How To Design A Tall Wedding Floral Arrangement

I worked in the floral industry for all of one minute when a client asked me to design a tall wedding arrangement. It seemed like a daunting task at first, but once I had a plan, it really wasn’t as difficult as I first thought. I just had to translate the techniques that I knew already and focus those ideas on a bigger scale. With the video in this post, I will show you the behind-the-scenes so you can catch a glimpse of how to create one of your own. I teach you how to assemble the arrangement and even divulge my flower supply list. I reveal that designing a tall wedding floral arrangement doesn’t have to remain a mystery with a few handy dandy tips.

This post was about a year or more in the making. By the time I created the flowers for the wedding day, it had taken 6 months or more to get those fantastic shots back from the photographer. Now that those are in, I get to reveal how to design a tall wedding floral arrangement.

When I order flowers for any event, I make a flower count. That’s what I call my recipe list. It helps me keep on track, so I don’t run out of flowers towards the end of the wedding. Here is what went into each of these arrangements:

Supply List:

20 hydrangeas
25 roses (Different types include bacarra rose, freedom rose, faith rose. Since these come in 25 increments, I order that many bunches and then they share the various colors.)
10 burgundy dahlias
25 stems burgundy carnation
1 bunch pink wax flower
10 stems burgundy hypericum berry
1/2 bunch burgundy snapdragons
1/2 bunch Italian ruscus
2 bunches leather leaf
1 bunch seeded eucalyptus
1 bunch silver dollar eucalyptus
2 bunches of salal tips

Arrangement Construction Secrets

Want to know my secret for the construction of this piece? I put it all on a dinner plate. I know it sounds crazy, but hey, it works! There are expensive lomey dishes made for floral designers to create with, but I have found that these dinner plates are easy to keep in stock and 25 cents at the dollar store. The centuries-old question, “what’s for dinner?” might look a bit different after you have put 20 hydrangeas and a ton of flowers on it.

After spending the week designing the flowers, then came the task of hauling them to the event. It took me 4 van load trips to get all the flowers to the wedding location.

One of my favorite things about designing a wedding is adding in a subtle detail that not many will notice. Did you see the blackberries at the top of the bouquet? They look good enough to eat! The berries add texture and depth of color to the bride’s bouquet. Interestingly,Blackberries wouldn’t translate to the tall arrangement, and they would get lost in the overall design. However, they work sitting on the top of a cascade bouquet.

I sat and wired each individual blackberry. It is best to get the ones that aren’t too soft or mushy to not fall off the wire. What I love most about designing a wedding from start to finish is seeing how the entire event takes shape. The flowers can tie the whole color palette together, making for an elegant and finished look to the bride’s wedding day.

The day after the wedding is when I usually go and pick up all of the leftover flowers and vases. I have to admit that there were buckets full after this one. Unfortunately, I couldn’t let all of those blooms go to waste, so I decided to make a stunning red wreath with all of those roses!