Autumn Buffet Flowers
As we head into the holiday season, entertaining guests and large gatherings for meals become the norm --and flowers on the buffet can really make a statement. In this Flower School How-To Video Leanne creates a tall, modern, foam-free arrangement featuring Symbol roses from Garden Roses Direct, ilex berries, hanging amaranths, and curly willow -- suitable for the buffet or kitchen island. Enjoy!
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Video Transcription
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'Tis the season for holiday entertaining. Flowers on the buffet make it super spectacular. Foam free makes it long-lasting. Let me show you how it's done.
The stars of the show, roses. Symbol is the variety. They're from GardenRosesDirect.com. They're amazing. Large head, strong stem, not too much fragrance, but also much beauty. Then adding in treasures from Florabundance. I've got some ilex berries, hanging amaranthus and curly willow. The mechanics: a natural armature created from the willow, so taking long branches and then just pulling it down, looping it, creating the beautiful shape with all the curving lines, and just tie it together with bind wire, add water, and you're ready to design.
With the armature in place, design is easy. Thinking about your length, giving it a cut, and then just placing it right into the armature, and it holds it in place so that it doesn't shift. You can add in the hanging amaranthus, letting it trail, adding length to the design, dropping it over the front, finding the perfect spot to just weave it in. Bringing in the ilex, letting it be taller. Lifting up through the center, and again, it stays in place because the armature holds it. Just repeat with more of each item until you've got a nice line and a strong emphasis.
The ilex and the willow easily create the line. The hanging amaranthus extends it down the front, making it even more important. Then the emphasis needs to be right down here in front, and that's where you want to add in a few more roses to get the fullness. Some of them a little shorter to draw the eye inward, tucked inside the armature, nice and low, creating depth. And then, of course, bring a few around to the back so that it's not one-sided and boring. You want it to be full and lush all the way around.
As I finish, I look at the balance, and I'm going to add just a couple of fatsia leaves on this side to add a little bit more substance, make it look fuller. And then, since I'm designing it for a buffet, oftentimes people are on both sides. I want to turn it and think about the back, which is also a front, and add in a little bit of the amaranthus on this side as well to continue that line.
The recipe. It started with the Symbol roses from GardenRosesDirect.com. They use nine roses to fill it out, then adding in with flowers from Florabundance, we use six stems of the hanging amaranthus, three stems of the curly willow, six stems of the ilex berries, and then two fatsia leaves to finish it off.
Flowers for the buffet, perfect for autumn entertaining. You'll find more inspiration on the website Flower School .com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there, but now it's your turn. Plan a party, do some entertaining, create an arrangement for the buffet. Be sure to take a picture, post it on social media and hashtag Floral Design Institute. That way we all can see what you do as you do something you love.
