With the holidays just around the corner (let's be real, they're basically here), we asked one of our favorite talented humans Casey Snipes to give us some tips for making a killer floral arrangement! Whether you're hosting and want to make a showstopper of a floral arrangement for your guest OR you want to bring a unique hostess gift, she is dishing on how to build a beautiful arrangement!
So let's talk flowers. How do you get started making a beautiful arrangement?
Casey's advice:When picking flowers for a floral arrangement, I think you have your main character (biggest bloom), your supporting characters (berries and thistle and tulips), and then you have your background extras/fillers. You want them to be fluffy and full (green dragon)!
For colors, I went with classic greens, reds from the berries, and whites.
You can use a green block (oasis foam block) OR if you don't have one and don't want to get one, you can make a grid over the top of your vase. The grid doesn't need to be too small, just based on the vase.
1) When picking flowers, you go main to filler, but when you are building your vase, you go in reverse order. Start with filler to add volume. Make sure you trim the ends at a 45-degree angle)
Pro tip: Always buy more than you need, especially with filler!! You want your background extras to have movement and life. Nothing too stiff!
2) Once you have height and dimension, start cutting the filler a bit shorter, especially to cover the tape around the edge of the grid
It's better to have too much than too little, so over-buy.
Pro Tip: When you have flowers with leaves, ensure you remove all leaves that touch the water because they will poison the water, and your arrangement will die sooner.
It's better to leave it a little longer if you have something floppy bc you can always fine-tune it after
3) Then move on to the main event flower. You will cut these to varying lengths. Start in the middle and then work out like a clock because you don't want anything to get too clustered. Then go back to your supporting characters to fill. For thistles, leave them long and spikey. It adds height and texture
For something like a berry, I would do it smaller and around the edges to give it more interest in the arrangement.
4) Once you're done with the main characters, it's always good to have one extra of your filler to go back, cut it shorter, and fill in around the edges and the middle of your arrangement.
Want your flowers to last longer?
Best tip: if your flowers start to look sad add sprite or ginger ale!
For more tips, style, and general joy follow Casey HERE