Garden Wedding Urn Arrangement

Welcome to the Flower School.com video library. I'm Leanne Kesler, Director of the Floral Design Institute and today, I'm here to share with you a fabulous wedding urn using flowers from florabudance.com. Ever since Pantone announced the Color of the Year for 2018 as Ultra Violet, I'm seeing wedding flowers become brighter, more vivid, a lot more intense. At florabundance.com you can sort your flowers by color, so that's how I started shopping online, to choose what I wanted to work with. 

First thing I found, was this fabulous hydrangea. Such a great blending of purple, burgundy, ivory gives it that very wonderful palette. That's the starting point. Then from there, I pulled those colors, Cymbidium orchids, scabiosa, are these not amazing? So strong, sturdy, vibrant. Love them. Then of course, had to have roses. Garnet Gem, Yves Piaget, Eloquence, and blueberry. You can see, this is going to be a stunning color palette. 

I started with this grand urn, painted it to match the flowers, so that it would add oomph, even just right down at the bottom. Then, put a false bottom so I could elevate a plastic liner. Filled it with flower foam, pre-soaked with flower food, taped securely to make sure it will support all these flowers in a beautiful design. 

Not only does florabundance.com have grand flowers, but they have beautiful foliages. So, I started looking through to see, and you know me. You have to have several different varieties. My general rule of thumb is three or more, and the more, the better. 

I found this grand Acacia foliage. Now, you may recognize it from the yellow flower. Obviously, I don't want that. But the foliage, itself, in this greyed hue, is grand. So, stripping it down, giving it a cut, and then beginning the placement of my beautiful urn, making sure it goes way down in, leaning back just a bit. And then, coming forward, starting that soft, feminine rounded form that's so popular right now. Design is getting a little bit more voluptuous, a little softer, less triangular. It's reminiscent of the fans that we did for years, but now with a little bit more variety. 

Some Acacia. Of course, I'll come out the opposite side, as well. But then, thinking about what other foliages. Fatsia leaves, with their big fingers, so grand. Terracing them a bit, so that they draw the eye into the arrangement. A bit of Italian ruscus, another nice draping foliage. And, the dark green with the silver green, grand together. Bringing some up towards the center, angling it into the binding point. And Aspidistra, another large leaf, draping outward. And then filling in, making sure I cover the back, and randomly throughout all to the central binding point. 

As you finish the foliage, look for balance. You want it to be symmetrical, filling in as need be. Maybe another piece of the Acacia coming up tall here, filling in this area. And then turning it, making sure you have depth from front to back, that you've concealed your back mechanics, and then back to the side, depth showing there. And then back around to the front, so that you can see the beautiful arrangement. 

Then establishing the line. We are going to use the Cymbidium. Isn't this fabulous? It'll be a great line flower, coming right up through the center. Giving it a cut, and then placing it in a little bit off-center. You don't want it perfectly straight. You want it to go off to the side just a bit, nestling it down. And then, finishing that line by bringing in the hydrangea down to the base. 

Hydrangea are super, super thirsty flowers. Think about hydrangea, hydra, hydrate. You've got to think about water with them. And they last so well if they are turgid and hydrated. So, I've already processed them with Quick Dip, and they are set to go. But then, when I go to put them in the foam, I do one more step, using alum, the pickling spice, and dipping them directly into the alum. So, you'd give it a cut, then dipping into the white powder, and then placing it into the foam. 

Of course, you don't want just the hydrangea at the front. You want to add depth. So, bringing in more, giving it a cut, dipping, and then pulling it towards the back, deeply into the foam. And then enhancing with roses, starting with the blueberry, bringing some up towards the line. And then some down, bring your eye into the accent area, or the emphasis, the focal point, finding a hole. And then coming back with the other varieties. The Garnet Gem is so gorgeous. Filling that in, getting the other color going. And Eloquence, soft lavender. And then repeat your placement. Some in the center, some to the right, and some to the left, to fill in the design. 

I saved the Yves Piaget garden roses for last, because they are a little more expensive. I wanted to make sure that they are spotlighted in the design. So I didn't want to get them buried. Shortening them down a bit, giving it a cut, and then tucking it close to the accent area in the front of the design. Bring it forward, adding drama. And then, as I add the roses, I also add the scabiosa, because even the buds add a whole different dimension to the design, softening it, letting it look a little wilder, a little more garden-like, bringing some to each side and up through the center. 

From the start of the fabulous hydrangea, to the finished garden urn, you can see it still follows the elements and principles. It has that soft, rounded form, the line, a focal emphasis. There's plenty of depth stretching front to back. The sides are filled in. The back, it is a one-sided design, but it's finished. You don't see any of the mechanics. Then coming over to the other side, filled in, drawing your eye all the way front to back. And then the gorgeous front. 

Thanks to florabundance.com for having so many fabulous flowers. You made it such a joy to create this urn. 

For more creative inspiration, check out the website, Flower School.com. The website contains hundreds of floral design how-to videos, floral design classes, online floral classes and DIY Flowers. 

If you've got questions, you can reach us through there, or pick up the telephone. We'd love to hear from you at (503) 223-8089. And of course, I'd love to see what you create. Take a picture, send it to my personal email, or better yet, post it on social media, tag #FloralDesignInstitute, and let us all see. Because now, it's your turn. What are you going to create, as you do something you love?