Bunches of Valentine's Love

Video Transcription 

Valentine's Day 2022 is going to be one for the books, filled with challenges. Today, we're looking at how do you adapt and how do you succeed? Using a term coined by one of our Floral Design Institute students, this arrangement is for that person who is large and in charge. It's the better and best of the bouquets, but the design can be adapted to any size, any budget. Foam free, of course. So it's even a very good choice as you're designing. Let's get started and see how it's made. 

The materials I chose for this are so flexible. This Valentines is going to be one of the more traumatic that we've all experienced with supply chain issues. It's a Monday, all the things that could be issues. So instead of saying, "I have 12 roses," I'm mixing and matching. I'm going to use Hearts, which give you that beautiful deep color, removing the leaves, preparing them, not worrying about the thorns too much, just wanting those lower leaves gone. Then the brighter red of the Freedom rose. Then, to make it extra special, tucking in a garden rose using the Piano, which is the delightful red. But I'm just going to use one of those this time because you never know how many are you going to be able to get your hands on? And maybe you end up having to do more with spray roses this year. So, I use some Red Garnet so that they're all red roses, but a variety of things. 

Preparing them for a hand-tied, a fatsia leaf, some Brunia to give it a little more contemporary vibe and add a fun texture. Don't need to be quite so long. And then, for the soft fragrance, little bit of color contrast, some waxflower. Stripping it down, getting it ready, saving the bits. You may be able to use them for something else. And then one sprig of tree fern. Just make sure that I've got some texture there and a little bit of seeded eucalyptus because it's so on trend. Breaking it down, looking at the leaves to remove any that are damaged, maybe pluck it so that you can see the seeds a little more, and then laying everything out, ready to assemble. 

If you can, this is a task you can get an assistant to prepare for you. Then all you need to do is come back, gather the things in your hand, clustering them together, thinking about artistic placement. Adding in the eucalyptus, letting it drape a bit, and more roses. Tucking in the garden rose in the center because it's a little bit drapier, softer stemmed, and that will protect it so that it can't get damaged. Making sure that none of the leaves go behind your hands. You want everything above your hand. A little bit more waxflower, little more seeded eucalyptus. The single piece of tree fern, just kind of tucking it, pulling it down and then pulling it through and you can see it adds texture throughout. Lastly, a single fatsia leaf gathered around, framing, and then using bind wire, just a small bit, tie it all together and cutting the stems down to uniform length. Drop it in a vase of water and repeat over and over and over again. 

Using this technique, when you have lots and lots of bundles, once you have orders, you can cut them to fit the vase and the budget. Maybe they get one bundle. Maybe they can get four bundles. Maybe they've got the best arrangement ever and they're going to get seven bundles. Just cut it down to fit, set it in place and finish filling. 

The recipe starts with a single bunch. Each of them is the same. I started with one garden rose, one spray rose and three standard roses. I used Hearts and Freedom. Then one Brunia, a bit of waxflower, a bit of seeded eucalyptus, one stem of tree fern and one fatsia leaf. Mix and match. You could do different colors. Then when it comes to the pricing, you know the price for each bunch. If they do one in a vase, you're done. They do four in vase, you just multiply by four. Seven times seven, of course add the price of your vessel as well. 

Preparing for a holiday takes creativity, but also ingenuity and working in bunches makes it easy. You don't have to have super long stemmed flowers. You don't need a lot of any one item. You can gather and mix and match and make so much beauty. You'll find more creative inspiration at our website, Flower School .com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there, but now it's your turn. What are you going to create with bunches of love? 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.