I was having a Cinco de Mayo party for a few friends on a Saturday night, and I discovered that morning that my local flower store was complete sold out of flowers!!! With no time to waste, and a desire to keep my vision I had to think fast. I was going to figure out how to make a DIY flower arrangement special!
In the Past, Bought was Best
I will admit, pretty flower arrangements have been a spending weakness of mine. Especially when I am throwing a party. My local flower vendor gets up at 4 am twice a week to source the most beautiful, unique blooms from the SF flower market. She mixes and matches stems with such grace. The bundles cost me $30- $50 and the blooms do not disappoint.
Over the years, she has showed me some tips on how to combine the flowers for a modern design.
In the design above, my florist matched Asian greens with blue and white flowers. She added some pink roses for added charm. The roses and tulips are the SPECIAL factor. What I learned from her to make this unique is what I will teach you today! See all the floral arrangement photos in this Chinese New Year post.
The arrangement above is the perfect example of mixing styles.
- Add a small % of flowers that surprise
- Add varied greenery
- Add garden clippings
This pink, peach and white arrangement is as pretty as it gets. Styled by MJ Kreations as a part of a baby shower on the water. These professional flowers are THE BOMB. Get some serious floral inspiration from here.
This arrangement is a great example of traditional flowers which we talk about below.
Now that you are inspired and feeling creative, you can do this!
How to DIY a Professional Flower Arrangement
Choosing Flowers:
For a small informal party, I will purchase 1-2 bouquets to arrange about the space. When I am buying I make sure at least 30%-60% or more of my blooms either have a traditional flair or coloring. This small amount of tradition is a great way for your guests to make that immediate connection to your theme.
Traditional Flowers
- Weddings – Roses, Peony, Buttercup, Hydranga, lilies
- Halloween/Day of the Dead – Marigold
- Valentines – Roses
- Christmas – Holly, Ivy, Mistletoe, Pointsettia, Helleborus
- Baby Showers – Roses, Daisy, sweet peas, lilies
Traditional Color Schemes
- Baby showers: pink, blue, yellow, green
- Weddings: match the bridal party
- Bridal Showers: pink, peach, purple, white
- Christmas: red, white, green, blue
- Mother’s Day: spring blooms
- Birthdays: match color scheme
- Chinese New Year: Red and white
- Cinco De Mayo: Primary Colors
- Unicorn: Purple, Pink, Blue and Gold
- Circus Party: Red and White
- Safari Party: Green, Brown, Yellow
Adding Mixed Blooms
You have your traditional blooms and now it’s time to have some fun! Throw in odd greenery, bouquet flowers that don’t match or garden flowers. Be brave this is your moment!
If you pick up a traditional bunch at the grocery, and then add some bush clippings or mis-matched greenery, you can play with the arrangement until it doesn’t look store bought anymore.
Trimming the Flowers:
Find a vase that is the right height for your arrangement. Short, wide vases work well. I like to also use large mason jars.
Hold your flowers next to the vase, and cut them to the right height. You do not want flowers standing up tall out of your vase. My husband just transfers them fresh from the store right to a vase, and it looks very funny.
Cut all follage, leaves and stems from below the vase line. Thank you Martha Stewart for telling me this so many years ago. I love this tip and it allows the stems to move about.
EXAMPLE: Make a DIY Flower Arrangement
For my Cinco De Mayo party, I purchased one typical grocery store bouquet. It had the right Cinco De Mayo colors of purple, green and yellow. It was such an ordinary bunch of flowers.
I took them apart at home, and added some blooming bush clippings and a garden roses. I took out some baby’s breath that no longer fit with the style, and there was whole new life in this boquet. The surprise factor means this floral arrangement was unique but still fit the theme. This cost me only $8.
You see the bouquet above has many of the primary colors of Cinco De Mayo. It also doesn’t scream it from the rooftops because of that special factor. You can see how the garden blooms and greenery adds softness and charm to the party.
All you need to do now, it go and buy 1 bunch, go home and experiement. Add bush clippings, greenery and garden flowers. Send us your pics!
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