Woven floral designs? As new products are developed, woven floral designs continue to become more beautiful and intricate. This blog post will help you understand the variety of floral installations you can create for your wedding!
Hey, John!
Ever since Bonnie agreed to marry me, she’s been talking about the flowers. Each time she uses a new term, I Google it. Today, she mentioned “Woven Floral Design” but I can’t find anything except a bunch of stuff on Etsy. Help! What is woven floral design?
Thanks!–Clyde the Verklempt in Clackamas
Hey, Clyde!
We’ve got this! I’ll give you enough info so you talk flowers with Bonnie.
Since there is a wedding trend of using woven floral designs and scattered petals to define the aisle up to your altar, this is why she brought it into the conversation.
I will explain more about this trend in this blog post.
First, a history lesson: As far as we can tell, the ancient Greeks thousands of years ago wore wreaths on their heads and draped garlands of woven flowers around their necks on special occasions.
This was not the way people dressed to meander into town to visit the vegetable stand.
(The photo to the left is the goddess of Victory, Nike, giving a laurel wreath to someone. The wreath was made of woven flowers or laurel leaves.)
Over time, these designs in which flowers were woven together became more elegant and complicated which resulted in the Greeks hiring professional florists to make their garlands and wreaths.
While the Egyptians put their flowers in vases, the Greeks did not: they scattered petals around their festivals and banquets.
For certain celebrations, floral garlands were displayed on trays or in baskets.
Specific arrangements used as offerings to the gods or gifts to friends were called “cornucopias,” and consisted of arranged flowers, grains, and fruits.
When you see centerpieces combining flowers with berries, grapes, miniature pineapples, apples, or lemons, you’re seeing a floral design that dates back to Plato, Socrates, and other ancient thinkers.
What is a woven floral design? This is when the stems of the flowers or foliage are woven through netting (a light weight chicken wire) or into floral foam bricks to hold the flowers in place. A woven floral design often brings more romance and beauty into a wedding.
Some examples of woven floral design are wreaths, flowers on an arch or gazebo, arrangements tied to the backs of the chairs, and flowers draped on a mantle.
What we are seeing at weddings at Ainsworth House & Gardens is that more brides and grooms are using these woven floral designs to highlight the aisle space and give it greater importance for the bride’s entrance. This, of course, translates over into more dramatic wedding photos. The floral weaving could represent
- the weaving of the two cultures of the bride and groom
- weaving of different ideas and thoughts
- weaving of colors and textures.
These woven designs often focus on bringing nature, beauty, and romance expressed through a great color palette.
In talking with the floral designers who come to Ainsworth House & Gardens to create their floral installations, I’ve discovered that they think a trend which started slowly in 2023 will explode in 2024: Brighter, better, and bigger floral designs.
Let me explain…
While a flower girl (or at certain adult only weddings, the Flower Guy) gently tossing flower petals as she parades up the aisle is very traditional, we are seeing bigger and brighter floral designs attached to the aisle chairs or displayed in installations along the main aisle up to the ceremony space. For spring 2024, these aisle installations might be flowers of the same color OR vibrant bouquets of multiple colors to fit into the wedding’s color scheme.
Our floral vendors told us that a trend for spring 2024 is to have one floral color scheme for an outdoor wedding and then have a distinct color scheme for the indoor reception which helps you change the vibe. Since we have several different outdoor wedding venues and a beautiful indoor reception venue, we expect to see more of these two color scheme weddings.
Clyde, I wanted you to be prepared in case Bonnie sprang this two color scheme idea on you.
If you have questions, please reach out to me.
Your friend in the wedding business,
John Shyne
Images courtesy of Ainsworth House & Gardens, Pexels, Unsplash and Pixabay.com.
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