Hand tied with a collar

At college today we made two hand tied bouquets with frames - one frame was made from natural materials and the other was made from cardboard and fabric. I really like the materials we used this week - I'd seen them all before but I didn't know what some of them were called so it was good to find out! I like the fabric frame best I think - it has a greater visual impact. We have 40 minutes to make that arrangement in an assessment next week!

Wedding: week 10

Here's what I made in the tenth and final week of the wedding unit of my floristry course. And the last week of the course all together! I'm sad that's it's over but excited about the diploma I'm starting in September.

I really enjoyed making this shower bouquet, it was a good technique to have learned for the final week. And the flowers are lovely!

Wedding: week 9

This is what I made in week 9 of the wedding unit of my floristry course - a hand tied with a collar and a grass "skirt". The skirt didn't last very long because I had to put the flowers in a vase but it's a nice idea to cover the stems. Just might need to be a little bit shorter!

How far can a bunch of spray roses go?

Quite far is the answer! I bought a bunch of spray roses from Waitrose, I was looking for white but they didn't have any so I bought this amazing pink and white bunch instead. I was originally just planning to make the bouquet - I'd seen a photo in a magazine with the wire collar in a bowl shape and I wanted to try it out. Unfortunately I ran out of pink wire which is why it looks a little sparse in a few of the photos! I love the outcome though - it's probably not big enough for a bride but it would be good for a bridesmaid.

The foliage used in these is all from my mum's garden - she's planted a load of stuff just so I can use it in my arrangements, bless her.

I really enjoy making teacup arrangements so I thought that was an ideal use for some of the spare roses. I also still had some gyp from a previous arrangement so I used some of that as well. I'm not sure what the little berries are but the pink edges go perfectly with the roses!

The buttonholes were a bit of an afterthought but they meant I didn't waste any roses! I've never made a proper buttonhole before either so I thought it would be good to get some practice in before the summer when I've got my first two weddings! I may be blowing my own trumpet but I think they're pretty good for a first attempt! And I wired them all then covered them to finish them off.

Gypsophila

Following on from my last post, my mum also brought home a load of gypsophila from the church. I have a couple of weddings lined up for the summer and both brides want to feature gypsophila in their bouquets. So I had a little play around with some of it. I think for a really impressive bouquet I should have used more of the gyp, but I think the ivy was a good addition, it didn't quite look finished without it.

I also felt it needed a wrap around the stems - it looks a bit more professional like that. Plus then there are lots of different ways to accessorise it.