You Need a Focal Point in Your Wedding Bouquets
August 25, 2009
Every wedding bouquet or arrangement needs a focal point. It needs an area that says, “Hey, look at me!” That area needs to be special or unique in some way so it catches your attention. It needs to be noticeable enough that your eye rests there first when you look at it.
Often in traditional designs, the focal point is lower in the design, usually near the bottom edge. This focal area is then balanced by other areas leading your eye to the focus.
You can use your focal point to connect 2 different areas of your arrangement. For example, you could have some tall delphinium that need to blend in with a more horizontal bed of chrysanthemums. You could create a focus with gerbera daisies of varying heights to pull the arrangement together to create harmony and unity.
If you prefer contemporary designs, you can put your focal point almost anywhere. All you need to do is have a flower set apart from the others and – voilà – there is your focus. You can have more than one focal point, but if you have too many, it becomes confusing.
You can create your focal point using different techniques.
1. Color - Color contrast attracts attention.
- Darker shades look”heavier” and therefore should be placed closer to the bottom whereas lighter shades look”lighter” and so should be at the out edges.
- If you use a color in only one area of your design, that will also catch your eye.
- You can contrast warm and cool colors. Bright, warm colors are “louder” so they are more noticeable than cool colors.
2. Size - Larger, more wide-open blooms catch your eye more than smaller, closed buds/blooms.
3. Shape and Pattern - Uniquely shaped flowers and foliage such as birds of paradise or elephant’s ear naturally draw your eye to them.
4. Spacing - You can create a focal point in your bouquet by spacing your flowers differently. You can mass them together in one area and have them further apart in other areas. Your eye will travel to the cluster of flowers.
5. Texture - Coarse, rough textures (such as on wood or moss) pull your eye toward them
6. Accessories - Using special added items such as candles or figurines create interest.
7. Isolation - This is where you separate one flower or one type of flower from the rest of the flowers within your bouquet. This gives these flowers visual “importance”.
Do not try too hard when you create your focal point. It can’t be overwhelming. It has to flower with the rest of your design and it has to be a natural part of your bouquet or arrangement as a whole.
Create Rhythm in Your Wedding Bouquets
August 25, 2009
When you design your do it yourself wedding flowers, you want a sense of rhythm in your bouquets or arrangements. When there is rhythm, you have movement created by regular repetition of some element or feature of your design. This movement stirs your emotions.
Rhythm is more often associated with music than with artistic expression. The movement from musical rhythm can be varied. It can be slow and leisurely, smooth and flowing, fast and cheerful, or choppy with abrupt breaks. Rhythm can be created in your wedding flowers through careful placement of flowers, foliage, and accessories. You want to create a design where your eyes rest on your focal point and then travel along a visual pathway that travels through your design and then leads you back to your focal point again. The movement of your eye is created by the rhythm of your design.
You can create rhythm 3 different ways – repetition, radiating lines, and transition.
Repetition
Repetition is probably the easiest way of creating rhythm. You can repeat colors, textures, shapes and lines. If you have bright, warm colors throughout your bouquet, your eye will naturally move away from your focal point to elements with the same color. Texture carefully placed in different places can create soft or subtle rhythm. repeating lines is the most noticeable way to create movement. Curved lines cause your eye to move. Repeated horizontal lines produce a slow, relaxed rhythm whereas vertical and diagonal lines cause your eyes to move rapidly from your focal point to the outer edges and then back again.
Radiating Lines
Lines radiating from your focal point naturally cause your eye to move from your focal point to the perimeter of your bouquet and then back again. You need to be careful to keep the stems from crossing each other so you don’t interrupt the movement, ruining the rhythm of your design.
Transition
Transition is when you change from one form to another. You can change from one texture to another or from one color to another. You do this by having an intermediate color between the 2 points of interest to help your eye naturally move from one color to another. For example, if you have an area of red and an area of yellow, you can create a transition by placing orange between them to create the visual pathway.
If you can create rhythm in your do it yourself wedding flowers, you will have a bouquet that captivates attention and produces pleasure.
