My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

You are all invited!

My article and Willow Crown design featured in
DIY Weddings Magazine


A wedding is about connecting, and celebrating those connections, more so than any other celebration. We are surrounded by the people who we care about, and who cares about us, and we want our design details to reflect that. When you start making that guest list you might feel that it has grown way bigger than you imagined or you find that you are inviting guests from different interests and fear that they might not have so much to connect them other than how much they care about you as a couple.

You are all invited floral art design.

Let’s first look at how we behave as a crowd. Studies show that we prefer to have conversations in small groups of 5 to 12 people. We are still comfortable in larger groups of 50, but struggle to maintain connections beyond that and will naturally break into smaller groups if there are more than 150 people.

Hellebores and Willow crown

Now, with this in mind we can slightly alter some design details to either downplay the effects of crowd behaviour or enhance it by deliberately connecting the crowd or breaking it up into more intimate groups.

Sparkle detail on the floral crown

Your first consideration should be the size of the designs you choose.

Large bold designs in larger spaces and scaled down designs in smaller spaces. Always keep in mind though, large designs should not block the view. Keep it low or high on tables and within the proportions of the space you are designing for. Small designs should still be dramatic enough to be noticed. Same goes for your colour scheme, dark bold colours and textures makes large spaces feel smaller and more intimate while light colours create a more open feel.

Willow crown

Next consider the type of wedding you are designing for.

As an example, if your guests are seated at tables in smaller groups at the reception for dinner, you may want to deliberately create intimacy at the tables (seating no more than six guests at a table) by adding unique elements to each centerpiece such as a themed table or a small (or bold) colour difference. Even just a slight variation in containers can create a more intimate feel. Or you may want to go the opposite direction and deliberately unify the crowd by creating tables that are exactly the same in look and feel or a long table to accommodate all the guests. Or skip the tables all together and design smaller floral arrangements to place every here and there for guest to enjoy as they mingle in a lounge setting.

Reindeer moss on the willow crown

Crafting special keepsakes for each guest creates an instant connection. It can be as simple as a single flower at each table setting or as luxurious as designing corsages and boutonnieres with tiny name tags.

Hellebores, Reindeer moss and Willow crown

The same goes for the bridal party. You might want to make each design detail unique to truly connect with each member of the bridal party and include something special like a unique flower, as I did in the floral crown. Or maybe you want to show them that they are equally special to you by creating exactly the same designs.

All these are really fun ways to make each and every guest feel special whether your wedding is an intimate event for 60 guests or an extravagant occasion for 600.

Christine de Beer You are all invited floral art design

Thank you DIY Weddings Magazine for inviting me to contribute.

Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.

Tutorials

7 September 2016 Willow flower crown

Loosely weave willow tips to create an ethereal crown

19 February 2013 Manipulating stems: Snapping at an angle, Bending, Spiraling, Curling and Straightening

Most stems, twigs and even sturdier branches can be bend into shapes. It takes practice and more than a bit of patience. The main idea is to slowly manipulate the branch without...

4 January 2011 Drinking straw "test tubes"

When you need to keep a tiny stem hydrated this is just what you need.

11 February 2015 Stripping foliage from weaving stems

Remove foliage from stems to weave with

1 November 2011 Weaving a twig wreath

For my design I wanted the wreath to look wind blown so I added a few loosely woven twigs into the weave. I also wanted to emphasize the autumn colours so I added a twirling...

25 September 2013 Adding beads into a design

I wanted my beads to softly float above my snowball posy. If I glued the beads to some of the flowers it would just disappear in the mass of twigs and flowers.

8 July 2015 Using a pin to place tiny dew drop crystals

It's sometimes difficult to place a tiny crystal or bead exactly where you want it.

Favourite Flowers

Salix matsudana "Tortuosa"

Curly Willow, Chinese Willow, Tortured Willow, Globe Willow, Dragon's Claw, Hankow Willow

Related Designs

19 October 2016 There are Octobers

Autumn wreath

29 March 2017 A Twirl

Suspend a wire chandelier design to twirl

11 April 2017 Well… we did it again!

Blossoms and chocolates for Easter

24 May 2017 Link

weave a few wreaths to link

20 September 2017 You Wear It Well

My article and body flowers design featured in DIY Weddings Magazine

7 February 2018 Up around the bend

Bend Equisetum into curves to wire into an open wreath shape

21 March 2018 Bring some Spring

Just like the weather is only hinting at spring, so is this design only hinting at being a basket

18 April 2018 Swing Vine

Weave a delicate vine swing to nestle a small vase with spring flowers in

15 May 2019 Heard it through the grapevine?

Have you heard? I have wonderful news this week. Oh! and I also have this pretty grapevine armature shaped like the petals of an open rose to show you. But... Have you heard...

18 September 2019 It’s a sugar rush!

A perfectly imperfect wild willow wreath to display the first Autumn treasures of the year.

13 May 2020 be MINDFUL of the invisible stuff you add

Left over flowers and off-cuts are ideal to transform into a quick floral crown or necklace. This is the absolute easiest design, yet!

24 June 2020 End Up

Connect small wreaths to create a pretty summer armature to arrange your flowers on.

7 April 2021 First we learn HOW to design… and then we learn how only WE design.

Whipped up to be light in the Spring breeze wreath design.

22 June 2022 You Say Tomato I Say Tomato

Tiny tomato vine design to celebrate Summer.

8 March 2023 And now we wait

A bit of flower magic to get a few early blossoms to enjoy inside.

19 April 2023 Short Cut

A tiny carry basket to gather the shortest stems from your cutting garden... with a place for water and your cutters.

24 May 2023 everywhere IS nature

A lush wreath that remains green so that you can design once... and cut and cut and place your violas to make sure you have flowers all season long.

28 June 2023 Catch and Release

Ah... yes summer time designing. Anyone else seeing more insects hiding between the petals this year?

20 January 2011 The last Vine Wreath

Every designer knows how to stretch their supplies. We use and re-use our dried plant material until our fellow designers feel like hiding it from us. I formed such an...

8 April 2011 Large Open Weave Twig Basket

Easter Basket used in the Durbanville Flower Club Easter Parade Demonstration

10 April 2011 Feeling Funky

I wove vine wreaths to form a pyramid, one just slightly larger than the next. In the natural cavities between the wreaths I placed the roses and lisianthus in plastic covered...

1 November 2011 On The Street Where You Live

A floral design snapshot of what it looks like when walking down the streets of Vancouver this week.

7 December 2011 Forest Filigree Christmas Wreath

I wanted my Hazel twig wreath to look like forest filigree: mysteriously overgrown, tangled with age and dappled with moss and lichen. The wreath is also dressed with fresh and...

22 February 2012 Nuts and Bolts of Floral Art Mechanics

My design entered for evaluation at the Floral Trends Design Group meeting in South Africa

12 August 2012 A Twist on Tradition

August is the month for retail florists and wholesalers to start designing, ordering and preparing their product range for the Christmas and Festive Season. This is my article...