Pantone 2021 Wedding Bouquet

Video Transcription 

Welcome to the Flower School .com video library. I'm Leanne Kesler, director of the Floral Design Institute, and today, I'm here to share with you an on-trend, beautiful bridal bouquet featuring the Pantone colors ... Yes, plural ... Colors of the year. Ultimate Gray and Illumination. 

The materials, everything came from Florabundance.com and Garden Roses Direct. They make it easy because when you go on the website, you can shop by color, so gray, Ultimate Gray, which can be a little tricky, they have a category for silver, and I clicked that. And look at the beautiful blooms that came up that are perfect to reflect that Pantone color. So I'm going to be working with dusty miller, kangaroo paw in gray, beautiful. brunia, some astrantia. Technically it's more white, but blending, pulls in that gray hue, and then silver sage, bit of eucalyptus, and one of my favorites, gray bunny tails. How cool is that? 

Then, I switched over to the buy by color yellow tab, and that's where I got the stock, ranunculus, freesia, and roses. Now, in the roses, I have a bright yellow smaller variety called Lemon Pompom, and then I have a larger variety called Catalina. But, interesting, both of these roses are Catalina, one grown in California, a vivid yellow, a little brighter, closer to the true Illumination than the one from Garden Roses Direct, grown in South America at Alexander Farms. A little lighter, with the classic guard petals. But yet, both have that fabulous large petal count. What a great example of how where something is grown can affect the color. 

There are so many different ways to base a bridal bouquet. It can be a holder. It could be an armature. It could be a base of hydrangea. Today, my dusty miller was so fabulous, I'm actually going to use that as the base, just cleaning off the lower stems so it's nice and bare, and then just clustering that directly in my hand, lining it up, and using that as the base of the bouquet. For the Pantone Ultimate Gray, that's grand! So wonderful! Then, it gives me a nest, where I can just take my blooms and feed them down through, adding in a Catalina rose, maybe another, and feeding it in between the leaves and twisting. And it works as a nest, supporting my blooms, and I can turn it, add in additional roses, and begin building the bouquet. 

With a nest like this, you can add your blooms in, thinking about the larger things first, nestling them. And then, just starting working as you would a normal hand-tie bouquet, spiraling and weaving, bringing in a variety of different things. The soft yellow stock, nestling it in. And then maybe weaving a second one nearby, watching how the stems angle so that it ends up very organized. Tucking it, giving it a turn, bringing in the ranunculus. And maybe grouping another one with that so it doesn't look like a little dot all by itself. And then, since they're smaller, maybe going ahead and adding a third. Adding that spot of brightness. Giving it a turn. 

Bringing in another rose. Again, weaving it so it nestles in. The smaller, beautiful Lemon Pompom. And turning, and thinking about all the different varieties that you want to include. Maybe adding a freesia. You can see the variations on the yellow start enhancing everything you do. Bringing in some more of the freesia. Another rose. Giving it a turn and adjusting, lifting outward, feeding in through the center, nestling it. Coming back with additional varieties and turning. Every time you add something, thinking about how it nestles with the others, adjusting the heads, sliding it in, and turning again, bringing in additional blooms, nestling it a little bit lower to create depth, tugging a little higher for dimension, turning. Thinking about how to adjust to get just the perfect look for your bouquet. 

The base of the Ultimate Gray with the dusty miller, then the beautiful yellow, with the Illumination, of all the different varieties, now, bringing in more of that gray influence. And that will add texture and beauty. Kangaroo paws, nestling it in. Maybe doing a couple, feeding it through. A little bit of the brunia, finding the perfect spot to weave it through, adding interest. The silver sage coming out, and even a bit of the astrantia, weaving it in. And then repeat with more of each of those. Just give it a turn, and start again. Some of the silver sage, maybe grouping several together. Some of the kangaroo, and then continuing on. 

To finish, the bunny tails will be the fabulous little last touch. Now, individually, the stems are so tiny that it makes it easy to feed in. But it is so tiny it doesn't really show, so it's easier to go ahead and cluster some and tape the stems with corsage tape, and then just feed in the entire cluster, finding the perfect little hole. Bring it down and tucking it, and then repeating that, filling in any holes that just need a little more fullness in the bouquet. And then, in addition to the bunny tails, that's where a little bit of the eucalyptus, draping out to soften, so it's not quite so round. Tucking that in, adding it to your fingers, and repeating. And then, once everything's in place, using your bind wire and tying it off. 

To carry on the massive amounts of texture and following through with the yellow, using wool to wrap the base to make sure that you can seal all the bind wire, wrapping it several times around. This also gives a nice little touch for the person to hold so that it feels good on their hands. Wrapping, wrapping, and you can just twist the two ends together and tuck it back under. Then, for a polished look, going through and cutting all the stems. You don't want them too long. Basically one hand length, so cutting it right along here, gives it a nice, tidy bouquet for the person to carry. 

All of these flowers came from Florabundance.com and GardenRosesDirect.com. The recipe so that you can do it yourself? I started with the roses, 10 of the Catalina, and then five Lemon Pompom, and those were nested into the dusty miller, which I had two very large stems of dusty miller. Then five freesia, five kangaroo paws, six ranunculus, four stock, three of the brunia, three of the astrantia, 10 of the silver sage, and then three clusters of the bunny tails. Lastly, a few stems of eucalyptus, then tied the whole thing off with the yarn to finish the beautiful bouquet. 

Every year, we look forward to what the Pantone color of the year is going to be, and then quickly go on the hunt for flowers that are perfect. This year, with Ultimate Gray and Illumination and our friends at Florabundance.com made it quite easy because the colors are so flower-friendly. Last year, with Classic Blue, a little trickier, but still doable. Other years, Marsala, the Emerald Green, so many ways to interpret design and trends with the floral medium. You'll find more creative inspiration at our website, FlowerSchool.com. You have questions, you can reach us through there or pick up the telephone and call us at 503-223-8089. 

Now, it's your turn. What are you going to use using the new Pantone colors of the year for 2021? Be sure to take a picture. Take a photograph. Post it. Put that up there so everyone can see. Hashtag #FloralDesignInstitute, that way I'll see it, and the Tulip Tribe will see it, and we'll all know what you do as you do something you love.