It’s no secret that flowers can appear so effortless and simple with skilled hands. The very first few times you’ve attempted to put flowers in a vase, things probably feel slightly loose, uneven, and difficult to manage. Stems can point outwards awkwardly; colours might not blend harmoniously; the flowers can suddenly lose their shape after you add just one more bloom. This early frustration can be completely normal in floristry, as you’re likely trying to focus on multiple things simultaneously; line, balance, proportion, texture and movement. Perhaps a better place to start is to limit what you are focusing on. Instead of going big, start with a tiny vase and use just 5-7 stems. You’re likely to have an easier time spotting the effect of each individual flower, and training yourself to observe structure first.
If possible, practice the exact same composition three times with the same flowers in the same vase, to begin with. The first time, add the main stem and build the shape, without overthinking about whether each stem feels perfect, the second time think a bit about spacing, and whether each flower has the room to be seen, and the third time observe shape. Do these arrangements look too heavy in one area? Does the shape feel cramped on top? Using the same materials in this way, and repeating the arrangement multiple times, seems like a trivial task; however, this will sharpen your observation skills much faster than completing a single arrangement and moving on to the next. Floristry is improved through comparison: as you use the same stems over and over, it becomes much easier to spot small differences in their handling, and these nuances can be more informative than an end result that appears perfect.
It can be tempting to rush filling spaces that you perceive as empty. Beginners often associate unused space with a failed arrangement, so you’ll keep adding flowers to cover up this space, until your arrangement becomes dense and confusing. The solution isn’t to use less material all the time, but to consider what new stems bring to the arrangement before placing them; is that flower adding length to the shape? Does it help soften a line? Does it act as a link between different colours? If you can’t identify why you’ve placed a stem in that spot, leave it out. Similarly, avoid cutting all stems at an even length. This will flatten out your arrangement, and remove any sense of movement. Instead, try keeping a few stems much longer, a few much shorter, and a few in between. Height creates rhythm, and rhythm brings your floral design to life.
As you continue to progress through the early stages of floristry, avoid making the arrangements more complex just for the sake of complexity. Instead, try practicing in small spaces and with less variety. For example, complete a 15 minute exercise using just foliage, with one flower, and observe. In the first 5 minutes of this exercise, build a loose outline with the foliage. The next 5 minutes, add your single focal flowers, one at a time, moving the vase between each stem. For the last 5 minutes, take away two of the main flowers, and see how this affects your arrangement. This type of limited time practice will help keep your mind focused, rather than your hand moving on autopilot. If you can spot that something is slightly wrong with your arrangement, but are not sure what’s wrong, you can take photos of the composition from the front, and from above; looking at your design on a device will quickly help you notice overcrowded areas, too much open space, and awkward silhouettes, rather than looking at it from one perspective.
When seeking feedback on your work, be sure to ask for feedback regarding specific elements of your arrangement. ‘It’s pretty!’ is a beautiful comment, but it doesn’t tell you what you did well; ‘There’s something wrong with it’ is helpful in that it tells you it doesn’t meet your expectations, but it also doesn’t tell you what to focus on to improve. Instead, you should be asking about balance, focal point, cohesion of your colour story, and if your shape has a sense of flow. You can also create a similar feedback process with yourself; after each practice session, note the changes you feel are improving, and the elements that aren’t quite feeling right. After several practice sessions, your notes will help you to identify patterns. Are your arrangements always feeling cluttered near the rim? Do they feel top-heavy? This is likely because your primary stems have been added last.
Floristry practice is not just about making nice looking designs; it’s about building a strong instinct for floral design. This happens through learning and repeating the practice of trimming, placing, stepping back, and moving on. The eye and the mind improve through learning about what one stem did to elevate the arrangement, or what did the opposite. Regular, small practice sessions mean that inexpensive material (carnations, chrysanthemums, branches, foliage, etc.), can offer just as much value and information as expensive flowers and rare greens do, provided that your focus is on placement and proportion. Floral design can start to become less intimidating with each session that is used for studying shape, spacing and restraint.
