Arrange Flowers Like A Pro With These 10 Best Tips

How to arrange flowers like a pro can sound intimidating to many of us. Today I’m sharing 10 of the best tips that I’ve learned over the years. You don’t need to be a trained florist (I’m not) to incorporate these tips into your flower arranging routine! Many of these tips are for use with both real and faux flowers. Utilize these tips for a spring floral centerpiece, flowers in a vase or a simple bouquet. You will find flower arranging to be both satisfying and fun and feel confident with these ideas!

Roses are the quintessential romantic flower and are among the most simple to arrange! For this tablescape I brought out my collection of vintage chocolate pots to use as vessels. These roses were provided to me by Pomp Flowers and are gorgeous!

 

Arrange Flowers Like A Pro!

Ten Best Tips To Use

Soak Them

• Allow your flowers to sit overnight and soak up water. I use a large bucket with a small amount of water. The ends are snipped off slightly for absorption and will be properly trimmed up later.

Defoliate Before You Arrange Flowers

• Prior to arranging, defoliate by removing leaves that will go under the waterline. With roses I remove almost all of the leaves, saving just a few near the top of the flower. The leaves use nutrients in the water (and flower food, if you have it) unnecessarily. They also may contaminate the water with bacteria by decomposing. You should have this inexpensive set in your flower arranging arsenal – Rose Leaf Thorn Stripper Kit Stripping Tool Thorn Remover With Gloves

It’s truly a must have…you are welcome!

Forage & Find

• Since flowers should be stripped of many of the growing greens, they can use a little help in adding a verdant touch back in! If you have access to garden clippings, head out there and see what you can find. I have a variety of ferns and palms in my garden to use, but even weeds will work!

Choose Your Containers

• For my flower arrangements in this tablescape I used something similar for each. I prefer not to have exact matches, but a theme of partner picks! While I used antique chocolate pots, you can select some simple glass jars, ironstone or pottery, wood or wicker, cans or anything that will hold some stems. If not water tight then insert some jelly jars or mason jars filled with water inside.

Divide & Conquer

• The type of flowers that you have will be a factor in creating a floral centerpiece or flower arrangement. Do they have large flower heads? Are they all the same type of flower? In these rose flower arrangements I separated them by color and knew ahead of time that I would mix them in the vases with a similar amount of each color in the individual containers.

Cut To Size When You Arrange Flowers

• This tip is a GAME CHANGER! Once you have a good idea of what flowers will go into each flower arrangement, it’s time to trim them to size. Take your flowers one at a time and turn them upside down next to the vase. This will give you the perfect visual of what height you want each flower to be. Then use some sharp garden garden clippers and cut at an angle. Amazing…right?!

Stretch Them Out

• If you have flowers other than the roses I’ve shown here, stretch them! What I mean is, divide the stems that are attached and clip them individually. I did this with the branches that I had and when I arrange flowers such as delphinium, wax flowers or stock flowers.

Hold Flower Arrangements In Place

• For these containers it wasn’t necessary to use anything like a frog to hold them in place. The necks are narrow on chocolate pots and the flowers are well supported. I have two favorite methods to hold flowers when more structure and support is needed. Scrunched up chicken wire or floral tape in a criss-cross pattern. This depends on the stem situation. If the stem is from a bulb (eg. tulips) then securing at the top with tape works best. Those stems are softer and can bend and break, so the tape helps. To arrange flowers that are sturdy (roses) if using something like a bucket I recommend chicken wire scrunched into a ball shape. You can then use floral tape if necessary to hold the chicken wire in place.

Face It – Arrange Flowers For Placement

• Once you begin to arrange your flowers, be sure to pay attention to the face! Where will this floral arrangement be used? If it will be placed on a buffet or sideboard, then don’t worry about the back. If you’re creating a spring flower centerpiece for a table, then make the back and sides lovely as well! Step back when arranging and look at all sides, just like a sculpture.

Dare To Be Different

• Think outside of the box and do something different! Fruit mixed with flowers in an arrangement can be lovely and seasonal. Don’t be afraid to mix real with faux! Some of my favorite flowers are faux, as they can utilized year round and in so many ways. I buy many of my faux flowers here – aFloral and I linked a few favorites below for your convenience:

My table is ready and has a high/low setting using vintage and new china and acrylic stemware! Some sources below:

Have fun when you arrange flowers most of all and it will show up in your creations! I have LOTS of other flower arranging tips and posts to help as well, so check them out below:

Repurpose Flowers That You Already Have

Tips For Buying & Arranging Grocery Store Flowers

5 Best Ways To Style Faux Flowers

How To Make A Gradient Spring Flower Centerpiece Simple Spring Flower Arrangements  

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