What to look for in a Garden-Style or Fine Art Wedding Florist

I had someone say to me recently, “I love that messy style you do as opposed to the traditional ball type bouquets.” And while I understand what this person meant, I have to honest and say that the word “messy” would be one of the last words I would use to describe my floral design style.

And that’s not through any fault of the onlooker. I’m grateful she said what she did because it made me realize that the average person doesn’t understand the intricacies of floral design, and normally you wouldn’t have to! Except when deciding on a florist for your event.

So then, what defines something as messy? When it comes to floral design, I would say any arrangement that is lacking precision, unpleasant to the eye, and contains items that are chosen and placed without intent.

However, it can be hard to notice this when flowers are already beautiful! All we may see are pretty blooms, but it’s the artful intention of the designer that makes us stop and admire, linger, and truly appreciate the intricacies of each variety.

What are some specifics to look for when searching out a true garden style or fine art floral designer?

1. Does the choice and placement of flowers encourage continuous movement to the eye?

The focal flowers in the bouquet pictured below are not directly facing the camera. They are turned in different directions while still being front and center. Some flowers have a stamen (or center) in a high contrasting colour to the petals. These draw the eyes in and can look like “eyeballs” staring at you if not placed carefully! This would capture the viewer’s attention in a negative way by not letting their gaze simply rest and move on, but instead locks it into place, feeling harsh and abrupt.

photography: Kiki Uyede

2. How long are the stems on the bouquet? – The flowers are the main feature, not the stems. They should be cut short enough that hands cover most of them, not look like spindly fingers upstaging a beautiful dress. Cutting the stems shorter also makes it fool proof that the bouquets will be nice and easy to hold at the perfect angle to be photographed.

3. Are the neck and edges of the bouquet a continuation of the design or just covered in greenery? – When a bouquet is “finished” with greenery, this is the first sign of someone new in their design journey. Yes, some greenery can be placed to hide stems and make a bouquet more photogenic at different angles, but a lot of times greenery is used incorrectly. Loads of greenery placed all around the bottom of the bouquet completely ruins its shape and can make it look droopy. Even foliage should be placed with intent to accentuate shape or connect colours within the palette.

4. Is there too much greenery? – Really take a look at where the greenery is placed throughout the arrangement. Are there huge pockets of the same foliage? Are there flowers just sitting on a larger bundle of greenery? What is it doing for the overall shape of the arrangement? Are there a variety of foliages used in different shades or colours instead of just one?

Although this is a white and green bouquet, you can see that the choices of greenery serve different purposes. The spirea on the top left helps create shape without being heavy with its delicate and tiny white flowers. It draws the eye up and helps define the height of the bouquet.

The eucalyptus is drapey, providing movement as well as a softer, more grey-green colour to create highlights in the arrangement, which contributes to it’s overall depth. There is some lemon leaf at the bouquet’s collar, however only to provide a bit more volume and hide the large artichoke stem.
The stems are cut to a reasonable length. The artichoke and white flowers are able to stand out and not be choked or overrun by greenery.

photography: Christine Pienaar

5. Has the designer used a more mature colour palette? – Make sure there are “linking" colours between your lightest and darkest shades. Instead of a blush and burgundy colour palette, be open and look for someone using medium tones that work in between those two extremes to bridge the gap. This could be lighter shades of burgundy, red, mauve and medium pink or foliage with red and burgundy in the veins. Now instead of two colours, shades of blush and burgundy are used. This might mean somewhere between 6-12 different actual colours and that’s perfectly okay! Actually, it’s desired because of all of the beautiful layering happening!

Why does this work so well? Now you are paying attention to colour nuances that naturally happen in nature. My favourite flowers are ones that aren’t just one colour but hues of a colour or fade from one to the other.

These colours are so complimentary. The undertones in some flowers really lend themselves to others in this palette. Looking deep into that pink in dahlia in the center, the shadows mimic the dark burgundy that was added. It allows the brain to understand that those colours make sense together, that they both have a reason to be there.

This is more than simply a pink and burgundy bouquet. It has white, cream, tan, light pink, medium pink, peach, mauve, and dark plum.

Floral design is truly an art form that is lost on the majority of people, likely as a result of the bombardment of ‘everyday flowers’ purchased at the grocery store or a general flower shop. I hope this information has helped you on your search for beautiful wedding or event floral design.

If you looking for a Vancouver Island Wedding & Event Florist, please don’t hesitate to contact us below. I’d love to chat with you and make all of your flower dreams come true!