Two young West Sussex florists who first experienced Chichester Cathedral’s Festival of Flowers as students are returning in 2026 as professional designers, creating a bold large-scale installation for the Festival’s 30th anniversary year.
Nancy Hersey and Lauren Dendy, both former Plumpton College students, first worked together at the 2024 Festival while still studying floristry. Now pursuing careers in the industry, the pair will return this June to unveil an ambitious sustainable floral installation inspired by this year’s theme, Nature’s Embrace.
At the centre of their design will be a life-size mannequin dressed in a dramatic cascading ballgown constructed from chicken wire and filled with foliage and flowers. Avoiding floral foam entirely, the structure will use buckets of water and reusable mechanics to keep the installation as sustainable as possible.
The gown will feature soft moss tones with neutral flowers, hints of blush pink and lilac, and intricate detailing designed to resemble embroidery or beading. Smaller blooms, roses and textured flowers will create layers across the bodice, while the flowing skirt will cascade to the floor into a landscape of moss and meadow-style planting.
“Our inspiration comes from high fashion designers like Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood,” Nancy explains. “We love those dramatic silhouettes and a sense of maximalism. Fashion can have a big influence on how people think about sustainability, so we wanted to bring that idea into a floral installation.”
Nancy, who now runs her own wedding and events floristry business based in Shoreham-by-Sea, discovered her love of flowers growing up around the craft - her grandmother was a florist and flowers were always part of life at home.
After leaving school, she explored several different courses before finding her path at Plumpton College, where she studied Level 2 and Level 3 floristry while also gaining hands-on experience working in flower shops and assisting with event floristry.
It was at Plumpton that she met fellow student Lauren Dendy, who will collaborate with her again for the 2026 festival. The pair first worked together on Plumpton’s installation at the 2024 Festival of Flowers, creating a striking hanging installation in the Cathedral’s nave where delicate meadow-style flowers were suspended on fine fishing line around birch trees.
For Nancy, the experience proved transformative.
“The Festival of Flowers was my first experience creating a large-scale installation and I absolutely loved it,” she says. “There’s something really special about making something huge and beautiful that people can walk through and experience. It gave me a real taste for event floristry and large installations.”
Since then, Nancy has gone on to create floral designs for events and venues across London and Brighton, including flower walls, sculptural trees and restaurant garlands, while continuing to grow her own wedding and events business.
Working together allows the pair to combine their different skills. Nancy has experience creating sculptural forms and landscapes within installations, while Lauren - who discovered floristry during a bouquet-making class before enrolling at Plumpton - specialises in intricate detail work and is known for her elaborate wedding lapel flowers.
Together they hope their installation will be both visually striking and environmentally thoughtful.
“Plumpton gave us the chance to explore floristry in a really practical way and opened the door to opportunities like the Festival of Flowers,” Nancy says. “Coming back now with our own design feels really exciting.”
Their return reflects the growing role the biannual Festival of Flowers plays in nurturing the next generation of floral artists, offering students the opportunity to work alongside professional designers and arrangers inside one of Sussex’s most iconic buildings.
“Nancy and Lauren’s design and participation in the 2026 Festival of Flowers is a wonderful example of how the event continues to evolve and push the boundaries of floral design...Their installation reflects the direction contemporary floristry is taking, combining sustainability with influences from the world of fashion. As we celebrate the Festival’s 30th anniversary this year, it’s exciting to see emerging designers bringing such creativity into the Cathedral and offering visitors something truly special to experience. Every ticket sold also supports the care and upkeep of this extraordinary 950-year-old Cathedral.”
Caroline Daines, lead designer for this year’s Festival.
The Festival of Flowers will see more than 60 large-scale floral installations transform the historic Cathedral, created by professional florists, emerging designers and community groups responding to the theme Nature’s Embrace.
The Festival takes place from 3 – 6 June 2026 at Chichester Cathedral.
Tickets are available to purchase online at: https://www.chichestercathedral.org.uk/events/festival-flowers-2026