How To Make A Bridal Bouquet (courtesy of FlowerSchool.com)

Welcome to the FlowerSchool.com video library! I’m LeeAnn Kessler, Director of The Floral Design Institute, and today I want to chat with you about the wedding season. Yes, it’s just around the corner. You’re going to have brides at your door soon, if they haven’t already been there. In the classroom, I’m already getting calls – “When is your next advanced wedding class?”, “I need more information”, and “How do I take care of calla lilies?” Yes, flowers go through trends, and there’s always a different popular bloom, and this year, Callas are one at the top. Of course, roses are always popular, but, calla lilies, hydrangeas and orchids, they’re sure to be favorites, and callas have their own tricks when you work with them that will make it so much easier. And, yes, we’ve incorporated callas into our advanced wedding class, because we’ve had so many calls from people just like you, asking “what do I do?”, and, in this video, we’re gonna share with you a fun, calla lily bouquet!

One aspect that can cause a little bit of consternation when you’re working with a calla lily is the fact that it’s face doesn’t always look the way that you want it to. It may be looking backwards from the curvature of the stem – it just doesn’t quite work within the bouquet. You can solve that by letting them sit out at room temperature for about an hour. Let them begin to dehydrate, and then, mold and manipulate by running your thumb down the stem. You can get the curvature to flow – and do this with each blossom before I begin making my bouquet. And I lay them out in front of me so that they’re all parallel, with matching curvature to the stem and the heads facing the direction that I want them to be in the bouquet. With this preparation ahead of time, assembling a calla bouquet is actually quite easy!

Now, I’m going to incorporate a bit of lily grass with this – I just take some and put it in my hand – and l look at the flowers that I’ve laid out, and I think about sequencing. Starting with the littlest one first,, and letting it drape outwards toward the end, and then bringing in another one, and sequencing my way back. And, notice how they curve so beautifully, right with the grass. I can go back and ad a little more grass if I like, and callas. Sequencing them through my hand…a little more grass…and, the biggest calla towards the back, and maybe up towards the top. And then, I’m going to tie this all together – it’s very easy! If you’ve ever fussed with callas, many times it’s because you skip that first preparation step.

Now, I’m gonna tie them off using waterproof tape. I’m just taking a section and taping right around the stems. The reason I’m doing this rather than bind wire or raffia or a zip tie – there’s less chance that they’ll cut through the stems. It’s just a nice, clean binding. I’m gonna do it once more. I’m gonna do it once more, down just a little bit, keeping the stems all tightly bound together. Ready to continue my bouquet!

Now, one of my frustrations with callas is how much difference in price there is from a 30 cm to a 60 cm, so, the shorter they are, the less expensive, and the longer, the more expensive. Well, many times I need that long stem – in fact, I wish these stems were longer…they don’t really balance well to the head – but I really don’t want to pay that price. I want to buy the 30 cm – the shorter ones. And, a wonderful trick when you’re doing a hand-tied – especially in the crescent-style, like this – don’t worry about the stem length! Go ahead and buy the smaller ones, the 30 cm or the 40 cm, because, in fact, I’m gonna cut these down.

Now, those of you who pay for the long ones are sitting there cringing, going “oh no! I can’t believe she cut those off – they’re so expensive!” But then, I want to elongate, and to do that, I take more lily grass and reverse it, placing it against the stems and letting it drape downward. I’m looking to see if I have the same, flowing movement. And then, once again, I tape this in place, using the waterproof tape. Now, no one will ever know if I have long calla lilies or short calla lilies, because they’re all hidden right inside the grass.

So, I’ve got a beautiful crescent bouquet, now, but a very homely handle! Let me show you how to fix that. For my handle – to conceal the mechanics – it’s so quick and easy. I use the lonely bouquet wraps. This one is the linen finish with the pearls – just perfect for the bride to hang on to. Now, how does that work? I bet you never saw the green ones, I thought they only came in white! That’s where being a florist is so much fun – we don’t have to play by the rules. Yes, I started with the the regular bouquet wrap that you see, and yes, it was white. But no, I didn’t stop there. I used the Just For Flowers. It’s a translucent spray – I sprayed it in that pale, pale green, and then, I went ahead and wrapped it around, securing it with the velcro, and it gives you a much softer look, so that I didn’t have that white shining out. Isn’t that beautiful? From both sides? And, oh, so comfortable to hang on to!

Now, you know a new trick for value and convenience in a beautiful calla bridal bouquet. Brides are sure to love it! I have so many more tricks to share with you – check out our website, FlowerSchool.com. The video library has many different bridal aspects. Also, we’ve got fabulous DVDs – all on weddings – and, if you love weddings, and you plan to be THE wedding florist extraordinaire, check out our wedding program. Probably THE most fabulous program you’re going to find ANYWHERE. It comes to you in textbook, DVD, with me, and, we learn from the very beginning to the end. From bridal bouquets, corsages, halos, reception, altar – everything is included! If you have questions about it, check out the website, again, FlowerSchool.com, or, call me! 1-800-819-8089. IF you’re shy and you’re not sure that you want to do voice to voice and a little bit intimidated to ask a question, email me. Then you can be invisible. My personal email – Leanne@FloralDesignInstitute.com.

So, now it’s wedding season – almost – it’s just about here! Are you ready? Get some callas, practice, the brides will be there soon! Have fun, and do something you love!

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