This guide provides details for How To Create A Stunning Fall Floral Arrangement! I share the tools, the tips, and what to include to expertly arrange a beautiful bouquet yourself.
Creating A Beautiful Arrangement With Haute House Studio
There’s something about Fall that makes you want to bring the outdoors in. Maybe it’s our denial of the departure of warm weather, which inevitably transitions us inside more often. I’d argue that having fresh plants or flowers in the home is a good practice year round, but I’m partial to the rich colors and interesting textures that Fall florals bring.
I had a chance to chat with my friends Bridget Connell and Marsha Hunt of Haute House Studio, a boutique floral and event studio in the Twin Cities. They are true experts in their craft, of which I’ve personally been an enthusiastic participant and student.
“We have to do the things that make us feel wonderful”, Bridget, the co-founder of Haute House Studios says plainly. Whether it’s working out, spending time outdoors, or regularly having something in your home that makes you happy, finding ways to relieve anxiety and promote joy is more important than ever right now. Bridget talks about the psychology of floral, and the research that supports the fact that having fresh plants in your home increases dopamine levels. Specifically, she reflects on an email she received from a woman whose mother was in a memory care facility to which Haute House had recently delivered donated arrangements to. “My mother doesn’t have much to look after, but she kept your floral arrangement alive and beautiful for 4 weeks. She remembered to change the water regularly, trim the stems, and tend to it for that long!” Bridget also shares how it’s been proven that having fresh blooms in your home promote a cleaner space. “When you have fresh flowers in your bathroom, you’re less inclined to have the toothpaste sitting out. It just doesn’t fit.”
I sat down with Bridget (virtually!) to chat through some tips and tricks for creating a beautiful Fall arrangement at home.
Assembling The Perfect Arrangement
Tools of The Trade
In order to create a beautiful arrangement, first things first: you’re going to need a few tools. The Haute House Studio team recommends a couple things to get you started:
Pruning Shears
Having a sharp and sturdy pair of pruning shears will extend the life of your arrangement. “The cleaner the cut, the longer your blooms will last”, Bridget says. This pair is similar to the ones that Haute House uses, and which I’ve personally used at their workshops.
Floral Tape
Floral tape can do wonders for your arrangements: especially if you’re working with a wider mouthed vase. Creating a lattice or “tic-tac-toe” grid, keeps flowers, greenery, and other elements in place, allowing you more control over the total arrangement. This floral tape is a great option.
Floral Picks
Using picks allow you to elevate elements that are smaller or have a shorter stem. Placing items like gourds, mini pumpkins, berries, or even orchids on a pick gives them the height they need to stand out in an arrangement.
Floral Adhesive
This item can come in handy if you’re wanting to adhere looser items, such as moss, to the exterior of your arrangement. This works nicely in outdoor arrangements!
Hydrangea Dip
This fantastic additive is made in house by co-founder Marsha, who was a research chemist before diving into the world of floral design. The mixture includes alum, an item that’s used in pickling to keep cucumbers crisp. The Hydrangea Dip encourages the stem to keep drinking, which means your hydrangeas last much longer.
Vases
Having a variety of vases gives you flexibility to create a variety of different arrangements. Vases with a tapered neck are easiest to offer volume and flare up top. Larger vases, though they make a statement, can require too many flowers, and many times people will underestimate the amount necessary to fill them. Bridget suggests seeking out vases that match the interior in your home: love bright and vibrant hues? Seek out a punchy pink or cerulean. If neutral tones are more your style, you can’t go wrong with a beige, natural stone, or white vase. Opaque options are best, as they hide the stems, which can be distracting and unappealing. Ultimately, Bridget offers the best advice. “You really should just get something you love!”
Fall Elements to Include In Your Arrangement
Autumn’s foliage offers some of the most gorgeous hues and textures to include in a floral arrangement. Additionally, Fall blooms are heartier, meaning they tend to last longer, upping their value further. Bridget shares a tip for keeping things seasonal both in and outside the home. “You can borrow clippings from your outdoor planters to create a beautiful arrangement inside the home as well. Grasses, celosia, mums…they all are gorgeous both inside and out.” She also swoons over hosta leaves, which can serve as a great vase liner in the sumer months, when hostas are at their prime. “Really, just get inspired with what’s around you.”
She also calls out hydrangeas as a great Fall item, offering pretty, fluffy texture to arrangements. Flowering kale is also a seasonal stunner with a wide variety of colors and sizes to choose from.
How To Assemble
When arranging your blooms, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- You don’t want any leaves flowers to be in the water. This promotes bacteria growth which will shorten the life of your blooms.
- Arrange like colors together, which is more appealing to the eye and has a “designer feel”.
- Arrange your blooms in your hand so you can easily move items around as you go. You’ll trim the ends before they go into the vase to ensure everything stays arranged the way it was in your hand.
- Follow the concept of “Fill, Thrill, and Spill” to create the most appealing arrangement!
Fill, Thrill, Spill
The concept of “fill, thrill, and spill” outline the three needs for an impactful arrangement. Let’s dig in to each so you can create an expertly crafted arrangement yourself:
- Fill : Adding “fill” allows your eye to expand across the arrangement. When there are interesting elements for the eye to be drawn to, you’ll be able to take in the entirety of what you’re looking at more joyfully. Flowering kale, mums, celosia, dahlias, zinnias, and roses are wonderful for this.
- Thrill: Adding drama, tall items such as grasses, branches, leggy foliage, and coneflowers create a linear line which draws the eye up.
- Spill: Softening the edge of an arrangement, the spill can include items like ornamental peppers (available in purple, red, and orange), moss, and hydrangeas. These items also add an air of drama to your arrangement.
Much like with interior or event design, the more time your eye has to “dance around”, the more time you have to absorb and enjoy it. Creating interesting and appealing arrangements are easy with these 3 simple rules.
Where To Get Fall Blooms
While Farmer’s Markets, some grocery stores, and co-ops have blooms you could seek out yourself, Haute House Studio offers a floral subscription program to create your own gorgeous seasonal arrangements at home! Their Bloom Box Subscription has weekly, biweekly, or monthly offerings, where you’ll receive an assortment of seasonal blooms that are trimmed and ready to arrange.
“Each Bloom Box has whatever is fruitful that Mother nature gives us that week. While we curate a variety of colors and textures for good marriage, what is in each Bloom Box varies based on what is available that week.”
Each Bloom Box can yield multiple stunning arrangements, depending on the size of your vases. Giving a Bloom Box subscription as a gift is a great idea to bring some joy into someone’s home. You can choose from a 3, 6, or 12 month gift, with flowers being delivered (or available for pickup) each month.
Events With Haute House Studio
In addition to offering their gorgeous Bloom Boxes, Haute House Studios also offers private classes! This was how I first met Bridget and Marsha. My friend Lauren hosted a floral arranging class in partnership with Bridget, which was absolutely fabulous (charcuterie, fancy cocktails, and florals? OK, yes!). Lauren also hosted her birthday party with Haute House, with Marsha leading a floral crown making class. The only thing to make that day better?
Drake on cake. It happened.
Bring The Outdoors In
Ultimately, bringing the beauty that this gorgeous time of year has to offer inside your home allows you to thoroughly enjoy the all too short season. Using these tips, we encourage you to create your own Fall floral arrangement, and of course: reach out to Haute House Studio if you’re interested in learning more about floral arranging.