Julie Whitfield gave up a high-flying career to become a florist – and, she tells Rachael Sugden she's never missed her old desk job

A mazingly, after a couple of hours, I had made something quite lovely – and I had a lovely time, too. I've always harboured a secret desire to be a florist, and after a few hours with Julie Whitfield I'm thinking about it again.

In the past, I've even Googled a few courses and spoken to an actual florist, who told me there'd be 3am starts and terrifying mothers-of-the-bride to deal with. So the idea has always remained on the back-burner.

Julie, however, tells me even those early mornings are bearable when you're knee-deep in buckets of delicate, vibrant, fragrant and inspiring flowers.

Originally from Poole, Dorset, Julie runs her couture floristry business, Floriture, from converted stables at her home in Horton, Gloucestershire.

"Until about six years ago, I was a partner at a graphic design company, sitting in front of my laptop all day and one afternoon I just thought 'I don't want to do this any more'," she says.

"I'd gone into graphic design after college to pay off my debts and was working for corporate clients, but the whole creative thing, for me, just wasn't there.

"My background is art – I did a ceramic design degree – and, years ago, I worked at a florist, so in a way it was like going back again."

Julie left the desk job and went back to college, completing a City and Guilds and a Btec, then worked for various florists and freelanced for six years. "I was just trying to get as much experience as I could, doing wedding flowers for friends, and friends of friends, trying to build up my portfolio," she says.

Now, she juggles two children under three, very early mornings, commissions from those troublesome mothers-of-the-bride – and loves every minute.

We meet at her latest venture, a flower school in Chipping Sodbury, where Julie hopes to pass on her enthusiasm and passion for floristry. Above the Hamptons Deli on the High Street, the space has whitewashed stone walls, exposed beams and long black workbenches with chrome barstools. And there are lots of beautiful flowers. You can't help but smile.

"I don't think I'd like to work in a shop," she says. "I love the one-to-one consultations I can have working this way; that personal touch. In a shop, you're tying a bouquet with one hand while you're on the phone with the other, and then someone comes in wanting a wedding consultation – it's all a bit much," she laughs.

"I have a lot of brides coming down to the West Country from London, particularly to the Cotswolds, to get married," she says.

"We do a lot at the Great Tythe Barn in Tetbury. The Cotswolds has a real pull for brides, which is great for me.

"This also means there's a long lead time – I might see them for the first time six to nine months before the day which, I think, will give me plenty of time to run the flower school as well." Julie and her "right-hand woman" Debbie Vincent-Silk, kit the course-goers with black aprons, scissors and snippers, and set about showing a group of novices how to create a bouquet that would normally set them back about £60. I have my doubts.

While she shows us how to load the flowers (tulips, roses and bits of shrubbery) into a bouquet shape, Julie passes on umpteen tips about the task in hand and enthrals on the joys of her work.

"We do get some amazing commissions," she says. "I once worked on an incredible three-day wedding – the couple got married three times. First was the civil ceremony, then there was a Jewish ceremony on the Saturday, then a church wedding for over 300 people. A team of 10-15 people have to work on weddings like that.

"One of the craziest weddings I've ever done was for a couple who run a dog hotel called Paw Seasons. The bride just said she wanted something incredible, told me 'these are the flowers I like and the colours I like, just do something amazing' and left me to it.

"We put dog biscuits in huge, clear tall vases and everything was cerise pink and red – wonderful, bright clashing colours. We had huge model dogs decked out in giant flower collars and a boxer dog (not a real one!) sprayed cerise pink. The couple were so pleased. When they walked in after the wedding they were over the moon. But I don't think I'll ever get a wedding like that again."

With so many different brides and party hosts to cater for, Julie's creativity is now fully embraced. She says: "I'm doing an edgy vintage one in April with loads of birdcages. That will be great fun as there's going to be a darker, black side to it. I do, of course, also do a lot of traditional cream and green weddings, too, but it is fun to get imaginative sometimes."

By now everyone has made a bouquet that happily stands up by itself on the counter (showing a college student's competence, apparently). Then we're shown how to wrap it in cellophane filled with water, then more cellophane, tissue and ribbon.

It's harder than it looks. Pouring water down the central stem and aiming for the bowl of cellophane tied beneath, holding the bouquet in one hand and a jug of water in the other, is obviously going to lead to spillages.

So surely there are some downsides to the job? Does she ever yearn for the old desk, I ask? "Sometimes I get the mother-of-the-bride from hell, who's really difficult to deal with," she says.

"Sometimes, when I'm getting up at 4am and it's dark and the middle of the night and I'm off to the market, I do wonder what I'm doing.

"But then when I'm working with the brides and dealing with the flowers it's such an adrenaline rush I remember why I love it so much."

Julie's students leave with beaming smiles. Each is clutching beautiful, professional- looking magenta blooms in glamorous black box bags. I can see why Julie loves her job so much. Maybe she's on to something after all.

For more information about Floriture and the flower school, call 07849 195874 or visit www.floriture.com