By Callum Ludwig
A floristry apprentice from the Upper Yarra is set to showcase her skills against the other best apprentices in the country in 2025.
Elisabeth Boer, a Wandin resident and member of the team at Wandin Florist, is set to compete in the World Skills Nationals competition, representing Victoria in the Floristry category.
Ms Boer said floristry wasn’t something she was always interested him.
“I heard about the job going and thought I’d apply for it, got the job and found out and loved it and was good at it,” she said.
“Working with flowers in general is really nice, it’s a nice environment and a good outlet for my creativity.”
Set to be held in Brisbane this June, the World Skills competition aims to pit the best trainees and apprentices in different trades and skills against each other over three days and is held every two years, with competitors having been picked from regional competitions held prior.
Ms Boer said it was a lot of fun in the regional competition, especially as she had a bit of time to prepare so she worked out what she was doing beforehand.
“I was able to have a rough idea at least and it wasn’t very stressful, t was a good way to test my skills as well and push myself a bit more and I’m looking forward to that more in the Nationals as well, pushing myself and being more creative,” she said.
“At regional, we had four items to make and there’s a little guideline on what you have to make that the rest is left up to you, each competitor is given the same amount of flowers and you have to figure out how you’re going to divide each bunch for your different items,”
“On the day it went pretty smoothly though with the time limits I did start to run short on time but I think it was good for me to have to push myself, I haven’t started palling for the next one because I haven’t got the competition pack yet but I’m going to be researching past competitions to get an idea of what they’re looking for.”
The regional competitions are usually held at local schools or training organisations, with top performers picked to represent their state in the Nationals. Medalists in the Nationals may then be invited to train for the International Competition against the top talents from all over the world. The next international event will be held in Shanghai, China in September 2026.
Ms Boer said it’s a privilege to get to represent Victoria and be part of the team at the Wandin Florist.
“It’s going to be exciting working as a team representing Victoria… I’d be super keen to go (to Shanghai), that would be pretty amazing,” she said.
“I was born in Wandin, grew up in Wandin, live in Wandin still and work in London so I’m a Wandin girl and we have a good little team here, we work together really well and (Owner) Amy’s always supported me in every way and she’s really supporting me as I’m going through these competitions as well,”
“I didn’t know (love for floristry) so if you give it a go, try it and you might love it, it might be your thing and if you’re interested, go for it.”
