There’s something about fresh flowers that puts me in such a happy place. Pair them with a good smelling candle and something baking in the oven and I am living my best life. Due to my love of flowers and greenery, I thought it would be fun to take a flower arranging class! Turns out, I was doing it all wrong and I learned so many great tips that can make anyone look like a professional. AKA me above. This is definitely the prettiest arrangement I’ve ever done and the instructor made it look so easy! I can’t wait to put my next one together for a dinner party I plan on hosting soon!
If you are interested in taking a flower arranging class I would recommend searching to see what is offered in your area. It’s a fun activity you can do with friends or a date that can be done socially distanced! If you are in Central Illinois, be sure to like the Allerton Park & Retreat Center Facebook page, they often host classes in partnership with Delight Flower Farm. That’s the class I took!
Anyways, if you’re interested in learning some good flower arranging tips…..keep reading!
Tip 1: Use a Tape Grid
This is one of the best tips I learned. The tape grid helps keep your flowers in the right place while you are creating your arrangement. It really helps especially if you are creating an arrangement with different types of foliage and flowers. I will always do this from now on!
Tip 2: Use Your Vase as a Measure + Remove Leaves That Would be Under Water
Hold your flower stem up against your vase. That will tell you how much you need to cut! Then you want to remove anything from your stem that would be underwater. It can create bad bacteria in the water and can actually kill your flowers faster!
Tip 3: Cut Stems at an Angle
Make sure you cut your stems at a slight angle. That helps water get into the stems so they last you a long time!
Tip 4: Start With Greenery + Work From the Outside In
This was so surprising to me! Normally I would start with my main flowers and do greenery last as an accent, but you really want to start with your greenery first. For this medium sized arrangement I did, I did 3 different types of greenery/foliage. I used eucalyptus and a little light green and light orange foliage. I can’t remember the names!
Tip 5: Add Flowers + Greenery Opposite of Each Other
This is another tip that I felt made a huge difference. When I put in my greenery I knew I wanted a lot of it, so I put a few sprigs in each slot I made with the tape (4 slots total). Once I added my greenery, I started adding in some of my accent flowers. I had 3 different types of accent flowers! I only had 2 stems of one of my accent flowers so I put one stem in in the right side slot, and the other in the left side slot. When you add your flowers in at opposite sides it makes sure your arrangement looks full and balanced. Which leads into the next tip…
Tip 6: Keep Rotating Your Arrangement as You Create
You want to keep rotating your arrangement as you add greenery and flowers. This ensures that your arrangement looks beautiful from all sides! The tape grid also helps make sure you are spreading your flowers out.
Tip 7: Add Focal Flowers Last
I only had one focal flower in my arrangement, and it’s called a cafe au lait. It’s such a beautiful flower! Normally, I would have started with my focal flower but it makes so much sense to add it last. When your vase is full with your greenery and accent flowers, they help your focal flower stand up wherever you place it.
These tips truly made it so much easier to design a beautiful arrangement! I can’t wait to put together my next one. I may even take another flower arranging class around the holidays just to keep practicing!
xo, Rach
Leave a Reply