Vineyard Floral Compote

Video Transcription

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Destination weddings continue to be the trend. The vineyard, one of the favorite locations. This centerpiece, perfect. Let me show you how it's done.

The design, the inspiration, and the starting point were the beautiful Bessie garden roses. They are fabulous from GardenRosesDirect.com. Then I found hellebores that matched perfectly from Florabundance. So those are the flowers that I'll be starting with. The mechanics, a compote, a third of a brick of foam, and I'm going to conceal that by taking just a bit of Italian Ruscus, giving it a cut, and then placing that in and wrapping it around. You could even weave it under the tape, pinning it in place with a greening pin, and then repeating that with a second piece because that just helps get the mechanics concealed with very little effort. So two stems of Italian Ruscus, wrapping it around, feeding it in and under, capturing it. Then a single greening pin, securing that in place. Then for fun, perfect for a vineyard wedding, grapes. Now it's better to use plastic because if you use real grapes and they fall off and they squish, hmm not so great. So taking plastic and just laying that in place across the emphasis areas. So that starts it. Then taking smaller bits and I hook two together using bind wire, and then just weave them across, letting them drape, and repeat with as many grapes as you like.

Grapes in place, adding in the hellebores, letting them come out, extending the design, softening that round line, and repeating; letting everything come out from a central binding point, making sure you come front to back so that it is fully a round centerpiece. Then adding in with the Bessie garden rose. They open so beautifully. Fill such space. They're also pretty thorny, so you've got to be careful. Placing them in. You can do a variety of levels. Some a little lower, some even close to the foam, coming all the way down, tucked under, and then up a little higher, coming around to the back.

To finish, you want to add a little more depth. And the gorgeous carnations' coordinating color, tucked very low, will pull the eye in, finish covering your mechanics, and add depth, drawing attention to the roses. Just make sure you fluff them out, then tuck them down low. They add a little bit of fragrance too, which is just fabulous. Pulling the eye inward. Double checking on the back side as well. Making sure that all the mechanics are concealed.

As a final touch. Just a bit of curly willow, letting it come out over the top, adding a little bit of dynamic movement, feeding it in between, up and over, and repeating. Letting it extend, and just adding size and dynamic line to the arrangement.

The recipe, everything from Florabundance and Garden Roses Direct, built on one-third of a brick of floral foam, then Italian Ruscus to cover that base, two stems, the plastic grapes draped over using a bit of bind wire. Then the beautiful flowers, Hellebores, four stems; the Bessie Garden Rose, nine stems to fill it in all the way around; the beautiful Carnations, seven; and then just a bit of Curly Willow to finish it off.

The compote continues to be a favorite for so many different events. You'll find more creative inspiration with the compote on our website at FlowerSchool.com. If you have questions, you can reach us there. But now it's your turn. Create a beautiful compote arrangement. Be sure to take a picture and post it on social media, #FloralDesignInstitute. That way, I can see, and we all can see, what you do as you do something you love.