Are Your Wedding Flowers in Scale With Each Other?
August 25, 2009
A scale is something that measures an object in comparison to something else. A flower, leaf or container is only large or small when it is compared to something else. The elements of a wedding bouquet or arrangement need to be in scale with each other. The bouquet or arrangement also needs to be in scale with its environment.
We can look at scale in 4 ways
- flowers in scale with their containers
- flowers in scale with other flowers
- flowers in scale with foliage
- a bouquet in scale with its environment
The container that you choose for your arrangement is very important because its size and shape determines which flowers you will use. Large, dominant flowers look better in bulky containers. Fine, delicate flowers go very well with intricate, smaller containers.
Your flowers need to be in scale with each other as well. This does not mean that you can’t use different sizes of flowers, but extremes should be avoided. For example, very large, full-sized sunflowers would not look right beside a cluster of tiny, delicate lily-of-the-valley.
The flowers you choose should be in scale with your foliage. Again, this does not rule out different sizes, but extremes are distracting. If, for instance, you have a rose bud arranged in front of a large banana leaf, it simply won’t look good. It would not be in scale and would look completely unbalanced.
An arrangement or bouquet needs to be in scale with its environment. Think hotel lobby and a tiny bud vase. The flowers would not be noticed. They would be lost in all the space. Now think very large arrangement with numerous birds of paradise and protea squeezed into a little hospital room. The huge design will make this small room look even smaller. This combination simply does not make sense.
A few more tips to keep in mind are that shiny or course textured flowers, foliage and containers look larger than they are because they attract your attention. Similarly bright, dark, and warm colors catch your eye more than dull, light, and cool colors and therefore look larger.
When you arrange your own wedding flowers, remember to keep your flowers, foliage, and containers in scale with one another. the overall look will be much more pleasing to the eye if you do.
How Is Balance Important For Your Wedding Flowers?
August 12, 2009
Do it yourself wedding flowers don’t magically fall into place and look wonderful. There are so many things to remember and balance is one of them. The elements of your wedding bouquet or arrangement (your container, flowers, foliage, and accessories) need to “fit” or work well together.
We as people have a natural pull toward balance and order. Imbalance is naturally avoided – it’s in our subconscious. We naturally avoid things that are dangerously imbalanced such as a tottering ladder or a crooked shelf. Even though an imbalanced floral bouquet or arrangement isn’t a threat to us, we have a natural tendency to balance and order. A bouquet or arrangement needs both physical and visual balance.
Physical Balance
Physical balance can also be called mechanical balance. To have this type of balance, the arrangement simply needs to be able to stand up on its own without falling over. The container you use needs to be the right size, weight and shape for the flowers you put in them. You also need to have your flowers and foliage arranged so they are evenly distributed. If you have them placed so your design is either top heavy or so that the flowers are mostly on one side, your arrangment will fall over.
Visual Balance
This is when a floral design looks balanced. If it is mechanically balanced yet looks like it’s about to topple over, your instinct is to reach out your hand to catch it from falling over. You want it to look stable. You can have 4 different types of visual balance: symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial, and open balance.
- Symmetrical - This is created when you have exactly the same flowers and foliage on both sides of an imaginary line. Bouquets with symmetrical balance are formal and are often seen at graduations, funerals, and weddings. You need to be careful that this type of design doesn’t look stiff or forced. You can avoid this by using near-symmetry where you use very similar (but not exactly the same) flowers and foliage on both sides of your imaginary line.
- Asymmetrical - You achieve this by placing more weight on one side of your imaginary line than the other. You don’t place too much weight on one side so it looks imbalanced. You need to have something on each side of your “line” to balance out the other side. This is harder to create than symmetrical balance, but it’s more pleasing to look at and remains interesting much longer than perfect symmetry. You can have some large, light colored flowers on one side and off-set them with either darker or bright small flowers on the other side. Darker flowers look “heavy” so they have enough weight to balance a greater number of larger, light colored flowers.
