the table, make sure they’re not too high so you can see the person opposite. When you have beautifully little bud vases, don’t overfill them, so that you can still see the shape of the vase. For these, five stems are enough. When you put them all together using a flower frog, they look like one big flower.”
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“Enjoy the unexpected; floristry has changed and doesn’t need to be perfect, that’s the beauty of it.”

Nikki Tibbles

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For an artistic centrepiece

Vase: Carl Auböck’s brass double swinging vase

“A structured and contemporary vase needs the flowers to work with it. It should be very simple, because there’s already a lot going on. I would suggest one type of flower on one side and a branch on the other so that it’s like a Japanese Ikebana style. For a gold vase like this, rich tones of oranges and reds work well. But don’t overcomplicate it, because it’s always a piece in itself.”
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For a spontaneous array

Vase: Yali Glass’ Fiori Murano glass vase

“When a vase has height, the challenge is the quantity of flowers you need to make it look full, as it needs volume and generosity. You can either make it full and wild with lots of different flowers, or take something that’s much more achievable like seasonal branches of magnolia, cherry blossom or green leaves from the garden to keep it magically simple. Something like lichen or pine looks great in a vase of this scale.”

The Wild at Heart Townhouse in Mayfair will host workshops throughout the year: from flower arranging to candle-making, calligraphy classes and flower painting. It is also dog friendly. 1 Weighhouse Street, London W1K 5HJ

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