There is just something about having fresh florals and greenery in your home. The scent, colors and vibe they bring in just makes me so happy. I think my obsession began when I moved to New York about six years ago. While living there, I missed Florida’s greenery so much that I would buy plants and flowers to fill my apartment. I remember when I moved in, I had my dad hang three pots from the ceiling in my bedroom. I then filled them with golden pothos, the leaves would grow so rapidly, overflow and hang all the way down to my dresser. A vase full of flowers and pots full of greenery always made me feel closer to home.

I also find it really fun and cost effective to arrange my own bouquet and that is what “Floral Friday” is all about! A “how to” to arranging our own seasonal bouquets with flowers from local vendors, grocery stores, florists and maybe even our own back yards! I am not trained or have any experience in the floral industry, I am just a lady who loves some fresh flowers! If I can arrange my own beautiful bouquet, you can too!

I live in a small city outside of the Tampa Bay area but I am always in the area and surrounding others. Just recently, two amazing women launched Posies Flower Truck. A vintage flower shop on wheels, making their appearance at local events & pop-up venues in the Tampa Bay area selling unique blooms you can’t find at the grocery store. I thought for the launch of Floral Friday it would be perfect to also feature PFT. I find Posies Flower Truck inspiring because two women were inspired by a thought of spreading love & cheer and they changed that idea into reality. I started Floral Friday to inspire you to add some fresh florals into your home because I find that they bring love & cheer into mine. With that being said, I think Posies Flower Truck was the perfect pair to launching Floral Friday!

Ps: If you didn’t see my post on social media, Savva and I are expecting!!!

When I am purchasing flowers for a bouquet I think to myself:

What is going to be my base – usually a leafy green
What is/are going to be my filler/s – think something like baby breaths
What is going to be my main flower – lilies were my main flower in this case
What is going to be the “wow” factor – something unique & different
Need more fillers – get another type of filler flower

Steps to creating your own bouquet

You will need scissors and/or a razor
Vase – size depending quantity of flowers
Water in vase, you don’t want to keep your florals out of water for very long

Step 1

I chose Italian Ruscus as my base, remember leafy greens!

A florist once told me before placing my flowers into the vase make sure you cut them again with a sharp knife or scissors. If the stem isn’t newly cut it could dry out or if you cut the stem with dull scissors it can damage the tissue/cells at the end of the stem. Damaged/dry cells cannot absorb water effectively, leaving you with not so alive flowers for a not so long time!

Step 2

Add in your filler flowers – the first filler I chose was stock flowers. I really love these because they add so much height. I don’t cut these down too much to begin with, if need be, we can always cut then down later in the process.
The second filler flower I chose was lilac!

So I am a fan of asymmetrical designed bouquets. I don’t like when the flowers look tightly/perfectly placed, I go for a more organic look. I placed the stock flowers across from each other because I plan to add my main flowers in the middle.

This lilac was so full and was a perfect space filler and pop of color!

Step 3

Add in your main flower! My main flowers are lilies in this case because I bought two stems that each had 3 bloomed lilies. I had the most of this main flower.

I placed the lilies in the middle and will fill the empty space with more filler flowers!

Step 4

Add your “wow” factor – in this case I purchased dahlia for that, I don’t often get my hands on dahlia. I originally bought three, one like a reddish/burgundy and two orange colored dahlia. I ended up only placing the reddish/burgundy one in the middle and put the two orange colors ones in a smaller vase next to my sink because they didn’t match as well!