- Radial - You create radial symmetry by having your flowers and foliage radiating out from a central point just like the spokes of a wheel, the rays of the sun, the petals of a daisy, the lines of a hand-held fan or the pattern of a shell. The central point can be in different positions. The spokes of a wheel and the petals of a daisy radiate out from the center whereas the lines of a hand-held fan radiate from the center of the bottom and the pattern of a shell radiates from one side. Radial balance is most often in bridal bouquets.
- Open - Open balance isn’t symmetrical or asymmetrical. It is open, relaxed and unstructured. You will find this in contemporary design where there are no formal rules, yet the overall design looks balanced.
If you are a beginner, symmetrical, asymmetrical and radial balance are easier to achieve because you have some “rules” to follow. Open balance comes with practice and experience. Your do it yourself wedding flowers need to be balanced. Choose which type of balance is most appealing to you and work with it.
The 10 Things You Need For Creating Your Own Wedding Flowers
August 7, 2009
After you’ve made the decision to make your own wedding flowers, you need to gather specific tools and materials to be able to do a proper job. For the actual arranging itself you will need the following items:
Cellophane - This is used to line flower/bouquet boxes that are not water proof. It can also be crumpled and placed into containers as a flower or foliage support. This works very well in see-through containers.
Chicken wire - This is used to hold floral foam in place in containers. This is usually done for larger arrangements. Chicken wire can also be crumpled and placed inside containers to use as a flower/foliage support. (Not recommended for see-through containers).
Floral foam – This needs to be cut to fit the container and then placed into the container. Tape it securely to the container if needed. Fill the container with water so the floral foam will absorb the water. Oncer the floral foam is thoroughly wet, you can begin inserting flowers and foliage.
Florist’s Scissors – These are special because they have a serrated edge. This helps when cutting stems and even wire.
Spray bottle - You use this to gently mist (not soak) the flowers and foliage after they have been arranged.
Florist’s tape - There are 2 kinds of tape -
- * rubber coated tape that is used to cover wires and secure them to the flowers and stems
- * sticky florist’s tape is sticky on one side and is used for anchoring the floral foam to its container
Knives - 1 long and 1 short. Use a long one to cut floral foam and use a short knife to scrape stems.
Pruning shears - Use these to cut thick, woody stems.
Ribbon - You need ribbon for covering up wires on bouquets, posies, corsages and boutonnieres. You can also use it as decoration in long tails or bows or in loops for garlands, swags or pomanders.
Wire - This is necessary for lengthening, strengthening and positioning your flowers and foliage. There are a lot of different gauges of wire, but there are 4 main sizes that are commonly used -
- * 20 gauge (0.90 mm) for wiring heavy flowers such as lilies
- * 22 gauge (0.71 mm) for wiring medium strength flowers like roses and peonies
- * 28 gauge (0.38 mm) for wiring more delicate flowers such as violets
- * 30 gauge (0.32 mm) for wiring very delicate flowers like lily-of-the-valley
Be sure to have all of the above items collected and in one place before you being to make your own wedding flowers. Because putting wedding flowers together is such a big job, you want to be prepared for it ahead of time. You will need all your time for arranging. Gather your materials about 2 months before your wedding day to make your job that much easier.
Create Harmony In Your Wedding Flower Arrangements
August 7, 2009
Harmony is created when you wisely choose different parts you can combine to create a whole (your floral bouquet or arrangement). Singing in harmony is where all the voices in a song blend together beautifully. If just one person is singing off-key, the whole song sounds terrible. The same thing applies to harmony in a floral design. If just one component does not mesh with the rest of the design, it ruins the look of the whole thing.
You can create harmony by
- 1. having a theme or mood for your arrangement (formal, informal, natural, contemporary, special occasion etc.) which is often set by the container you choose.
- 2. using the same color flower (you can vary the shades of the color, or the size, shape, and texture of the flowers)
- 3. placing your finished design in a spot that is well-suited to it.
Let’s take a closer look at some of these.
Container
Your container is part of your design and therefore needs to be part of the harmony. The container you choose will depend on the size of your design, the size of the flowers you use, the shape of your design, the mood you want to create, and where your design will be displayed. The shape of your container needs to compliment the shape of your arrangement. Also, larger, heavier flowers need a container large enough not only to complement them but also to keep the arrangement from falling over. Smaller, more delicate flowers look better in a smaller container.
