About the school

About Floral Workshop Lab:
a working studio that teaches

We are a small Adelaide studio that still takes real orders every week. The school grew out of it in 2019, and the rule has not changed since: whatever we teach, we have to be able to sell ourselves first.

See course prices Visit the studio

Founded2019, Adelaide
Graduates640+
Studio orders a week~40
Teachers on the floor4

"A florist who cannot cost a stem is a hobbyist with secateurs."
Mara Okafor, founder, usually said while invoicing

The quote is taped above the conditioning bench. Students think it is a joke until their week-three costing sheet.

How the studio became a school

Mara spent six years as an architect before switching to flowers in 2017. The studio on Gouger Street paid its own rent within a year, mostly on corporate contracts and a stubborn habit of writing down what every stem cost.

Friends kept asking to watch her work. In 2019 she ran the first eight-week course for six people at the same bench we use now. Three of them still run studios. The method has not drifted much since: hands first, colour second, business always.

Buy local first
Hills growers and market stalls before imports. Fresher stock, better margins, fewer excuses.
No foam, no shortcuts
Chicken wire and kenzan take ten minutes longer and compost. We dropped floral foam in 2023.
Every piece gets photographed
If you cannot show it, you cannot sell it. The cyclorama corner is part of the curriculum, not a bonus.

Our team

Four working florists, zero full-time lecturers

Everyone who teaches here takes commercial orders during the week. It keeps the advice honest.

Come meet us on an open day

Mara Okafor

Founder · bridal & events

Ex-architect. Teaches spiral, costing and the bridal module. Two Fleurieu wedding awards.

Sam Reyes

Set design · editorial

Shoots for local fashion brands. Runs the installation weeks and the photo corner.

June Park

Ikebana · sculpture

Sogetsu-certified. Teaches the quiet weeks: line, space and restraint.

Dan Kowalski

Business · logistics

Ran the studio's contracts for five years. Owns the pricing clinic and wholesale trip.

Studio work & projects

Projects we shipped this year

A sample of the commercial work the studio floor produces between classes. Students see the briefs behind most of these.

Learn event installs

Botanical set design for a local jewellery campaign shoot

Jewellery campaign, set designFeb 2026

Weekly subscription arrangements for a Grenfell Street office lobby

Office subscription, ongoingWeekly

Research shelf of dried botanicals used for the preservation module

Preservation research shelfOngoing

Suspended meadow installation over a restaurant pass for a private dinner

Restaurant suspended meadowSep 2026

Graduate story

"I was a conveyancer for nine years. Eight Saturdays later I had a corner stand in a Norwood deli and a waiting list."
Priya Nair, March 2025 cohort, now runs Stem & Co.

The project in numbers

Starting budgetAU$3,200
Average orderAU$68
Months to break even4
Signature styleDusty monochrome wraps

Priya in her apron at the Stem and Co corner stand

Inside the Norwood deli flower corner Priya runs

Priya's corner, six months after the course

Tap for sound · 4:32

Unscripted voices

Graduates on camera, no editing tricks

Shot at certificate evenings and in their own shops. They picked the questions.

Tom, 34 · Adelaide

Eleni, 29 · Glenelg

Marcus, 41 · Norwood

Soo, 26 · Prospect

Independent review average 4.9 / 5.0

Credentials

What the certificate is worth

Graduates receive a printed diploma on cotton paper plus a digital copy with an English-language appendix listing hours, modules and assessed work. Partner studios check it against our register in one email.