Christmas without the Cliche

Oh no! Could it be? Is it really possible? Am I really feeling what I'm feeling?...Yes...I officially have a sore throat, AGAIN! I'm going to stop it in its tracks this time. It is no match for my daily dose of Emergen-C working hand-in-hand with my intake of tangerines and lime juice with honey (***gulp***), I hope. Mind over matter, mind over matter.

So what does this mean for me? I get a relaxing day in front of my computer working on a blog entry and chipping away at the overdue photos I need to post. No meetings. No designing. Just rest day.

These photos are from a Christmas party that I did back in December for a popular dance school. I was given a budget and three days notice. Luckily, the client also gave me free reign to design...my type of job! I am not a traditionalist by nature, so Christmas was never really my favorite time of the year to design for. In a flower shop, Christmas usually meant creating wreaths and candle table arrangements. As a freelance floral designer, I get clients who seek out creativity. I decided on a traditional shape to keep in line with the traditional feel of Christmas and added a couple "new" elements, like feathers, succulents, and cinnamon sticks. I did three different designs that were alternated throughout the room. By far, my favorite was the white ethereal arrangement, that balanced softness against rigid, much like an actual snowscape. To me, the muted colors of the succulents, dusty miller and frosted pine cones gave the arrangement a "freshly fallen snow" feel and the lightness of the feathers and the fringed mums offset the stiffness of the evergreen and succulents quite nicely.

Every Christmas party needs a red and green color combination, so I did my own interpretation by replacing forest green with a more modern apple green. Alone, apple green paired against a bright red could translate to an animated style. So, I added in a deep red to give the colors a little more depth and elegance. The cinnamon sticks really completed the look and is really the only element of "holiday" in this arrangement.


Of course, I had to do one arrangement that was a little more traditional. My goal was to make the ornaments just as much of a focal point as the flowers and I think it was a successful pairing.

Could it really be? Am I really feeling it? Is this really happening?...Yes...After this project, I can actually say, I like to design Christmas arrangements!

Judgement Day

As promised, here is the round hand tied bouquet in order to compare and contrast the look of the cascade versus the nosegay. I used a similar mix of flowers, but felt that the nosegay bouquet needed the pink pom poms to offset the darker coloration, mostly for photo purposes (This is kind of the Art Director side of me kicking in). In real life, the bouquet would look fine with shades of burgundy and purple, but in photos, the details get a little lost with large clusters of darkness. You might ask, why wasn't this the case in the cascade? The use of a bouquet holder allowed the flowers to be placed with some separation, so even in photos, each bloom can be appreciated. This separation is relative since you can see that the flowers still look beautiful in the hand tied bouquet.

Due to the spacial relationship of the flowers, even though the cascade was larger in size, more flowers were used in the construction of the nosegay. On the flip side, more time was logged in the designing and flower prep of the cascade.

One last thing to consider with the nosegay is the finishing of the handle. The handle is often overlooked because it is usually covered at least partially by the hand that is holding it. However, similar to wearing a killer pair of shoes under your long wedding gown, it finishes the look and it's those moments when someone catches a glimpse of it that makes it worth finishing off the look. For this garden inspired bouquet, I chose to do a twine wrap.


There's a million other options depending on the look and style of your bouquet. Use rhinestones, leaves, contrasting ribbon, vintage handkerchief...whatever best suits you on your wedding day. So, what's the verdict? Cascade or nosegay?