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Episode 120: Francoise Weeks                                

Botanical Brouhaha Expert Discussion Panel: No. 51

The Question:

I have a wedding coming up where I have to fill a huge wrought iron chandelier (similar to the one below) with flowers.  How would you go about the mechanics of adding the flowers?

wroughtironchandelier

The Answers:

It looks like you’d need to use floral foam, attached to the chandelier.

Clare Day (Clare Day Flowers)


Hard to really estimate the size of the chandelier in the picture, but from what i can understand, i would go with 4 floral foam blocks and tie them on the central part of the chandelier, two on each side, with PVC bunching tape. Then I would wrap a piece of chicken wire around my foam to increase the strength, tie it with the tape again, and  I would pick the stems all around, from top to bottom. Water is going to drip down, so make sure to protect the floor during the installation and for a good 4 to 6 hours after installing the flowers.

Laetitia Mayor (Floresie)


Firstly you should get permission from the venue to design onto the candelabra. The wet floral foam and the flowers may discolour/stain the metal. If you are allowed to go ahead then each candelabra will be different so it will be trial or error in terms of which floral foam shapes to use. You may be able to slot wreath rings over each arm and then attach them together or it might work better to build a set of floral foam paddles  or cages into the centre area. Whichever you choose it would make sense to try it out before the wedding day. You need to consider how you are going to reach the candelabra on a safe platform and you need to build the design a good few hours in advance with a blanket below so that any residual water from the foam stops dripping. Choosing flowers with lots of surface area (e.g hydrangea) is a good idea as it will reduce the overall number of stems you need to put into the foam. Good luck!

Nick Priestly (Mood Flowers)


When we decorate huge hotel ballroom chandeliers we typically use silk flowers.  The weight of silk flowers is considerably less than fresh designs in oasis. Silk flowers can be installed the day before the wedding or early on the wedding day, making the overall  installation considerably less stressful. This also means there will be no wilted flowers. We typically make a garland for each arm of the chandelier, we use silk greens alone or silk greens combined with willow. The garlands are attached to each arm and then the silk flowers are anchored onto the arms of the chandeliers with zip ties.  If you do use fresh it is best to use a base of fresh greens also in a garland form. If lots of fresh flower are required you will need oasis garlands. Be careful when doing these installations that no tables are under you as you design. The oasis garland will drip as you do your insertions. Also be careful about the weight and stress on the chandelier.

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Holly Chapple (Holly Heider Chapple Flowers)


And a few more beautifully designed floral chandeliers…

chandelier HELIOS Photography and ashley fox designs 10576973_10152151051427581_4987028045693625604_n

Ashley Fox Designs | HELIOS Photography

chandelier planet flowers10444772_10154355963810510_7342387004689173271_n

Planet Flowers

chandelier twig & grace 10367160_674397072630230_8636930767917915486_n

Twig & Grace

chandelier amy lynne originals and Mark Potter Photography 1546312_10151938598973434_653625668_n

Amy Lynne Originals | Mark Potter Photography

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