A Fresh Take
Having been in the floral industry for, um… well, a while now… I’ve had the privilege of really noticing the changes that have emerged in the industry over that time. It’s maybe not something you’d necessarily think about when ordering your flowers, but the style and trend shifts that happen in fashion and culture also reflect what is happening in the floral world as a whole.
For example, when I first started my floral journey in the mid-2000s, domed rose bouquets were all the rage for bridal work, and grass cages over the top of the bouquet were absolute fire! Topped off with pearl or crystal pins stuck into the roses for a bit of glam, and you had yourself a structured and modern-feeling bridal bouquet with that touch of bling to really set those roses off.
That sort of fell out of fashion, as things do — and that’s absolutely okay and normal. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but it’s perfectly fine to get married in a specific time period, with trends of the moment influencing our decisions. It’s those very trends that make us feel incredible and modern on the day!
But interestingly, 20 years on, after seeing the trends morph and shift in all sorts of different directions, I’ve suddenly noticed hints of those 2000s bouquets peeking through again in fresh and exciting ways. I’ve seen anthuriums with pearls or bling added to them, and also the use of bent grasses arched over the main florals — forming an intriguing architectural element in the design. It reminds me of the saying, “There’s nothing new under the sun…” Not really, anyway. We can’t help but be influenced by and build on previous ideas, styles, trends, cultural shifts and the like. They take on a fresh form, which I love — it keeps things innovative.
This is particularly relevant for my little dried flower business, given that dried flowers were incredibly popular from around the ’70s to the mid-’90s. Then, they suddenly fell out of fashion and were a bit left on the shelf for a while. But around 2019 — lo and behold — dried floral work began emerging again, and then exploded! With new products, not seen before, now available on the market. Preserved materials, for example, have a fresh flower look and come in a wide variety of gorgeous colours. Dyed grasses, hydrangeas and roses in powder blue, hot pink, or even black — soft to the touch and plump, as if just picked — are now available to designers, revitalising the use of dried flowers as a creative medium.
And I have to say, it’s a bit heartwarming to see the very things that set designs apart through the decades — the characteristics that made them special — coming back and influencing floral designers today. I’ll certainly be re-experimenting with some of these refreshed design elements in my upcoming work.