Wedding Hoop Bouquet

Video Transcription 

Welcome to the Flower School .com Video Library. I'm Leanne Kesler, director of the Floral Design Institute. Today, I'm here to share with you an on-trend bridal bouquet. The wedding hoop bouquet is hot and fabulous right now. 

All of the flowers are from FiftyFlowers.com. We've got a variety of foliages and amazing phalaeonopsis orchids. That's the starting point because they have such graceful curve already perfect for a hoop, and then, with their faces, that soft yellow. Perfect accent, craspedia balls, aren't they grand? 

To create your mechanics, you need just a few things, a small foam igloo, the hoop, of course, whichever size you desire, then to secure it in place, I use a single UGlu strip and bind wire so that, when you put it all together, you can hold it and it's secure. The igloo soaked in flower food, UGlued to the ring, tied in place with bind wire ready for designing. 

I start with the foliage, cutting it down so it's not going to overwhelm, a little bit of cocculus from the assortment pack, just making it a little smaller, little bit of ruscus, then adding texture and interest with the Australian assortment pack. The umbrella fern is so big and lush, but you can cut it down using smaller bits and just removing the side, maybe a second piece, and for amazing texture and draping, the goanna claw is grand. I'm just pulling it apart and then breaking it down to smaller bits, and you can go back and just insert it directly in the foam, thinking about following the hoop, contrast of colors, layering and grouping to create depth, then going back and adding the trailing pieces to carry the eye through the design. 

Before I cover all the foam with foliage, I go back and add my orchids in place. That way, I've got plenty of space for each of their stems. Starting with the larger ones first, cutting it down, and then placing it deeply into the foam, making sure that it will drink well nice and secure, then coming back with the smaller and placing it above, again, making sure it goes deeply into the foam. 

Of course, you want to cover your back mechanics, and the easiest way is to go ahead and just use a bit of foliage and another UGlu strip, pull it off. Maybe another leaf, with just the UGlu Dash and just glue it right to the back, covering everything. Add additional leaves as needed, adding more as you go along. Sometimes, it takes two, three, four different leaves to make sure it's totally covered. Then you want to go back to the front and make sure and add in more foliage to cover the igloo completely and then maybe even another stem of orchids tucked in to add a little more substance right at the top. 

As I finish, off camera, I glued on a few more leaves so the back is totally covered, and I want to do the last stem of orchids, pulling back a bit to add depth to the design, so adding it in, facing it to the opposite side, finding the perfect hole, putting it in there securely, then to pick up the color from the center of the orchids, going back with very short craspedia and just tucking it down low, adding texture, color and depth to the design. 

The elegant hoop bouquet is easy with flowers from FiftyFlowers.com. The recipe, four stems of phalaeonopsis orchids, a variety of sizes, then 10 stems of craspedia, then a bit of the Australian foliage, a goanna claw, umbrella fern, and some of the wedding tropical foliage, some ruscus, some cocculus, and you can see it makes a very elegant bouquet. 

The hoop bouquet done cascading style is an on-trend design. For more creative inspiration, you can find it on our website at Flower School .com. If you have questions, you can reach us there at 503-223-8089, and, of course, I'd love to see what you create. Find a hoop. Find your most fabulous flowers. Take a picture and post it on social media. Be sure to tag Floral Design Institute so we all can see what you create as you do something you love.