Best Floral Arrangements in Philadelphia

Floral design is the process of arranging flowers and plants into an eye-catching display that's beautiful and balanced. Floral design may work with real or artificial flowers, or a mixture of both. The arrangements can come in vases, bowls, baskets, flower walls, or as display structures, such as arches.

A floral designer doesn’t need a college degree, but some choose to earn an associate’s degree in floral design, floristry, or horticulture. Additionally, a floral designer can choose to get the floral designer credential offered by the American Institute of Floral Designers. Ultimately, though, it's on-the-job experience that helps people become skilled floral designers.

According to Salary.com, floral designers in the United States make an average of $52,475 annually. The range for floral designer salaries is between $33,608-$73,381. Compensation can vary depending on which state you work in, how much you work, your experience, and your reputation.

A lot of people need floral designers, most often for events. People hire floral designers for their weddings, baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays, corporate events, gender reveal parties, and engagement parties. Additionally, many retailers hire floral designers to decorate their stores.

The mechanics in floral design are the supplies, methods, and materials a floral designer uses to keep the floral arrangement together. The four main elements of floral design are shape, space, color, and texture. A floral designer considers all of these when putting arrangements together, as well as how the arrangement will hold its shape.

Color is perhaps the most important aspect of floral design because it's what people notice first. The colors in a floral arrangement need to complement each other and work cohesively. Additionally, a floral arrangement’s colors need to typically match the theme and the other decorations of the event.

There are three primary forms of Japanese floral arrangements:

• The Shogun Ashikaga style typically found in tea houses.
• The nagarie style is typically a single long branch with shorter flowers and plants at the base, all in a tall vase.
• The moribana style where flowers are placed in a three-dimensional format (foreground, middle, and distance).

To make a custom floral pattern in photoshop:

1. Sketch out your individual flowers.
2. Scan your sketch at 300 dpi.
3. Use one of the photoshop brushes to draw clean lines over your sketch.
4. Make additional copies of the flowers and edit them into a pattern.
5. Add in color if you wish.

• Balance is about achieving the same visual on all sides of the arrangement.
• Contrast is about using different colors to highlight the arrangement and add diversity.
• Dominance is having one design element stand out more than others, such as having red as the primary color.
• All floral arrangements should be equally proportioned, so one side of the bouquet doesn't seem more full or sparse.
• Scale is the size of the individual pieces in the arrangement and how they work together.
• Rhythm is a dominating repeating flower or visual in the arrangement.

When hiring a florist for a special event, you want to make sure you hire an experienced individual. Here are questions you should ask a florist:

• How long have you been working in this industry?
• Have you done my type of event before?
• Do you offer delivery and how much does it cost?
• Do you have a portfolio?

The five major lines used in Western floral design are:

• Vertical
• Horizontal
• Curvilinear
• Zigzag
• Diagonal

Questions a florist should ask include:

• What's your budget?
• What size of bouquet do you want?
• What are your wedding colors?
• Are there specific flowers you love or hate?
• What type of bridal bouquet do you prefer (nosegay, pomander, posy, round, hand-tie, etc.)
• Do you prefer real or artificial flowers, or a combination?

A good florist will only use the freshest flowers and create the floral arrangements on the day of the event, probably in the early morning. The flowers are stored in a room at a cool temperature without direct sunlight. When the flowers are transported to the event, the stems are kept in water, if possible.

A florist typically works in a floral shop and takes care of the flowers while also helping customers and sometimes providing floral design services. A floral designer, on the other hand, focuses entirely on creating beautiful flower arrangements for clients.

Some of the world's most famous floral designers are:

• Lauren Sellen, who owns Coyote Flowers (Toronto)
• Ruby Barber, who owns Mary Lennox Flowers (Berlin)
• Hattie Molloy (Melbourne)
• Duo Florian Seyd and Ueli Signer, who work under the name Wunderkammer (Amsterdam)
• George Low and Elizabeth Johnson, who own Seed Flora (Sydney)
• Azuma Makoto (Tokyo)

The earliest known record of floral arrangements dates back to 2,500 B.C. in Egypt. Historians have found that Egyptians regularly cut and displayed flowers in vases around the house, for processions, and even at burials. Floral arrangements are seen on ancient Egyptian carvings and paintings.