Floral Workshop

 Yesterday, I went with my friend Susan, as she taught a floral workshop on making floral pillars. 

Brides are always looking for something new and interesting for their weddings. The bridal industry is looking to be 'green' and not use floral oasis in their arrangements. These pillars do both because on the one hand they are very unique, and on the other hand you don't use water except for very tender florals.

Let me show you how it's done.

Look at the floor on the bottom right of the photo. There are black poles then dry grass stems in a chicken wire cage that is about 6 feet long.

One of the poles goes into the silver stand and then the chicken wire cage goes down over the pole. The dried grass stems (there is a huge bunch behind the ones in the wire cage) are what hold the greens and flowers in place.

Here Susan is placing fern stems first, then other greens into the grasses cage.

She used about six kinds of greens, before beginning to add flowers.

I learned that the roses are pretty hearty, and that in this flower pillar only the hydrangea needed to be in water, so we used the individual water cylinders for them.

The other florists at this workshop and I had so much fun learning new things. Did you know you can pull the center of a rose out and it gives you a wild garden rose look? You can also pull the center of a carnation out and it makes it look like a different flower! Isn't that wild? Next time you get flowers from the local grocery, give that a try!

Okay, back to the pillar! Here is was mostly finished. Isn't it gorgeous? Susan says that most of the flowers will be fine still day after the event and that you can save all the flowers and greens!

Susan and I were at a florist in East Earl, Pennsylvania for the workshop. The owner Trish, had her employees work to build the structures, and then make their own pillars.

See the dried pompass grass and in some they used dried nigella (Love in a Mist). These cages will be used over and over again!

Here are some photos from flourish.flowers instagram account.  

Bethany and Ruth carry one of their pillars! They made them in sets - a tall one and a shorter one.

The beauty of these is that they can be moved from the ceremony and into the reception space! 

You can also just do one. This is one of the pillars that Donna and Carissa worked on! These ladies are all so talented!

They turned out beautifully! 

If you are not on Instagram you can find Trish and her team at flourish.flowers. 

You can find my friend Susan on Instagram @divinefloralsbysusan.

Here is a photo of Susan and her son Josh who married last fall in a beautiful backyard wedding. She made her first pillars for his wedding!

I love being around creative people. The ladies I spent yesterday with were not in competition with each other, they are warm and generous. They thrive on learning new things. They all have a goal of providing excellent service to their brides and other customers who have floral needs.

My own creativity expanded yesterday. I'm excited about the wedding I have coming up in May, and the floral arrangements I'll be making for my mother in laws memorial service. After several years of cov*d, I needed this new shot of creative energy!