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Spring is here! Which means April showers and May flowers! It’s also one of the busiest times in the floral industry, with holidays like Easter and Mother’s Day just around the corner. Florists know how important it is to be prepared for these spring celebrations, but it’s understandably tough for those still recovering from the Valentine’s Day rush.
With that in mind, we invited Cory Christopher, our 2022 #FSLiving Featured Florist, to take over our Instagram Live and craft a spring design to offer inspiration and motivation, using products from our Spring and Everyday Catalogue and Flyer.
Read about his insights using our Bouquet Holders below, or scroll down for his full Instagram Live recording.
Embracing Spring
What better inspiration is there for the season than flowers themselves? From Daffodils to Hyacinths, Cory believes there are so many possibilities to stir springtime inspiration – most notably his favourite flowers, Tulips! Reflecting on your favourite seasonal flowers to spark your imagination is a great way to kickstart your creativity.
Spring Bouquets
Every year, our Featured Florist gets to preview our spring collection, and while Cory was flipping through the pages, he “fell in love with” our new Bouquet Holders. Spring flowers often have shorter stems, and after designing a few bouquets with our new offering, he loved the additional support and structure the Bouquet Holders offered – keeping delicate blooms in place and looking their best. Cory also loves that the Holders are available in four different styles, Salim, Wood/Wool, Rattan, and Natural or Cream Jute, to compliment any look.
Creating Visual Interest
In all of Cory’s designs, he aims to achieve visually stunning work by creating unique colour stories that embrace and showcase each flower’s natural shape and movement. His biggest inspiration comes from the flowers themselves; he pauses to appreciate how they move and dance and leans into their authenticity to increase the design’s interest – and hopefully make Mother Nature Proud!
He reminds us that it’s important to recognize that fresh flowers are temporal; they will fade away at some point. Fading flowers have such unique beauty, but balancing shorter and longer-lived flowers increases the design’s longevity and will ensure your customers keep coming back.
Designing with the Bouquet Holders
Starting with his Skimma and Leather Leaf greens, Cory begins to form the base of his bouquet by placing them in the Salim Bouquet Holder. Many greens can be used, but Cory usually tries to work with at least two varieties of slightly different shades to create texture and visual interest. Once he has enough volume, he pauses and re-arranges as necessary to maintain that Mother Nature look.
Cory begins to add Hyacinth in bunches of two or more while keeping his greens more natural and all over. When placing his blooms he tries to group the same blooms in one spot If the design allows. It can also be nice to add the odd singular flower for some creative flair, something Cory does with the Hyacinth in this design.
Next, Cory adds Pink Lisianthus for its height and the beautiful garden look of its tendrils. Stopping again, he looks and makes a few slight tweaks before adding green Verbena, a delicate and accenting flower that really allows the other blooms’ colours to pop. Then white Waxflower is added for its wildflower feel and longevity, along with cascading Orchids that give the bouquet a dramatic touch. Finally, he adds his favourite spring flower, pink tulips, which add that extra pop of colour.
A designer job is never finished, Cory says. Once all stems have been added, he takes one last look to make sure there is depth to the bouquet by letting some of the pieces be a bit longer and shorter. Lastly, he cuts the stems and, voila, the bouquet can be placed in any vase.
Cory’s Bouquet Holder Take-Aways
“I just really love the charm the holders bring together and the convenience they can provide to customers. Because the holder keeps the stems in place, a client doesn’t need to be scared when unpacking if they need to re-arrange when they receive them. You can prepare a few of these beforehand for customers to pick up and enjoy quickly.”
For more of Cory’s spring inspiration, watch the full video below!
Stay tuned for more of Cory Christopher’s insights throughout the year! #FSLiving