I’d been planning to sign up for a flower arranging class for some time now, but last month in LA all the stars aligned: my mother developed a sudden interest in florals, it was spring in California, and we had the opportunity to take a private mother-daughter class with celebrity florist Dokhi Mirmirani. Please pardon the iPhone photos in this post – my regular photographer wasn’t available to accompany me!
I attended with Mom’s BFF Mabel and her daughter Melissa.
The class was held at Dokhi’s Sherman Oaks store, Jasmine Blue, a veritable wonderland of exquisite antique furniture, paintings, plants and flowers.
Mom and I were immediately drawn to a huge display of orchids in a variety we hadn’t seen before. Dokhi overheard our oohs and ahhs. “They’re for Madonna,” she said candidly.
I took a step back. But not before taking a couple of photos.
Our class revolved around making arrangements in a shallow containers, but Dokhi customizes each session depending on the participants’ interests. Her last arrangement class was apparently devoted entirely to succulents!
Over glasses of wine, Dohki explained her cardinal rule of flower arranging: “There are no rules. Create something that makes you happy – do as you feel.” If that sounded bohemian, well, it was. Dohki is undoubtedly one of the loveliest free spirits I’ve met in my life, so it made perfect sense that her approach to arrangements was as relaxed as she was.
Once she’d finished her demo, we were told to help ourselves to the flowers in the cold room and get started on whatever kind of arrangement we pleased. Talk about feeling like kids in a candy store…
As we worked on our pieces, Dokhi walked around to give each of us pointers, gently helping us create something in our own style rather than trying to influence us with her own. Take it from a design-school grad: to have an accomplished professional show such genuine respect for an amateur’s creative flow is rare and incredibly humbling.
I wish I had more photos of our process, but I was so engrossed in my arrangement that the only shot I managed was of Mom, clearly deep in thought about what flowers to use next. I swear that’s water.
I did however take photos of everyone’s finished masterpieces! Here are the arrangements from my class…
…Mom’s…
and mine! Here’s the front…
…and the back. What do you think?
Though you can probably tell I wasn’t able to let go enough to achieve something truly organic, I did leave feeling completely uplifted and with an arrangement that I was pretty proud of.
Aside from private classes, Dokhi does bouquets and gift arrangements to order, home and store installations and wedding/event florals. To meet her is to adore her…if you’re ever in LA, stop by her store and you’ll see what I mean!
Jasmine Blue
13607 Ventura Canyon Ave
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
USA
http://www.jasmineblue.com
