What should you keep in mind when making a centerpiece floral arrangement? Depending on the type of table the centerpiece is used on, you should determine the height and reinforce that with stemmed plants like gladiolas.
Nancy Wharton, who has been in business for twenty-six years and is the founder and owner of Casa Verde Florist in Austin, Texas, says, "When designing a centerpiece, first of all decide whether the people are going to be seated around the table or standing. If you have people sitting across the table from each other, then it needs to be long and low. It can be loose, but it needs to be long and low. A good test is to put your elbow on the table, and then put your hand underneath your chin. That's the height the range should be. It should never be taller than that. Otherwise, if the centerpiece is for a buffet table or something, you can make it as tall as you want. It can be as stylish as you want to make it. We have done arrangements close to five feet tall before. It was huge, and it was very appropriate for a serving-type table."
"Better Homes & Gardens Flower Arranging", published in 1957 by Meredith Publishing Company, offers timeless advice when it suggests, "A symmetrical centerpiece...is the usual choice when guests are to be seated at the sides of the table, host and hostess at the ends. Flowers used in this fashion should be equally attractive from all angles and the centerpiece should be kept low enough so each diner can see all others without uncomfortable craning of necks...Think color first when you're selecting flowers for the table. They may match, harmonize or contrast with colors of china, linens, or glassware and still create a delightful effect. But let it be clear that flower colors are part of a considered color scheme- not a happenstance matter. Don't feel that everything must 'match' but that it must 'belong'."
The materials for centerpieces can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish. Nancy says that they "can be done in vases or they can be done in baskets too". She suggests that you should "use gladiolas as well as other various types of stem flowers."
The book, "Marjorie Reed's Party Book: Entertaining with More Style than Money", published in 1981 by Marjorie Reed and Kalia Lulow, offers this example of simplicity: "A single flower placed in an eye-catching location can set a mood as well as a greenhouse of blooms. Raise the vase on a small stand. Balance it with greenery that drapes down. Add a beautiful collectable- a piece of quartz, a marble egg, a porcelain figurine- to complete the look."
Or for a buffet style dinner, where the diners' views of one another aren't compromised, it comments, "Three large tea or banana leaves can transform a table or a room. Place oversized vases on tables ...for extra drama." For a more festive look you can put together "an array...using wild flowers and weeds such as Queen Anne's Lace, reeds, branches or cut flowers". More advice includes: "Keep the arrangement loose. Let leggy or branchy stems create a frame around the outside and back of the arrangement. Fill in the center and lower portions with a variety of colors and textures."
When it comes to knowing what you should keep in mind when making a centerpiece floral arrangement, just remember the all-important rule of adding visual interest to one's view, not blocking it. The rest, as Nancy says, is "only limited by your imagination".
