There’s nothing like a fresh bunch of flowers to breathe life into a space – whether you’re preparing to welcome guests or simply love having fresh blooms in the home, there are a variety of ways to arrange flowers in a vase.
Having an arrangement that looks stylish and effortless on your dinner table or kitchen bench can be a challenge, especially without spending a small fortune at your local flower shop. But we have good news! With a little know-how, you can do it yourself using local supermarket flowers.
Here are five easy tips to make your flower arrangement look like a florist did it.
1. Stick to one colour
Keep things simple and elegant by choosing blooms in one colour. If you prefer coloured flowers, choose bunches in graduating shades of one colour – pink or yellow works really well to produce an elegant display. We also suggest buying more than one bunch to include different varieties.
Of course, all white is a classic look – very high end!
2. Prepare your vessel
If your flowers have not been arranged by a florist, rather picked up from market in bunches, a good way to support them in your vase is to create a grid with florist- or sticky-tape criss-crossed over the rim of your vase.
You can then feed flowers in stem-by-stem and they’ll sit evenly in the vase where you want them to.
3. Trim the stems
Once you’ve prepared your vase, stand the bouquet next to it in your hand to gauge the appropriateness of the size – be sure it will fit all the stems and support the size of bouquet and remember to remove the leaves below the water line of the vase.
Trimming the stems will also make your flowers last longer. Be sure to snip the stems every time you replace the water (preferably daily) for best results.
Then it’s time to snip the bunch tie (if required). This can be scary, so before you actually snip the twine or rubber band, fill your vase with water (and flower food if you have it). Lift the bunch a little, snip the tie and remove it.
4. Loosen the foliage
Once you have your flowers cut to size, give the bunches a little primp and strip back any leaves that will sit below the water line.
To give your flowers a little va-va-voom, start with greenery and foliage to fill the base. This will make for a fuller bunch that looks more professional. Where needed, trim some stems shorter than others to create shape and dimension. And don’t be afraid to remove anything that looks wilted or tired as one sad leaf could bring down the entire arrangement.
5. Flower time
Now it’s time to fill in the gaps between the foliage with your blooms and let the flowers do the talking.
Start with the statement flowers; these are the biggest or most eye-catching blooms. Again, trim the stems where needed to create different heights. And for a more natural finish, let some flower stems sit slightly outside the main shape of the arrangement.
As you fill the gaps, take a step back and look at the arrangement from different angles, turning the vase as you go. Move any flowers that feel too cluttered or leave obvious gaps.
Then to finish, give the arrangement a final tidy up, remove any damaged petals, then top up the vase with fresh water.
And if all else fails, don’t hesitate to simply “chop and drop” your flowers straight into a simple vase with no embellishment or fuss – this elegant look will still feed your soul and, as Coco Chanel says, “Less is more”.
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