Easy flowers to arrange

[sap483]

Hi everyone. My mom is throwing FI and I an engagement party. It''s going to be a fairly formal event in a banquet facility. I''d like to cut some costs though and have more money go towards the wedding

With that said, I''m thinking that rather than have a florist make arrangements, we should make the centerpieces ourselves. I generally enjoy simple decor with clean lines, so I was thinking it would be nice to have some sturdier flowers (i.e. calla lillies, tulips, etc) which I imagine would be easier to arrange (for the actual wedding, I''d like more elaborate centerpieces with lots of orchids!!). As a novice, do you think this can be done? What kinds of flowers would you recommend? Any tips on materials I may need and on technique? Thank you so much for your help ladies!

 

[Gypsy]

Hi. Well. PRACTICE is the first thing I''d advise. But honestly, it depends on what you have in mind. Do you have any pictures of what you are looking at? That would be most helpful!

 

[sap483]

I''m now searching the net for pictures instead of working

I hadn''t really thought about this until I just came across this. I saw something like this at a hotel and really liked it. It''s either orchids or calla lillys floating in a tall vase. Sometimes they''ll float candles on top. What do you think (keep in mind that this is only for an engagement party, and not a wedding)?

 

[neatfreak]

As long as you don''t expect perfection, and have time to practice, that certainly looks like a very do-able centerpiece.

I think it is orchids AND a calla on the right.

 

[sap483]

In the picture it is both, but I think I would like one or the either not both. In terms of other arrangements, I like this style as well, and would like something similar with either calla lillies (as shown), tulips, or maybe even gerberas. What do you think?

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 4/12/2007 3:33:03 PM
Author: sap483
In the picture it is both, but I think I would like one or the either not both. In terms of other arrangements, I like this style as well, and would like something similar with either calla lillies (as shown), tulips, or maybe even gerberas. What do you think?

I think any of those would work well as long as you have the time before the party to do them and don''t expect perfection. But if you are going to DIY for centerpieces these are certainly the kind to do!

 

[sap483]

Thanks! Is there something I can put in there to make the flowers stay put? My mom mentioned something to that effect but I had no idea what she was talking about.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

You could probably line the base of the vase with clear marbles like the ones in the pic at the bottom. It looks like in the first pic the calla lilly is bent in half so it''s probably staying there from just the tension against the sides. I love all of those ideas and I think they''d be really easy and pretty inexpensive to do. Take advantage of sales at Michaels for vases in the shape you like. You might also want to check IKEA if you have one near you. They have lots of inexpensive vases as well as cheap candles/votives.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 4/12/2007 4:08:04 PM
Author: sap483
Thanks! Is there something I can put in there to make the flowers stay put? My mom mentioned something to that effect but I had no idea what she was talking about.

Well, usually what florist''s use is a green (but it comes in other colors) florist''s foam. You basically punch a hole in the foam with the stem and the flower stays put. But it''s pretty ugly, so you would need to fill around it completely with stones first.

I actually think if you can get the number of flowers right and use the marbles the flowers will stay put anyway without anything else.

 

[sap483]

What about the flowers in water, do you think they would stay submerged? I started looking at the vases, and found that the square/rectangle ones are really inexpensive and available in a variety of sizes. The cylinder ones seem to be more widely available in smaller sizes. How high and wide do you think they should be if I go with the cylinder? I kind of like the look of taller arrangements, and was thinking a vase around 16-20" high and between 6-7" wide. I can't seem to find them reasonably priced or available to the general population online at that size. I did find some that were 12"x5". Do you think that would look too small?

 

[FireGoddess]

I love the calla centerpiece! There are several things you can use to keep the flowers put...anything from ''frogs'' which are heavy weights with metal prongs sticking out from them that you ''impale'' stems on, to florists foam (there are 2 kinds, be sure to get the one made for real flowers that you can submerge in water to soak), even glass marbles have done the trick for me (and are pretty!).

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

For the larger vases try IKEA or Pier One.

 

[sap483]

And yet another question. As you can see I'm being very productive at work today. Would it look bad to have two centerpieces? I think there will be a total of 16 tables, so would it look bad to have 8 of one kind and 8 of another if they're the same or similar color?

 

[sparkel]

Sap,

The floral frog idea can be really great but you need to be very careful which flowers you attempt to submerge, they can become almost transparent and begin to look somewhat creased. I think that simply putting the flowers in a tall cylindrical vase and putting a small amount of water in the vase at the bottom and putting votive candles scattered around the table would be nice.

If you are looking for a way to make your squarish vases work you will need to tape the vases. What this means is that you make a grid pattern across the top of the vase that leaves holes between the tape. Then you tape over the ends of this tape the whole way around the vase to ensure it holds. There is special very thin tape that florists use for this.

In addtion I like your arrangments with the square vases but I think you may want to consider puttins some greenery in with the flowers which will also help you give the arrangement structure and interest. The idea of sticking with one flower in your arrangements will make them easier to work with.

Also as in the samples you provided it is essential that you clean any greenery that will be below the water line or it will begin to decompose and shorten the life of your flowers (not to mention it looks icky)

Usually arrangements are topped up failry high with water but for calla lillies it is best that there is less was as it can cause the stems to go mushy as they are already soft.

Hopefully those are some helpful tips and the more info and questions we can all keep chiming in.

Rebecca

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 4/12/2007 4:46:42 PM
Author: FireGoddess
I love the calla centerpiece! There are several things you can use to keep the flowers put...anything from ''frogs'' which are heavy weights with metal prongs sticking out from them that you ''impale'' stems on, to florists foam (there are 2 kinds, be sure to get the one made for real flowers that you can submerge in water to soak), even glass marbles have done the trick for me (and are pretty!).

Ohhh I totally forgot about the "frog" things. THOSE might be your best bet if you don''t want to fill the bottom with marbles/rocks.