DIY Christmas Arrangement

Wishing you a season of gladness, a season of cheer, and to top it all off, a wonderful year.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step Supplies

What you’ll need:
• Cutters
• Small vase
• White Alstroemeria (4 stems)
• Red Alstroemeria (4 stems)
• Pink Alstroemeria (3 stems)
• Red Roses (3 stems)
• White Roses (3 stems)
• White + Red Carnations (3 stems)
• White Snapdragons (2 stems)
• Red Tulips (5 stems)
• Hawaiian Ginger (1 stem)
• Leucadendron (2 stems)
• Pointsettia (1 bloom)
• Evergreen Branches (6 branches)

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step Supplies

Notes:
Keep the stems long until you are ready to place them in the vase. Then cut them to the appropriate length.

Have fun with the shape of the arrangement and don’t be afraid to move a stem to a different spot if you don’t like where you first placed it.

Always turn your arrangement so that it looks good from all sides.

Think of your vase in quarters: Front Left, Front Right, Back Left, Back Right.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step Supplies

Instructions:
1. Prep your flowers. Take the vase you will use for the centerpiece arrangement and fill with cool water.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 1

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 1

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 1

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 1

2. Start with the evergreen branches. Arrange the branches on the outer edge of the vase, with a few of the branches draping over one side of the vase (front left quarter) and take a few taller branches and place on the opposite side (back right quarter).

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 2

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 2

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 2

3. Take the white alstroemeria stems and place a few near the taller evergreen branches and some by the draping evergreen branches. Arrange the remaining white alstroemeria stems inside the vase.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 3

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 3

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 3

4. Take the pink alstroemeria stems and scatter them throughout the arrangement and in-between the white alstroemeria.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 4

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 4

5. Do the same with the red alstroemeria stems.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 5

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 5

6. Take one of the red roses and place near the other taller stems and then scatter the other red roses throughout the arrangement.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 6

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 6

7. Scatter the white roses throughout the arrangement.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 7

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 7

8. Take the 3 carnations, group them together and place them near the front of the vase (front right quarter), on the same side as the taller evergreen branches.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 8

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 8

9. Next take the tulips and scatter them throughout the arrangement. These tulips are meant to be wild and whimsical, so let them just go where they want to.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 9

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 9

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 9

10. Place the hawaiian ginger near the taller evergreen branches, jetting out at an angle.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 10

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 10

11. Tuck in the leucadendron in opposite quarters (Front Right, Back Left).

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 11

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 11

12. Take the snapdragons and place one so it’s partially draping over the left side (front left quarter) and the other near the center middle.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 12

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 12

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 12

13. Place a large poinsettia bloom near the front of the arrangement (front left quarter).

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 13

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 13

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step 13

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step Final

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step Final

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - DIY Christmas Holiday Flower Arrangement Centerpiece - Step Final

Prepping Flowers

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner and Floral Designer - Prepping Flowers

1. Always use clean, sharp utensils (knives, clippers, or shears) when cutting flowers. Do not use paper of fabric scissors because these will crush the flower’s vascular systems and prevent proper water uptake.

2. Cut all flowers and foliage about one inch from the bottom at a 45 degree angle. Remove all the lower foliage that would be submerged in water. This will retard bacterial growth, which shortens the vase life of flowers and makes the water smell foul.

3. Immediately after cutting the stem, place it in a vase filled with cool water.

My 2015 Wedding Season

My 2015 wedding season has come to a close with a wedding style photo shoot to cap off the year (a sneak peek will soon follow). After a week of cleaning, organizing and returning rentals, my life and my work space finally feels back to normal and not a haphazard mess of buckets, ribbons and boxes.

You may have noticed that there haven’t been a lot of wedding blog posts from this summer. That’s at the top of my to do list once I receive the photos from all the photographers. Believe me, I’m dying to see the photos and I so am eager to blog about each wedding I was honored to be a part of.

Until then, here are a few photos I took (or my team took) during this past season.

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner, Designer and Florist - Weddings in West Michigan

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner, Designer and Florist - Weddings in West Michigan 4

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner, Designer and Florist - Weddings in West Michigan

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner, Designer and Florist - Weddings in West Michigan

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner, Designer and Florist - Weddings in West Michigan

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner, Designer and Florist - Weddings in West Michigan

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner, Designer and Florist - Weddings in West Michigan

Grand Rapids Wedding Planner, Designer and Florist - Weddings in West Michigan

Happy Thanksgiving

Every year it seems that more and more of my family doesn’t make it home for the holidays. Having siblings that live out of state and country has been the story of my life though, so by now I should be used to it. Each year it seems to be just my parents and I, settling into quiet evenings around the house during the hustle and bustle of November and December. It’s easy for me to be envious of all those other families that live so close to each other or who all get together on Christmas, no matter the distance or miles. However, I have learned to appreciate and truly cherish the times that all six of us (my parents and siblings) are together under one roof (it’s been 6 years) and for the time I spend with my Canadian family. Now, with Thanksgiving almost done and with Christmas on its way, I am looking forward to December where the Swagman house will be a little louder, a little more full, and just a little more festive. With a brother coming home to visit from Southeast Asia and a sister and her family coming home from the West coast, I couldn’t be happier. Now, if only we could get the one other brother and his family home too. Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you enjoy your time with your families.

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For more pictures of the tablescape, click here.

Michael and Jenna

June 28, 2013

Yes, it is over a year later that I am finally blogging about this wedding. There are no excuses, other than it took me a while to get ahold of the pictures. Leave it to my family.

Yes, this was a big wedding for me because it was my brother getting married. In Canada. I spent the week leading up to the wedding hanging out with Jenna (the bride to be), gallivanting around Edmonton and having way to much fun. She’s truly a gem.

In western Canada, weddings are a little different from your average US wedding. Weddings have “programs,” you can return any unopened alcohol, and a guest list of 300 is normal. Ok, that last one maybe not so much. But, Mike and Jenna come from two huge families, so the guest list was long.

I also noticed that in Alberta (within my large network of family and friends), weddings are more about the commitment and less about the stuff. I think, working in the industry I am in, I get so caught up in making sure everything looks picture perfect and swoon-worthy. I will spend hours working with my brides to make sure that their wedding is breathtakingly beautiful, sometimes with no dollar spared. While I absolutely love doing this, since designing a wedding is part of my job, sometimes it’s nice to take a step back and think about what we are celebrating.

Yes, these lovely people in Alberta still want their wedding to be beautiful. Yes, they still want everything to go smoothly. But, it’s less about “how much money are we spending on flowers” and more about “how can we make sure our guests truly enjoy their time.” It’s refreshing. So, while Jenna and Mike’s wedding was truly beautiful, it was also beautiful in another way: it was about their commitment for each other and to God, and celebrating their love with family and friends.

Now, over a year later, Mike and Jenna welcome into the world Ashton John, who was born October 28. Congratulations on all accounts to my amazing brother and sister-in-law. Love you both so much. Can’t wait to meet Ashton.

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Grand Rapids Wedding Planner

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And, because I just can’t help myself, here is a picture of their new baby.

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