Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman
Creative Expectations
- 16 March 2016
- click to send Christine a smile
- and more
My article and floral parasol design featured in
DIY Weddings Magazine
We all have a vision, creative expectations, for our wedding design elements. We also all have to contend with all those realities. It might be your budget, time, a venue with restrictions, an inherited colour or anything else that feels overwhelming or at odds with our creative vision. Disappointment usually stems from the difference between expectation and reality, so it is worth finding a way to manage that difference. We are creative DIY brides, after all!
Fortunately, there is a design technique for crafting your wedding details to meet creative expectations while dealing with the constraints and realities of real life.
The secret is to think, talk and even write about our expectations as a series of preference statements, such as “I prefer a light Spring blossom parasol over a formal posy.” The statement does not have a firm decision, which means we can respond to realities without feeling overwhelmed. It takes a bit of practice, but it is truly liberating once you get the hang of it.
A few more examples may help. I prefer:
- plant over man-made material,
- creativity over functionality,
- sturdy over collapsable,
- white over green,
- green over brown,
- comfort over effort,
- hand crafted over mass produced.
This does not mean we don't like the items on the right, it just means we like the ones on the left more.
Create a list like this for yourself before actually starting to craft your wedding, so that you can start the design process armed with a guide on how best to balance your creative expectations with reality.
Sticking to the parasol theme: I may decide to weave one from plant material rather than buying one
I would have preferred it to be all white, but can accept a predominantly brown stem parasol with green and white detailing.
It should be wild and natural almost as if it grew this way, even if it provides less shade, leaving "gaps" and "imperfections" that enhance the woodland feel of the design not only acceptable but desirable.
The tutorial below is an example of what this process can lead to, and remember, you can use the same preferences to apply your creative expectations to every design element of your wedding.
Thank you DIY Weddings Magazine for inviting me to contribute.
Sign up for my weekly newsletter
Every week I add a new design with related tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to receive an email notification with design inspiration.
Tutorials
Most stems, twigs and even sturdier branches can be bend into shapes. It takes practice and more than a bit of patience. The main idea is to slowly manipulate the branch without...
For my design I wanted the wreath to look wind blown so I added a few loosely woven twigs into the weave. I also wanted to emphasize the autumn colours so I added a twirling...
Favourite Flowers
Phalaenopsis, Moth orchid
Curly Willow, Chinese Willow, Tortured Willow, Globe Willow, Dragon's Claw, Hankow Willow
Related Designs
Open a vine wreath to create a spiral twig armature around a glass container
Cover a wreath frame with bark and cotton for a textured Christmas wreath design
A fragile looking heart made from twigs that can hold a lot of orchids
Barely there skeleton blossoms with Eucalyptus eyes for my Halloween design... Oh! and a Willow Paddle, which probably should have been the main Tutorial... but... well...
The second design I did for my book launch demonstration looking at aspects that influences my effortless style of designing.
Whipped up to be light in the Spring breeze wreath design.
Beautiful blossoms don’t NEED much to make it into a lovely design. But the start of Spring might just inspire you to add a bit much… just because it makes you happy.
A tiny carry basket to gather the shortest stems from your cutting garden... with a place for water and your cutters.
Ah... yes summer time designing. Anyone else seeing more insects hiding between the petals this year?
Using fresh twigs to bind a little twig platform to suspend the beautiful orchids from.
Grow a willow birdcage... with a bit of a Spring flower support to get it started.
Gorgeous Aquilegia vulgaris spring flower... with it's own springy thing!
Autumn harvest willow for a double the pretty plaited flower support
A snowy lady slipper plant displayed to enjoy for as long as possible.
A delicate... but robust armature framing a heart space.
A bark support to display the most delicate Spring floral treasures.
oh yes... Spring is definitely rolling in with some fresh growth on the willow just to prove it!
The flowers will continue to open around the nest… and the eggs… well surely they will disappear and you will need to replace those before Easter.
Easter Basket used in the Durbanville Flower Club Easter Parade Demonstration
The fan is made from 18 coffee stir sticks and dressed with a veil of grass, fall leaves and Viburnum berries
I wanted my parasol design to be thoroughly me, and thoroughly contemporary yet respectful of the guiding rules and methods shared by the different schools of Ikebana.
Floral Craftsmanship Article in the Canadian Florist Magazine
Designing adventurous Contemporary Floral centerpieces Article in the Canadian Florist Magazine.
