Flower Profusion

If I had to describe my current personal preference in design style, it would be profusion. I am talking about lots of flowers arranged very close together in any container.

I remember the "airy" open style of preferred design back in the early days of my floral career... that was the mid 1990's. I am glad to see those days are passing us by. Large arrangements where flowers were set far apart with large spaces left open. Curly willow branches and fillers such as Queen Anne's Lace and bear grass were used to give arrangements that open and airy look. A floral design friend of mine used to say... "you have to sell air". Quite opposite is the style I prefer now. The close compact look, I think, really suites weddings well. Large bowls or cube vases packed with roses and other similar shaped flowers give such a rich look. However, one has to be rich these days to afford a rich look in the arrangements. This type of arrangement requires an abundance of flowers. Most times, there is no greenery or fillers to take up the space, so, all the space has to be occupied with flowers. The first arrangement shown here is one I made back at the end of the summer. I am no flower snob, so I am not beyond using large mums or carnations to fill in the space when budget is an issue, and roses are very pricey. I am not a flower snob at all. In fact, I have just completed a wedding floral proposal consisting mainly of dense gatherings of daisies. The bride loves daisies, and the rustic outdoor setting for the wedding lends itself to these basic but well loved flowers. That wedding takes place in May, I hope to be able to post some pics of the arrangements after the wedding.

The second pic is a good example of the style I am talking about in this post. I took apart an open airy arrangement, cut the roses down, and arranged them so they would rest on the top edge of the vase, accented and supported by a gathering of Kiwi vine. I really like this look, and hope that others might as well. It's looks contemporary and somehow traditional at the same time. The roses have a great name... the variety is "Twinkle Bride" ... I wonder who gets to sit around and think up the names for all the rose varieties?

Royal Wedding Tidbit for the day... On her wedding day, Sarah, Duchess of York carried a bouquet of Gardenias, Lily of the Valley, pale yellow roses, and freesia... the bouquet was designed by David Longman to be in the shape of the letter "S" for "Sarah" giving that arrangement it's distinctive crescent shape, produced at Longman's Ltd. of London. Mr. Longman also designed the bouquet for Diana, Princess of Wales.