2023 Speaker Profile: AMY BALSTERS

Amy Balsters' mission is to demystify the art of designing an effortless, hand-tied, spiral bouquet -- something many have struggled with. She has taught more than 1,000 floral designers at her in-person workshops and tens of thousands of online students by reinterpreting classic floristry principles. Her approachable teaching style introduces students to mechanics, color theory, stem selection and bouquet composition with confidence. In her presentation for the Slow Flowers Summit, Amy will demonstrate how she designs loose and airy hand-tied bouquets in several interpretations -- and she will share simple steps from her Bouquet Bootcamp curriculum for you to put to use in your own floral enterprise.

After more than two decades as a floral designer, Amy Balsters, aka The Floral Coach©, has a wealth of knowledge and experience in retail floristry, weddings, and special events. With all that wisdom, it would be fair to assume the highly regarded DC-area-based teacher would have a quiver-full of courses on offer, but Amy is all about going deep into a subject area. “I don’t have 100 courses,” she says. Instead, she’s honed in on a handful of impactful design topics, with a specific focus on hand-tied bouquets.

She’s approached the creation of her signature whimsical “loose and airy” style with the flourish and design principles of an artist, the technical precision of an engineer, and the economic efficiency of a CFO. Her cornerstone course is Bouquet Bootcamp©, a comprehensive on-line design course and hands-on workshop series.