Over the years, Martha has given us scads of wonderful tips, tricks, recipes and ideas. Just like anyone or anything, you may not “buy in to” everything she has to offer, but overall, I think Martha has brought awareness to improving our home environments, making our homes warm and inviting.One of the trends that Martha started several years ago was the tightly packed or “Martha” style bouquet. Although there is merit to this style of bouquet for specific occasions, I personally have grown tired of this costly arrangement and its mainstream influence.
As a floral designer, one of my biggest complaints with this style is that the flowers are literally smashed together, with no space in between which causes the shattering or crushing of flower blooms. When looking at a tightly packed arrangement, I cannot help but feel that I am looking at a “blob” of colors and flowers, instead of appreciating each bloom. My belief is that each flower bloom should be appreciated for its own beauty and enjoyed by the eye. I very much oppose the crushing of flowers together for the sake of
style. I also enjoy the presence of lush greenery to contrast the color of each bloom along
with the added benefit of bringing a natural “feel” to the arrangement.
On many occasions, my customers have ordered a packed style arrangement and have been shocked at the cost. Consumers are not always aware that tightly packed, round style arrangements require at least 50% more flowers to fill in the gaps of a traditional
arrangement. Using larger focal flowers can reduce the amount of stems required to design in packed style, however most desirable focal flowers are costly, which again increases the cost. Another downside to this trend is the elimination or under use of greenery. Beautiful garden style greenery can actually reduce the cost of many arrangements and add texture and interest to the bouquet.
The next time you are browsing the internet, watching television or looking in print media, observe the use of flowers in décor and/or special occasions. Do you see any traditional design styles such as equilateral triangle, radiating triangle, inverted “T”, scalene or vertical style arrangements? Probably not! Consider adding these styles to your repertoire of home or office décor. With the popularity of packed style
arrangements, these traditional designs would seem haute!
