For this Thanksgiving Day’s flowers, my theme was “in the garden”, so all of the elements I chose felt fresh and a little organic, even with the choice of my footed bowl.
When I start to think about the flowers for a table, I typically do a sketch of what I want the arrangement to look like so I have starting place for the final look, then pull out all the supplies, vessel and stems I think I’ll need that align with my table design’s overall color scape and theme.
Because I’m using a footed bowl, I needed to anchor the florals with floral floral frog (attached with some sticky floral clay) that will hold the flowers and greenery stems. Then, using clear floral tape, I lay a grid over the top as a guide for the flowers. These supplies can be found at any crafts store or online and are a must if you don’t want your beautiful arrangement to start leaning sideways just before you serve the first course!
For this arrangement, because so much of the design used white flowers, greenery was a must for balance. I used the same seeded eucalyptus I used for the table garland and started adding clusters of stems at different spaces along the base of the bowl, then added some additional greenery to the center of the space to work more flowers around later.
Now it’s time to add the flowers. Start with the large ones first so you can tuck the small stems in between and fill in the arrangement, while also giving it some additional visual interest. Even if the smaller flowers are largely all the same color, the different shape and texture of each flower will add a unique element to the final arrangement.
For this design, I used large white hydrangea stems as my main flower, then added white roses to fill in some gaps.
Once the main flowers were placed in the arrangement, I used smaller, secondary flowers to add color. Here, I used a combination of orange roses and orange ranunculus to brighten up the final look and tie in to the pumpkins I had placed around the table design.
For the finishing touches, I always add a little texture and height. For this Thanksgiving Day flower design, I use some dried wheat stems I had purchase in a Fall bouquet at the grocery store and let air dry in the garage – they added a nice organic texture to the final arrangement.
This year’s arrangement came together perfectly for the look I wanted for our Thanksgiving Day celebrations. Starting the process is always a little daunting – I’m no floral designer! – but once I get started it tends to come together. I find that having a sketch is helpful, as well as having the right tools laid out before I start.
Here’s to your next beautiful floral arrangement, and until next time, Cheers!