Flowers
The mood or theme of your arrangement plays a big role when creating harmony in your arrangement. If you want a garden themed arrangement, you should choose flowers that look like they have just been picked from the garden (e.g. sunflowers, asters zinnias). If you want a very distinct and sophisticated look to your arrangement, you can select tropical flowers and foliage.
The flowers you choose have to be in sync with the mood of your arrangement and with each other. For example, your garden themed design shouldn’t have a large bird of paradise in the center. This flower does not blend with you country/garden theme.
Location
It is important to know where your arrangement will be displayed. If the room is very large, your container, your flowers, and the size of your arrangement should be large.
The color of the room and its theme will also play a role in the decisions you make when choosing the elements of your design. You want your arrangement to harmoniously blend in with its surroundings.
If your arrangement is going to be displayed in the center of the room, you need to design it with that in mind. If your arrangement is going to be displayed in the corner against a wall, it can be designed with focal point mainly on one side.
After choosing all the materials for your wedding flower bouquet or arrangement, place them together on your design table and look to see if they blend well with each other. Are they in harmony? Do they mesh well like harmonious voices in a choir?
How to Create Unity in Your Wedding Flower Arrangements
August 7, 2009
When designing your wedding flower arrangements, you want to create a sense of unity. This is accomplished when all the harmonious components of your arrangement are combined artistically to create a united whole. You don’t want your design to look like it is not unified. Three ways you can achieve unity are using proximity, repetition, and transition.
Proximity
When you have flowers and foliage designed close to each other, you have proximity. Having them together avoids chunks or separations. If you have different textures, colors, sizes and shapes, you can still have unity if you utilize proximity.
Repetition
Another way of achieving unity is by repeating some element of your design. You can repeat a color throughout your design to unify it. This is probably the easiest element to repeat. You can also use repetition with other elements like texture, angles, lines, flower type, flower shape, and flower size.
Transition
A more difficult method to create unity is by using transition. With careful planning, you can create a gradual change from one element to another. A good use of transition produces a pattern that results in continuous eye movement. You do this by using intermediate colors, texture, shapes, and sizes. For example, you can use orange flowers to create a transition from yellow to red.
When you design your own wedding flower arrangements, create them with a sense of unity. You want the arrangement to look good as a whole. You want to avoid having it look like you just randomly put together a bunch of chunks or pieces.
Things to Consider When Choosing and Arranging Your Wedding Flowers
August 2, 2009
Flowers are such an important part of a wedding and should be chosen with a lot of careful thought. Visiting a florist (or two or three) is recommended. Florists have put together probably hundreds of weddings and therefore have a lot of advice (and experience) to share with you. They can help you choose your flowers, your color, and the style of your arrangements.
By the time you actually visit the florist, you’ll probably have a pretty good idea of what you would like. Take a long a small piece of fabric to show the florist the color of the dresses. She can then help you decide on what flowers portray your color – that are available at the time of your wedding.
Not only is color important but the durability of the flower is too. Imagine a wilted bouquet or headpiece the morning of your wedding. That would be enough to reduce anyone to tears. The flowers will be close to your body (e.g. headpieces, corsages, boutonnieres, bouquets). You will be excited and stressed and therefore warmer than usual. This will take its toll on your flowers, so they certainly need to be durable, fresh and good quality.
After you have decided which flowers you need for your do it yourself wedding flowers, make an itemized list of exactly how many you will need. Order you flowers and foliage at least 1 week before your wedding and arrange to pick up your flowers 2 days before your wedding. This gives you time to get all your flowers together and pick up more elsewhere if the florist wasn’t able to give you your complete order.
The entire day before your wedding should be set aside. Plan to spend the entire day on creating and designing. Don’t underestimate the time it takes to condition, prepare, wire, tape, etc! Arrange to have at least 2 if not 3 people to help you with your do it yourself wedding flowers.
