Floral Design for an Autumn-Inspired Wedding

Whether you're getting married in the fall, or importing its inspiration to another time of the year, the warm colors of autumn flowers bring a cozy feel to your nuptials.

Excerpted from Fresh Flower Arranging
Filed under: How To, Flowers, Fall, Wedding, Country Style

How to Arrange the Pew End

The arrangement is a simpler version of the wedding bouquet. It contains fewer flowers, but includes another variety of hypericum berry. It is arranged in the same way as a spiral bouquet.

1. Divide the different ingredients into separate piles. Hold a sunflower in the middle of the stem (to give a looser look) and place one of each of the ingredients around it at an angle to create a spiral stem effect. Rather than turning the bunch, make it up facing you. Place the flowers at the back slightly higher up to give a graduated effect.

2. When you have added one of each of all the different ingredients, repeat the sequence until all the flowers and foliage are included and balanced equally throughout the arrangement.

3. Tie the arrangement with a length of string or raffia and secure it in a knot. Then, fold a long piece of raffia four times to create eight strands and make them into a bow. Attach the bow to the bouquet with a small piece of raffia. Trim the stem ends straight across with a pair of garden shears so they are all the same length.

How to Arrange the Table Centerpiece

This informal basket centerpiece has a watertight container tucked snugly inside it that acts like a vase, while chicken wire inside the rim of the container ensures that all the stems are angled in the right direction. Keep all the stems short in this arrangement so that the proportions of the flowers and foliage match the size and shape of the basket.

1. Place a watertight container inside a 12-inch round wicker basket. Arrange the chicken wire inside the container and fill the container with water. Create a skeleton framework of foliage with short stems of ivy. These stems should be angled so that their leaves fall softly over the sides of the bowl (image 1).

2. Add short stems of smokebush to give even coverage through the framework without it being over-full (image 2).

3. Add the roses next, as they are the biggest flower heads. Arrange them evenly through the arrangement (image 3).

4. Add the blackberries and St. John's wort berriesand then the sunflowers to finish (images 4 and 5).