By now you’ve probably heard that Pantone’s Color of the Year is Living Coral. It is everywhere, especially in florals. The vibrant hue draws inspiration from below the sea, hence the name, and captures glowing tones rarely seen above water. Thankfully, with the help of artificial flowers, you can have the best of both worlds – any color, any season, any flower!
LeAnne Samuelson, Creative Director at Afloral, loves using pops of coral in her DIY bouquet arrangements. According to LeAnne…
Sometimes I come across a color or combination and I love it. It’s not always planned but I see the colors together out in nature or online and I throw it all together. You just get a feeling!
By pairing complimenting colors (coral & white) you add dimension. Samuelson shared with us her steps for this DIY bouquet, choosing white dahlias, cherry blossoms, coral & peach roses, and salal greenery. You can also use artificial flowers (Afloral has all those shown), or you can opt for real flowers or even paper flowers. Same steps for all.
Step 1: Find your focal flowers. Whatever catches your eye – color or texture – start there.
Step 2: Build around the focal point. Let it grow organically.
Step 3: Tape away! Samuelson uses floral tape every time she adds a new stem – it allows her to finetune later on.
Step 4. Keep the stems long and don’t trim till the end – you can change their heights later.
Step 5. Add your greenery. Fill in wherever could use a little love!
Step 6: Top it off with a ribbon or simply drop it in a vase for decoration.
Hopefully, these steps will encourage you to take a chance and try to make your own bouquet. You may decide you still want to leave the actual wedding bouquets up to the professionals but at the very least, this could be a fun activity with your bridesmaids. And who knows… maybe you’ll surprise yourself with something great!