Your wedding day should be for you. You should not have to worry about flower arranging on your big day. Relax and enjoy the beautiful flowers that you have chosen and arranged ahead of time.
Where Should You Buy Your Wedding Flowers?
August 2, 2009
Do it yourself wedding flowers is courageous, fun, and rewarding. It is also economical. Once you have calculated how much you need of each type of flower and foliage, it’s time to go shopping. But where? There are at least 5 different types of places that you can get what you need.
- Florists - Even though they are the most expensive, these people will be able to tell you what flowers are available when. They will also be able to get specialty flowers in for you.
- Flower Stalls or Markets - These flowers will be cheaper than flowers from a florist, but they usually just have the more common flowers, with the colors and flower availability being unpredictable.
- Commercial Cut Flower Growers - You can go directly to the grower to get the flowers as fresh as possible. The down side of this choice is that you may have to go to at least 5 different greenhouses (if you are near any) to get all the different types of flowers you would like.
- Private Gardens - A friend or a friend of a friend may have a garden that has an amazing assortment of foliage. You can’t beat the price of course, but you’ll have to test the foliage by cutting a few sprigs and placing them in a vase for a few days to see how well they hold up in a vase.
- Wholesalers - These people usually have a large selection for you to choose from, but you may need to buy large quantities of each type of flower. They will not take the time to explain about how to care for the flowers when arranging them and they may not sell to the general public but to retailers only.
The choice you make is going to be affected by the sources of flowers in your particular area. Buying at least some of your flowers from a florist is recommended since they have put together the flowers for so many weddings. They are experienced, so they will have a wealth of information to share with you. Do it yourself wedding flowers is certainly a doable choice, but be informed so you’ll purchase only what you need and what works for your wedding.
How Many Flowers Do You Buy?
August 2, 2009
How many flowers do you buy if you are going to make your own wedding flowers? Draw a map of both the ceremony and reception locations. On that map, draw where you would like the flowers to go. Then make a list of all the arrangements, bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres you will need.
If you are going to have simple arrangements on the tables at the reception, count how many of them you will need. Sit down and think of what will go in one of them. For instance, you may need 5 focal flowers, 15 transitional flowers and 1 ½ bunches of foliage. Multiply the number of flowers needed for each arrangement by the number of how many you need in total.
For your bouquets, sit down and draw them out. Looking at bouquet pictures will really help with this. Count out the flowers in your picture and write down the numbers. For example, your bouquet could have 7 roses, 9 carnations, 9 freesia, 15 miniature roses, ivy, fern, bear grass, and leather leaf.
Do the same thing for your bridesmaids bouquets. Draw them by looking at a picture, count all the flowers and write them down. For instance your bridesmaid bouquets could have 3 roses, 5 miniature roses, 5 carnations, 5 freesia, ivy, bear grass, and leather leaf. Take these numbers and multiply them by as many bridesmaids that you have.
Make a list of all the people who will need a boutonniere. Each of these will need 1 main focal flower and a sprig of foliage. Some people also like to add a small accent such as berries or tiny filler flowers. Calculate how many you will need.
Write down everyone that will need a corsage. Mother of the bride and mother of the groom corsages are usually a bit more special than the others and will therefore need a few more flowers and/or a bit more ribbon. Each corsage generally has a least 3 flowers, each a different size than the other. For example if you are using roses, you would need a tight rose bud, a partially open bud, and a fully open rose. You’ll also need some sprigs of greenery and some ribbon. If you want different corsages for different people, draw them to help you write down the number and color of flowers you will need. Add up all the flowers you’ll need for all your corsages.
Now add up all the flowers from all the bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres and arrangements to get your total. Be sure to hang on to the papers where you drew the pictures of the arrangements, bouquets, and corsages. You’ll want these as your guide when it comes time to put them all together. You don’t want to cram some arrangements full of flowers and then nearly run out and have others looking very sparse.
Always order extra flowers and foliage. It’s better to have too many than to come up short. You can always use and extras to float in bowls, to make a decoration on the cake knife or to make little corsages to decorate the microphone or any solitary candles. You can always find places to fill in with little extras.
