Fresh flowers can add a breath of life into any room, but we’re not head over heels for a traditional bouquet. What we’re looking for is something more romantic, something wild and free, as if we’d handpicked each stem from a field filled with only the most beautiful flowers. The flower arrangements that we want to display in our homes are whimsical, organic, and anything but forced.

This devil may care floral style is everywhere right now, in farmhouses and bohemian interiors alike. However, it’s not always affordable or attainable to constantly have a fresh, gorgeous arrangement in your home. After all, flowers don’t last forever once they’re picked (there’s a metaphor in there somewhere), and it costs a pretty penny for an arrangement that accurately reflects your romantic style.

We’ve recently partnered with Daffodil Parker, a local florist, to periodically offer stunning bouquets in a popup format and have seen a great response. Our customers love being able to bring home a bright bouquet at an affordable price, particularly in the dead of winter. There’s something about bringing a piece of nature inside that makes it feel like spring is on the horizon!

Our work with Daffodil Parker has inspired us to create our own bouquets when creativity strikes, and we wanted to share a few quick tips that we’ve learned along the way so that you can join in the fun.

How to Arrange a Romantic Bouquet

What You’ll Need

Garden Shears
Your favorite vase or a vintage find
Stems from a local farmers market or florist

Choosing Your Blooms

You’ll need a few different types of blooms to create that wild, romantic look that we’re after. As you’re debating between florals, consider these factors:

You’ll want your filler to have a bit of interest. Look for florals with length or out of the ordinary shapes like eucalyptus, bells of Ireland, and ferns. Even small berries can be used as filler for a textural and colorful element.
Go bold with your color combinations! We’re partial to a terracotta, wheat, and peach color scheme, but allow yourself to get creative. Bouquets are temporary, not a permanent decor decision.
To make your bouquet appear natural but intentional, choose blooms of various sizes. Smaller ranunculus mix well with larger peonies, garden roses, and anemones.

Arranging Your Bouquet

Before you can jump into the actual arrangement, you’ll need to do some prep work. Make sure to trim any leaves that will sit below the water line (say, about half the size of your vase), so they don’t rot and remove any damaged petals from your blooms. Then, trim each of your stems at an angle. You may have to trim them further as you arrange to get a staggered, voluminous look.

Now, for the arrangement. Florists agree that there’s a general order to how you should arrange your bouquet for the most aesthetically pleasing effect. We say go with your gut, but these are some general guidelines to get you started:

Grab your “feature blooms”, your peonies, your dahlias, whichever florals are your biggest and boldest. You should create the bouquet around these gorgeous blooms. Arrange them with criss crossed stems in your vase, leaving room to augment them with your smaller blooms and filler.
Use those smaller florals to highlight the feature blooms. Arrange them with subtle color cohesiveness so that each flower seems to effortlessly blend into the other, creating an intentional bouquet instead of a jumbled of flowers.
Next, strategically place your filler and greenery to fill in the gaps and add color contrast. Place longer greenery like ferns and eucalyptus along the edges of the bouquet for a wild shape, something that feels like it’s straight out of a field or the woods - not a fussy garden. You can add a few of these pieces throughout the bouquet as well for consistency, but make sure they aren’t too tall, otherwise they’ll overshadow your feature blooms.

There you have it! Your first bouquet, curated just for you and your home. As you continue to create, you’ll find a signature style, and personal hacks that make the process feel less intimidating and more like a creative outlet. We’ve truly fallen in love with the art of floral arrangements, and we can’t wait to see what you create with these tips! Be sure to tag us on Instagram if you post a photo of your bouquet, or, if you’re not quite ready to take on this challenge just yet, we hope to see you at our next bouquet pop up in the shop.

Tips for Arranging a Fresh Flower Bouquet