The Great Flower Design 2016 Grand Final Images by Fairclough Photography
The Images used in this post have all been taken by the very lovely Katie Fairclough of Fairclough Photography
~
The 2016 Great Flower Design Off Grand Final, had finally arrived and last Wednesday saw the most wonderful group of 'budding florists' come together at FD HQ to get creative.
We were lucky enough to have some fabulous Judges hailing from far and wide Hein a flower expert of 20 years flew in from Holland & my lovely Mum a florist for over 50 years was acting as head Judge a kind of cross between 'Mary Berry & Len Goodman'
~
Our Charity for 2016 is the very wonderful North West Children's Support Group they do wonderful work taking children from the North West with a whole range of disabilities on remarkable and memorable holidays'. If you'd like to make a donations please head across to our MyDonate Page
~
Each year we have a nominated charity that the FD Events Team support, running small events, demonstrations etc to raise funds for our community. So over the past month we have been holding heats to determine who we would have in the grand final. We used our Face Book Page, and asked the public to 'like' the images of the contestants they liked the very best the votes were added to the judges scores from the day to select the finalists.
~
We changed it round a bit for the Grand Finale with two winners, one voted on by the Judges alone and the other voted on by the public. There was a lot at stake
with a chance to win fresh flowers from Flower Design every month for a year and Dinner Bed & breakfast at one of the James Places Venues, plus a spectacular trophy from Peter Jackson the Jeweller.
~
We are so lucky to have a remarkable group of friends and work colleagues who have whole heartedly supported our efforts and actually made it possible to run The Great Flower Design Off, massive thanks to Team Flower Design Shirl, Vicky, Chloe & Claire, to Gary Mill's DJ for hosting the heats and final, to the super brilliant Roland from RT Productions and Wedding Films for filming each weeks action for us, Photographers Stella, James Jebson, Dan Wootton and Fairclough's , Darren Robinson Magician who has entertained our contestants in between challenges, Ribby Hall Village Weddings for supplying the tables and to our wonderful Dutch suppliers CJ Vianen for their sponsorship we truly couldn't have done it without you all.
~
The scene was set for our finalists, with flowers and tools laid out for the 'Technical Challenge' a floral headdress
The contestants started to arrive
Everyone seemed very relaxed...
Gary Mill's DJ welcomed everyone
The wonderful wedding singer Paul Guard told our contestants just how much their generosity is appreciated by the great folks at North West Children's Support Group
I demonstrated the fine art of headdress making
We then let the contestants loose on their flowers
The very lovely James Fairclough stepped up to the plate, we had a last minute cancellation and the lovely James agreed (or was he pushed who knows) to fill the void and an exceptional job he did too.Gary looked so pretty with his floral headdress
Rebecca had a great wiring technique
Natalie doing some beautiful work
Lovely Liz such an immaculate worker
Roland from RT Productions and Wedding Films looking lovely in his floral crownDarren was doing a marvellous job
Paul was surprisingly artistic
James was all about precision
Jenny & Carole were enjoying their work
Shannon's very neatly laid out wired blooms
Mairead & Sarah were working confidently
Next up the 'Showstopper' I demonstrated a tropical arrangement
Chloe & I demonstrated the plaiting of a palm a leaf
The contestants had 45 minutes to complete the task of making a tropical design showing some leaf skills...
Me and my lovely Mum aka 'Head Judge'
Elaine was a vision of concentration
Then the judging began in ernest...
Judging was a very serious business
Hein did a great job of judging he was very particular
The lovely Deborah with her final design
Elaine crowned with Roses and Orchids
Lovely Lily did a brilliant job
Paul Guard looking so lovely with his brilliant crown
Megan and her fabulous headdress
Jenny's beautiful crown
Carole's magnificent tropical design
Mairead's magnificent headdress
Suzanne bought her arrangement then gave it away and the recipient the very generous friend Liz made another donation on our MyDonate Page how brilliant is that
Our super duper photographer Katie
Bracken our lucky mascot
Whilst the judges were counting up the marks we got ready with the trophies from Peter Jackson the Jeweller
Son in Third Place with 776 points the very brilliant and lovely Charlotte Holmes
In second Place with 777 points the super sensational Sarah Pierce
In first Place with 779 Points the 2016 The Great Flower Design Off Judges Winner was Natalie McKay
With 330 Votes The Great Flower Design Off Public Choice Winner was the lovely Rebecca Law
Natalie McKay with her winning designs
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvpQz5Au11qi7KtynIvRDnDTmdXT0HvZb_f29MHq2yoUlgG06BIlExe3VeDSIfSP-1fmxTcgO_lS2n6i77-ehwiG_tN1Ow_PbPSBGjkjwNpCxXwhnEjbj4BW4QrDcs1Vb6X6gUCyq99is/s400/Flower+Design+Flower-Off+Final-70.jpg)
Sarah Pierce second place
Charlotte Holmes third place
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirJoLxMYSOL5zkSaRkemugQMFRjIqEoRjCpkXvvxR0qUUCGjKkBwrruNO5SI1b2UjEHiDvHXOb8cDEMfvyks1dJXOHvB5yjEr8N20E4eqUlOmtncIemZrWEgGEIGgA0wl4J1Qy9fyq6EY/s640/Flower+Design+Flower-Off+Final-154.jpg)