Nothing makes an impact like fresh flowers. They add life, color and beauty to any space or event. Being in this business for a short time only, we have quickly learned that in a bind there may not be time to order a professional arrangement. That being said, we have had to learn to be our own last minute floral designers!
Now, while it can be intimidating, we have found that flower arranging is quite fun! In fact, when we were invited to lead workshops at the recent Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Shows in Dallas and Houston, we really wanted to share our own Mayhar recipe for easy breezy florals!
As a quick rule of thumb, try to use an assortment of various leaves and berries coupled with beautiful flowers. This will add dimension and texture to your arrangement. When selecting your “ingredients” hold them all next to each other in a large bunch, so that you can determine exactly how everything looks together and complements each other. And, finally….practice! Try various assortments and see what works. And, at the end of the day, a vase filled one type of flower is both stress-free and quite stunning.
See below for additional tips and tricks. And, a few snipets from our recent workshop.
Enjoy!
- Always start with a clean vase. White vinegar is an amazing way to kill 99% of all bacteria and helps to extend the life of your flowers.
- Whether you are using flower shears or a knife, make sure your tools are clean of bacteria as well.
- Room temperate is the best water temperature when working with flowers.
- When selecting foliage, steer clear of foliage that is wilted, soft, crushed or damaged.
- When selecting flowers, stems should not be black or discolored, and veins should not be prominent in the petals. You want petals, leaves and stems that are firm with a good number of buds that haven’t yet opened.
- Keep in mind that different flowers bloom at different times.
- Before staring your arrangement, cut stems at an angle to ensure the most surface area for water absorption.
- Always use provided plant food; it helps to ensure water is bacteria-free.
- For tall arrangements, keep in mind that the overall height of the arrangement can be 2.5x the height of the vase.
- For all 360-degree arrangements, keep in mind a “side-to-side and front-to-back” approach and assortments of 3s and 5s.
